Florence Elfelt Bramhall (April 2, 1862 – December 22, 1924) was an American clubwoman and forest conservationist, based in Minnesota. She headed women's club efforts to create the forest preserve that became the

Chippewa National Forest Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices i ...

Early life

Florence Adelaide Elfelt was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, the daughter of businessman Abram S. Elfelt and Susan Carroll Fryer Elfelt. Her parents were both born in Pennsylvania; her family was Jewish, and her father was a founder and president of the B'nai B'rith Lodge in Saint Paul.

Career

Bramhall was active in the leadership of the Minnesota Federation of Women's Clubs and president of the Saint Paul Women's Civic League. She worked with the city on building playgrounds, and took a particular interest in forest conservation. In 1901 she spoke before the Minnesota state senate on the subject. Bramhall and professor

Maria Sanford Maria Louise Sanford (December 19, 1836 – April 21, 1920) was an American educator. She was a professor of history at Swarthmore College from 1871 to 1880 and a professor of rhetoric and elocution at the University of Minnesota from 1880 to 190 ...

are credited with ensuring the preservation of over 600,000 acres of pine forest in Minnesota, now part of the Chippewa National Forest, the first national forest east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. In addresses to the State Forestry Association, the State Horticultural Association, and the State Agricultural Association, Bramhall advocated a "forest park" concept, with scientific forestry practices. "It is impossible to think that people can be so blind to their own interests and the interests of the state as to let that magnificent forest be destroyed," she told the '' St. Paul Globe'' in 1900. In 1903 Bramhall declined a nomination for president of the Minnesota Federation of Women's Clubs, preferring not to compete with "even a respectable minority opposition" for the executive post. In 1904, she represented Minnesota state forestry association at a national congress on forestry held in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, when

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

delivered the address "The Forest in the Life of a Nation."

Personal life

Elfelt married twice. Her first husband was Bahamas fisheries owner Robert Francis Pyfrom; they married in 1883 and divorced a few years later. Her second husband was lawyer William Bramhall; they married in 1888. She died in 1924, aged 62 years.

References

External links

*Florence Elfelt Bramhall
"Women's Interest in Forestry"
''The Minnesota Horticulturist'' (August 1908): 294–298; a speech Bramhall gave to the state horticultural association {{DEFAULTSORT:Bramhall, Florence Elfelt 1862 births 1924 deaths People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Clubwomen Forest conservation