Country Club Section in Coral Gables in Miami-Dade County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Ruth Bryan Owen Waterway Park

Photographed By Marsha A. Matson, circa February 13, 2015

1. Ruth Bryan Owen Waterway Park Marker

Inscription. Ruth Bryan Owen was the daughter of famed orator and Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan. She was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, on October 2, 1885. During World War I, she served as a nurse in the Egyptian-Palestine campaign. She lived in Coral Gables, was Vice President of the first Board of Regents of the University of Miami from 1925 to 1928 and taught speech at the university from 1926 to 1928. A Democrat from Florida, Ruth Bryan Owen was a member of the Seventy-first and Seventy-second Congresses (1928-1933) and was the first woman elected to Congress from the South. She was also the first congresswoman to serve on a major committee when she became a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. She worked with environmentalist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas to help create Everglades National Park. In 1933 she was appointed Minister to Denmark by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, thus becoming the first American woman to hold a major diplomatic assignment and she was President Harry Truman's appointee to the United Nations General Assembly. Ruth Bryan Owen died while on a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, July 26, 1954.

Erected by City of Coral Gables.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment

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• Government & Politics • War, World I. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #33 Harry S. Truman series list. A significant historical date for this entry is July 26, 1890.

Location. 25° 44.111′ N, 80° 16.452′ W. Marker is in Coral Gables, Florida, in Miami-Dade County. It is in the Country Club Section. Marker is on Granada Boulevard north of Southwest 40 th Street (State Road 976), on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Miami FL 33134, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Biltmore Hotel (approx. half a mile away); Coral Gables Congregational Church (approx. 0.6 miles away); Coral Gables Rapid Transit (approx. 0.6 miles away); The Historic 1926 White Way Lights (approx. 0.6 miles away); U of M Opened Here (approx. 0.7 miles away); Venetian Pool (approx. 0.7 miles away); Coral Gables Merrick House (approx. one mile away); Site of Packing House of Coral Gables Plantation (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Coral Gables.

More about this marker. The marker is located at the entrance to a small park, which has a scenic view of a waterway, picnic

Photographed By Marsha A. Matson, circa February 13, 2015

2. Ruth Bryan Owen Waterway Park Marker

tables, benches and walking path.

Also see . . . Critical Past. Historic film footage of First Lady of U.S. Eleanor Roosevelt attends wedding of U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Ruth Bryan Owen to Danish Captain Borge Rohde in Hude Park, New York. U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and others pose with the couple. The couple talk together. President Roosevelt's car leaves the church, with a Secret Service agent riding on running board, and others running to catch up. (Submitted on April 13, 2015, by Marsha A. Matson of Palmetto Bay, Florida.)

Additional commentary.
1.
Ruth Bryan Owen championed the creation of Everglades National Park. A Danish newspaper described her actions at a protest by landowners against the park:
"And she thought that the Everglades swamps should be a national park. At a meeting of the Congress was a group of landowners in Everglades. (They) trooped up to protest against conservation. They stated that it was pointless to classify their lands as a national park because Everglades was once worthless mud filled with snakes and mosquitoes. The landowners had brought a live snake, so everyone could see how disgusting and dangerous a place that was involved. But Ruth grabbed the snake and placed it around her neck and said, 'Exactly so scared we are of snakes in

South view of waterway toward Bird Road bridge image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Marsha A. Matson, February 13, 2015

3. South view of waterway toward Bird Road bridge

the Everglades.' And yes, the national park was created." (Translated from http://www.information.dk/93517)

— Submitted April 13, 2015, by Marsha A. Matson of Palmetto Bay, Florida.

North view of waterway image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Marsha A. Matson, February 13, 2015

4. North view of waterway

Ruth Bryan Owen image. Click for full size.

HistoryMiamiArchives.org, circa 1935

5. Ruth Bryan Owen

Credits. This page was last revised on February 3, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 13, 2015, by Marsha A. Matson of Palmetto Bay, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,163 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 13, 2015, by Marsha A. Matson of Palmetto Bay, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.