This chapter explores Geneva Grace Stratton's childhood on a Wabash County farm, portraying her as a late surprise child in a large family beset by challenges, including her mother's illness. It highlights her deep bond with nature and her compassion for animals, as well as the impacts of family tragedies that shaped her formative years. Geneva's growing passion for writing emerges amidst societal expectations, ultimately leading her into the world of the Chautauqua movement and complex romantic correspondence.
This episode was recorded live at the Indiana History Center, where one of their current exhibits is about Gene Stratton-Porter, a best-selling writer, illustrator, nature photographer, naturalist, and film producer.
Research:
- Aalto, Kathryn. "THE LEGEND OF LIMBERLOST: A PATCH OF INDIANA WILDERNESS FULFILLS THE VISION OF AN OVERLOOKED AMERICAN NATURALIST, GENE STRATTON-PORTER." Smithsonian, vol. 50, no. 10, Mar. 2020, pp. 56+. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A617619457/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=1e942034. Accessed 8 July 2024.
- Aldridge, Ann and Nancy B. Carlson, editors. “Gene Stratton-Porter: Voice of the Limberlost.” Ball State University. 1996 and 2001. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvOWDOfxbLw
- Armitage, Kevin. “On Gene Stratton Porter's Conservation Aesthetic.” Environmental History , Jan., 2009, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 2009). https://www.jstor.org/stable/25473331
- Asian American Riverside. “Her Father's Daughter and anti-Japanese Legislation.” California Council for the Humanities. https://aar.ucr.edu/HerFathersDaughter/index.html
- Benett, Pamela J., editor. “Gene Stratton-Porter.” The Indiana Historian. September 1996.
- Caywood, Carolyn. “Bigotry by the Book,” School Library Journal (December 1992).
- Davis, Cooper. “Gene Stratton-Porter: A Hoosier Renaissance Woman.” Indiana Historical Society. https://indianahistory.org/blog/gene-stratton-porter-a-hoosier-renaissance-woman/
- Dessner, Lawrence Jay. "Class, Gender, and Sexuality in Gene Stratton-Porter's 'Freckles.'(early 20th-century best-seller)(Critical Essay)." Papers on Language & Literature, vol. 36, no. 2, spring 2000, p. 139. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A63045310/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ffcf7ac3. Accessed 8 July 2024.
- "Gene Stratton-Porter." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Online, Gale, 2013. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2419201172/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=db957024. Accessed 8 July 2024.
- Green, Amy S. “Two Women Naturalists and the Search for Autonomy: Anna Botsford Comstock and the Producer Ethic; Gene Stratton-Porter and the Gospel of Wealth.” Women's Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1/2, Earthwork: Women and Environments (Spring - Summer, 2001). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40004614
- Indiana Historical Bureau. “Gene Stratton-Porter.” https://www.in.gov/history/state-historical-markers/find-a-marker/gene-stratton-porter/#_edn3
- Indiana Historical Society. “Gene Stratton-Porter.” https://indianahistory.org/education/education-resources/educator-resources/famous-hoosiers/gene-stratton-porter/
- Indiana Historical Society. “Gene Stratton-Porter.” https://www.in.gov/governorhistory/mitchdaniels/3324.htm
- W.L. “Her Father’s Daughter.” Cincinnati Inquirer. 9/4/2021.
- Long, Judith Reick. “Gene Stratton-Porter: Novelist and Naturalist.” Indianapolis : Indiana Historical Society. 1990.
- Meehan, Jeanette Porter. “The Lady of the Limberlost;: The life and letters of Gene Stratton-Porter.” Doubleday. 1928. https://archive.org/details/bwb_P8-AIO-567/mode/1up
- Morrow, Barbara Olenyik. “Nature’s Storyteller: The Life of Gene Stratton-Porter.” Indiana Historical Society Press. 2016.
- Patterson, Tom. “Japanese in Riverside area: new mystery about old tragedy.” The Press-Enterprise, February 21, 1971. https://asianamericanriverside.ucr.edu/HerFathersDaughter/TomPatterson.html
- Renslow, Jessica. “After Limberlost: Gene Stratton-Porter's Life in California.” Documentary. 2013.
- Stratton-Porter, Gene. “Gene Stratton-Porter: A Little Story of The Life and Work and Ideals of ‘The Bird Woman.’” Edited by Eugene F. (Eugene Francis) Saxton. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926. https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stratton/gene/gene.html
- Stratton-Porter, Gene. “Moths of the Limberlost.” Garden City, N.Y, Doubleday, Page & company, 1912. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.56100
- Stratton-Porter, Gene. “What I have done with birds; character studies of native American birds which, through friendly advances, I induced to pose for me, or succeeded in photographing by good fortune, with the story of my experiences in obtaining their pictures.” Indianapolis, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. 1907. https://archive.org/details/whatihavedonewit00strarich/page/5/mode/1up
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
