Monday, February 26, 2018

Minneapolis and Marjory Stoneman Douglas

My friend Karen Cooper writes about the local history of the Stoneman Douglas family. Marjory, after whom the school in Florida is named, was born here. Cooper is a brilliant scholar of the history of the Cities. She knows more about the area than anyone else I've ever met, especially the history of Minnehaha Falls. I'm glad she told these stories.
Ten years on, Frank was in Miami, while Lilias as still at home. Frank had switched careers again, back to his first love: the press. He was the first editor-in-chief of the Miami Herald. Kate and Forrest Rundell moved to Florida with Marjory’s grandmother Althea.
Lillian Trefethen’s struggles with mental illness were well-documented elsewhere. She died in 1912. In 1914, the week of Marjory’s 24th birthday, Frank and Lilias married. Before long, Marjory and Frank were reunited when she moved to Miami...it is worth emphasizing one other small Minnesota connection. Marjory only lived in Minnesota for her first 6 years, yet her earliest memory was listening to her father read “The Song of Hiawatha.”