Special Collections authors you’ve never heard of

Part III: Gene Stratton-Porter

This week marks the 150 anniversary of the Indiana-born author Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924). Her interest in nature led her to a career in writing and photography for nature magazines. Stratton-Porter published a dozen novels as well as books of poetry and nature writing. Her novels, especially Freckles (1904) and A Girl of the Limberlost (1909) were quite popular with early 20^th century readers, both for their fascinating depictions of Indiana’s threatened ecosystems as well as for the romance and adventure of her plots. Stratton-Porter was also a conservationist who used her fame and income to preserve Indiana’s wetlands. She also propagated endangered plants in her own gardens. Stratton-Porter moved to California after World War I, both for health reasons and to oversee her business interests in the film industry. Stratton-Porter formed her own movie production company; eight of her novels have been turned into film.

Special Collections owns several first editions of Stratton-Porter’s books, including a presentation copy of her long poem The Fire Bird and an autographed copy of her book of religious poems, Jesus of the Emerald.