Lovingly referred to as the Grande Dame of the Everglades, she was also referred to by with other less loving names by the hostile agricultural, phosphate, and sugar interests looking to exploit Florida natural resources through corruption.
Douglas was outspoken and politically on fire for women's suffrage and civil rights. Later in life at the age of 79, she took up the cause for the Florida Everglades once again. Her life was that of a relentless reporter and fearless crusader for the preservation and restoration of South Florida natural resources. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for that passion. An obituary in The Independent in London read, "In the history of the American environmental movement, there have been few more remarkable figures than Marjory Stoneman Douglas."
