Famed archer’s Hall of Fame selection on target

Indiana DNR Release:

Gene Stratton-Porter’s novel “A Girl of the Limberlost” was first published 100 years ago, but Dave Fox doesn’t hesitate when asked if the story has relevance today.

“JK Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books, says it is one of her top five favorite children’s books,” said Fox, property manager at the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site in Rome City.

Porter will be inducted into the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame on Friday during a banquet and ceremonies at The Garrison at Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. The Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame recognizes individuals with Indiana ties for their contributions to the state’s natural or cultural heritage.

Porter authored 12 novels, seven nature books, two books of poetry, children’s books and numerous magazine articles. With an estimated 50 million readers, her works have been translated into several foreign languages as well as Braille. Eight of her novels were produced as motion pictures.

“She was one of Indiana’s first environmentalists,” Fox said. “She worked alongside (Richard) Lieber and (Charles) Deam, and really brought Indiana’s environmental situation to the attention of people. She did that in a passive way through her stories, and in an active way in speaking to the legislature on laws about the drainage of wetlands.”

Porter’s affection for wetlands stemmed from her younger days spent near the Limberlost Swamp, a 13,000-acre wetland that covered parts of Adams, Wells and Jay counties in Indiana and stretched across the state line to Mercer County in Ohio. It was the perfect location for her study of nature and proved inspiration for early Porter novels such as “Song of the Cardinal,” “Freckles” and “A Girl of the Limberlost.”

She named her Geneva, Indiana, home Limberlost and it also is a state historic site managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

In 1913, Porter built a second home on the shores of Sylvan Lake near Rome City. The surrounding woodlands provided another source for her nature studies, writings and photography. The site currently encompasses 125 acres, 20 of which are part of Porter’s original property.

Others who are being inducted to the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame are Leila (Lee) Botts, Lynton Caldwell, Reynold (Rey) Carlson, Bill and Gayle Cook, Charles C. Deam, Tom and Jane Dustin, the Efroymson family, President Benjamin Harrison, Marion Jackson, Richard Lieber, Eli Lilly, Sally Reahard, Rev. Damian Schmelz, and J. Maurice Thompson.

Brief profiles of the inductees are published in the September/October issue of Outdoor Indiana magazine, which is available in leading bookstores or through subscription at OutdoorIndiana.org.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet are available by contacting Indiana Natural Resources Foundation executive director Bourke Patton at (317) 234-5447 or by email at bpatton@dnr.IN.gov