By Terri Gorney
Most people in northern Indiana know Gene Stratton-Porter as a novelist; her most
famous books being “The Girl of the Limberlost” and “Freckles.” Few knew that among
her talents she was an early naturalist, nature photographer, artist, and movie director.
Gene wrote both fiction and non fiction books and magazine articles. She illustrated her
writings with her own drawings or used her own photography. She even developed her
own film. Her darkroom was the family bathroom. She was not content to use pictures of
mounted birds and animals in her books which was the common practice at the time. She
would go into the Limberlost wearing rubber boots, taking her large camera and often a
gun with her for protection against the Massassauga rattlers that infested the swamp. It
is at the Limberlost Swamp near her home in Geneva that she began her serious nature
studies.
Her first ten books were written while living in Geneva near the Limberlost swamp which
was her inspiration for both her fiction and non fiction writings. Her first book “Song of
the Cardinal” was published in 1903. In an early book review, she is quoted as saying
“The Limberlost......is a great natural paradise as there is anywhere in the central states.”
Her writings of the Limberlost swamp have inspired Ken Brunswick to restore some of
the 13,000 acres of the old swamp. Since the 1990s, Ken has worked hard to return over
1500 acres of Gene’s beloved swamp back to wetlands.
Gene tried to put nature into her fiction writings. She preferred to write non fiction
but the books of fiction were more popular. “Moths of the Limberlost,” “Friends in
Feathers,” and “What I have Done With Birds,” were three of her best known non
fiction books. William Lyon Phelps, an educator and critic, said of Gene about 1913,
“she is primarily a naturalist, one of the foremost in America and has published a
number of books on the flora and fauna illustrated with photos of her own taking.” She
spent years collecting material for these books. Her book on moths greatly added to the
knowledge of these beautiful creatures of the night.
She was accepted by her peers in the birding community. Gene was the main speaker at
the 1908 Indiana Audubon state meeting that was held in Fort Wayne. Her two lectures
were on “The Experiences of a Bird Woman” and “The Camera vs the Brush in Bird
Reproduction.”
With some of the proceeds from “The Girl of the Limberlost” she bought 115 shares of
stock in the Bank of Geneva for both her husband and herself. This secured his position
as head cashier and placed both of them on the board of directors. This was in 1912 and
still eight years before women had the right to vote. By this time, she was financially
independent and when she chose to build her home “Wildflower Woods” on Sylvan Lake
it was with money she earned as a writer.
By the 1920s, Gene was trying her hand turning her books into movies. She formed Gene
Stratton-Porter Productions and hired James Leo Meehan as her director. He married
her daughter Jeanette making it a family business. She was just getting into this business
and building a home in California when she was fatally injured in a car accident on 6
December 1924.
Gene’s homes in Geneva and Rome City are now both state historic sites and open to the
public.
Most people in northern Indiana know Gene Stratton-Porter as a novelist; her most
famous books being “The Girl of the Limberlost” and “Freckles.” Few knew that among
her talents she was an early naturalist, nature photographer, artist, and movie director.
Gene wrote both fiction and non fiction books and magazine articles. She illustrated her
writings with her own drawings or used her own photography. She even developed her
own film. Her darkroom was the family bathroom. She was not content to use pictures of
mounted birds and animals in her books which was the common practice at the time. She
would go into the Limberlost wearing rubber boots, taking her large camera and often a
gun with her for protection against the Massassauga rattlers that infested the swamp. It
is at the Limberlost Swamp near her home in Geneva that she began her serious nature
studies.
Her first ten books were written while living in Geneva near the Limberlost swamp which
was her inspiration for both her fiction and non fiction writings. Her first book “Song of
the Cardinal” was published in 1903. In an early book review, she is quoted as saying
“The Limberlost......is a great natural paradise as there is anywhere in the central states.”
Her writings of the Limberlost swamp have inspired Ken Brunswick to restore some of
the 13,000 acres of the old swamp. Since the 1990s, Ken has worked hard to return over
1500 acres of Gene’s beloved swamp back to wetlands.
Gene tried to put nature into her fiction writings. She preferred to write non fiction
but the books of fiction were more popular. “Moths of the Limberlost,” “Friends in
Feathers,” and “What I have Done With Birds,” were three of her best known non
fiction books. William Lyon Phelps, an educator and critic, said of Gene about 1913,
“she is primarily a naturalist, one of the foremost in America and has published a
number of books on the flora and fauna illustrated with photos of her own taking.” She
spent years collecting material for these books. Her book on moths greatly added to the
knowledge of these beautiful creatures of the night.
She was accepted by her peers in the birding community. Gene was the main speaker at
the 1908 Indiana Audubon state meeting that was held in Fort Wayne. Her two lectures
were on “The Experiences of a Bird Woman” and “The Camera vs the Brush in Bird
Reproduction.”
With some of the proceeds from “The Girl of the Limberlost” she bought 115 shares of
stock in the Bank of Geneva for both her husband and herself. This secured his position
as head cashier and placed both of them on the board of directors. This was in 1912 and
still eight years before women had the right to vote. By this time, she was financially
independent and when she chose to build her home “Wildflower Woods” on Sylvan Lake
it was with money she earned as a writer.
By the 1920s, Gene was trying her hand turning her books into movies. She formed Gene
Stratton-Porter Productions and hired James Leo Meehan as her director. He married
her daughter Jeanette making it a family business. She was just getting into this business
and building a home in California when she was fatally injured in a car accident on 6
December 1924.
Gene’s homes in Geneva and Rome City are now both state historic sites and open to the
public.
RSS Feed
