Cecile Hulse Matschat (1895–March 4, 1976) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

geographer and botanist, known best as the author of books on gardens, gardening and the

Okefenokee Swamp The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee ...

Biography

Cecile Hulse Matschat was born in 1895 and grew up in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, later studying art at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

. Growing up, she began studying

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

in nearby swamps and in New Jersey, eventually expanding her explorations to the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. She collected the orchids for paintings. Throughout Matschat's career, she wrote 16 books including her Rivers of America book on the

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

—''Suwanee River: Strange Green Land'' (Farrar & Rinehart, 1938)— provided rare insight into the society and history of the people of the Okefenokee Swamp. She won a

Literary Guild The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a way to encourag ...

award and membership in the

Explorer's Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

for the work. Matschat was a member of the

Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and h ...

from 1937 to 1966. Matschat died on March 4, 1976, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Works

* ''Mexican Plants for American Gardens'' (

Houghton Mifflin Co. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financ ...

, Boston, 1935) * ''The Garden Calendar'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1936) * ''The Garden Primers'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1937), illustrated by Jean Martin ** ''How to Make a Garden'' ** ''Planning the Home Grounds'' ** ''Annuals and Perennials'' ** ''Shrubs and Trees'' ** ''Bulbs and House Plants'' * ''Suwanee River: Strange Green Land'' (

Farrar & Rinehart Farrar & Rinehart (1929–1946) was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both nonfiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Nero ...

, New York, 1938), illus.

Alexander Key Alexander Hill Key (September 21, 1904 – July 25, 1979) was an American science fiction writer who primarily wrote children's literature. Early life Key was born in 1904 in LaPlatte, Maryland. His parents, Alexander Hill and Charlotte ...

– Volume 3 of the

Rivers of America Series The Rivers of America Series is a landmark series of books on American rivers, for the most part written by literary figures rather than historians. The series spanned three publishers and thirty-seven years. History The Rivers of America Series ...

* ''Seven Grass Huts: An Engineer's Wife in Central And South America'' (Farrar & Rinehart, 1939), illus. Matschat * ''American Wild Flowers'' (

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, New York, 1940) * ''Preacher on Horseback'' (Farrar & Rinehart, 1940; Cassell, London, 1941) * ''Murder in Okefenokee'' (Farrar & Rinehart, 1941) * ''American Butterflies and Moths'' (Random House, 1942), illus. Rudolf Freund * ''Tavern in the Town'' (Farrar & Rinehart, 1942; Cassell, 1944) * ''Highway to Heaven'' (Farrar & Rinehart, 1942) * ''Murder at the Black Crook (Farrar & Rinehart, 1943; Cassell, 1945) * ''Land of the Big Swamp: A Story of the Okefenokee Settlement'' ( John C. Winston, Philadelphia, 1954), illus.

* ''Animals Of The Valley Of The Amazon'' (

Abelard-Schuman Thomas Y. Crowell Co. was a publishing company founded by Thomas Y. Crowell. The company began as a bookbindery founded by Benjamin Bradley in 1834. Crowell operated the business after Bradley's death in 1862 and eventually purchased the compan ...

, New York, 1965), illus. Edward Osmond

References

External links

Cecile Hulse Matschat
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Authorities — with 19 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Matschat, Cecile Hulse 1895 births 1976 deaths American garden writers American nature writers Members of the Society of Woman Geographers Pratt Institute alumni

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links