STRATTON-PORTER, Gene

Born Geneva Stratton, 17 August 1863, Wabash City, Indiana; died 6 December 1924, Los Angeles, California

Daughter of Mark and Mary Shellabarger Stratton; married Charles Dorwin Porter, 1886; children: one daughter

Gene Stratton-Porter was the youngest of 12 children. She married in 1886; there was one daughter. From early childhood, Stratton-Porter spent most of her time outdoors with her father and brothers and was fascinated by plants and birds. From her father, she learned her first lessons as a naturalist.

Few authors claim to write so directly from life. Stratton-Porter stressed that she based fictional characters on her beloved family and admired friends, insisting that true-to-life portraits need not focus on undesirable human traits. Similarly, the three areas in which she lived—the Wabash River Basin, the Limberlost Swamp in northeastern Indiana, and Southern California—figure importantly in her work.

Although Stratton-Porter was enormously popular and successful at several types of imaginative writing (magazine articles, short stories, poetry, and novels), she considered herself primarily a naturalist. In natural history as in fiction, Stratton-Porter relied wholly on her own observations, devoting enormous energy and facing considerable danger to achieve veracity. Largely self-educated, Stratton-Porter also trained herself as an expert photographer and polished her drawing skills to illustrate the nature books. Although critics have questioned the accuracy of some of her observations, Stratton-Porter had total confidence in her field work as in her personal experience.

Stratton-Porter's aim was to teach love of nature, God, and one's fellow man, and these themes regulate all her fiction. An equally important motif is familial heritage and relationships. Often a mystery about the family's background lends tension. Another powerful pattern is the consistent strength and capability of the females. Although these characters believe that their first obligation is to run a perfect home and to nurture husband and children, they are also frequently committed to a life work of their own. They are able, productive citizens, usually equal partners in their marriages, who value the money earned for the independence it represents.

Stratton-Porter's enduring popular reputation is based largely on her novels. Freckles (1904), the story of a maimed orphan who works his way to fame, position, and wealth through honesty, bravery, and tremendous effort, is a prime example of the pluck-makes-luck school of American fiction. The sequel, A Girl of the Limberlost (1909), portrays Elnora Comstock, born in the Limberlost and dedicated to studying and earning her way out of it and to resolving a severely damaged relationship with her mother. Some of the values the Limberlost youngsters share—the desires for urban life, fine clothing, wealth, and social position—have been sharply criticized, but for Stratton-Porter, these were the logical rewards of ability and extremely hard work. These two novels celebrate the swamp's danger as well as its beauty and are surprisingly little concerned with conservation; Stratton-Porter depicts the area as a natural prey to progress.

Other novels clearly reflect Stratton-Porter's lifelong commitment to conservationism, and their protagonists value money in part as a means of serving humanity. David Langston in The Harvester (1911) and Linda Strong in Her Father's Daughter (1921) earn their livings from the flora, but they also make deliberate efforts to harvest wisely and to save threatened species.

Though accused of preoccupation with happy endings and the sunny side of life, Stratton-Porter intended thoughtful examination of serious human problems. At the Foot of the Rainbow (1907) and the long narrative poem, "Euphorbia" (Good Housekeeping, Jan.—Mar. 1923) treat serious marital discord, and The Magic Garden (1927) explores problems faced by children of divorced parents. In Michael O' Halloran (1915), Stratton-Porter examines the work ethic as spiritual salvation for both Mickey, a slum child, and Nellie Minturn, a woman whose inherited wealth has barred her from genuine love. Mahala, of The White Flag (1923), struggles for self-definition as well as purity. Always, the Stratton-Porter formula prevails: central love stories embellished by nature lore, a pattern devised deliberately to make nature study and moral guidance palatable and salable.

More than 20 films were based on the novels, and Stratton-Porter organized her own company, Gene Stratton-Porter Productions, to protect the moralistic tone of her work. The movies she produced were popular but not landmark productions.

Perhaps the most widely read female American author of her day, Stratton-Porter is generally considered somewhat limited in her world view, but she is an author of power, invention, and strong narrative ability.

Other Works:

The Song of the Cardinal (1903). What I Have Done with Birds (1907). Birds of the Bible (1909). Music of the Wild (1910). After the Flood (1911). Moths of the Limberlost (1912). Laddie (1913). Birds of the Limberlost (1914). Morning Face (1916). Friends in Feathers (1917). A Daughter of the Land (1918). Homing with the Birds (1919). The Firebird (1922). Jesus of the Emerald (1923). Wings (1923). The Keeper of the Bees (1925). Tales You Won't Believe (1925). Let Us Highly Resolve (1927).

Bibliography:

Hart, J. D., The Popular Book: A History of America's Literary Taste (1950). Long, J. R., Gene Stratton-Porter: Novelist and Naturalist (1990). MacLean, D. G., Gene Stratton-Porter: A Bibliography and Collector's Guide (1976). Overton, G., American Night's Entertainment (1923). Porter-Meehan, J., Life and Letters of Gene Stratton-Porter (1927, 1972). Richards, B., Gene Stratton-Porter (1980). S. F. E. [E. F. Saxton], Gene Stratton-Porter: A Little Story of the Life and Works and Ideals of "The Bird Woman" (1915).