Martha Crone

Expand all

Martha Crone and Eloise Butler

Martha E. Crone was a botanist and horticulturist with a passion for conservation. Largely self-taught, Crone was nevertheless an expert in her field. Much of what she learned came from Eloise Butler, designer and curator of the native wildflower garden in Minneapolis which would become her namesake. Crone was an avid visitor of the garden, often asking Eloise questions, providing her with specimens, and offering assistance. This volunteer work began when she was just 24, and spanned 15 years until Eloise’s death at the garden in 1933. Martha and Eloise exchanged many letters, detailing their personal lives, sending plant samples, and discussing their work at the garden. During this time Crone also began serving as secretary of the Minnesota Mycological Society, to which both she and her husband held membership for several decades.

In 1933, Martha succeeded Eloise as the temporary curator of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, a position which she then held for 26 years until her retirement in 1959. During her time there, she expanded the garden to include 13 acres and planted over 42,000 plants in her own estimates. Most of this work was done by hand. Crone also founded the Friends of the Wildflower Garden, whose mission is “to protect, preserve, and promote the interests of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary … and to educate and inspire all people in relating to the natural world”.

The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary remains the first and oldest public wildflower garden in the United States. Many of these plants are rare and would have been destroyed in their natural habitat due to development. Crone’s efforts helped to establish, maintain, and expand the garden utilizing plants found at Cedar Creek and elsewhere, ensuring its legacy as well as the continued survival of many species threatened by human activities.

Connections to Cedar Creek

Martha and her husband William purchased 40 acres of land in what was known at the time as the Cedar Creek Forest, which would later be purchased from her by the University of Minnesota to become part of the reserve. The Crones built a cabin on this land in an area just south of Cedar Bog that would come to be known as “Crone’s Island” (later “Crone’s Knoll”), and visited weekly to collect samples of plants and fungi on Martha’s days off. The project lasted multiple years and required them to carry materials through the swamp after driving them from East Bethel. Martha transplanted 24 ram’s head lady’s slippers (Cypripedium arietinum) and 3 common junipers (Juniperus communis) from the bog to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. The lady slippers bloomed well the first year, spurring Crone to report to the Board of Park Commissions about the potential for reestablishing the plant, which had failed thus far. Arthur N. Wilcox, who would later become the director of Cedar Creek Natural History Area (now Cedar Creek Ecosystem Reserve), consulted with Crone in 1940 about the conservation potential of the land. This was noted in her diary entry for the day, with Crone writing, “Dr. A. N. Wilcox is to get our version of conservation at Cedar Bog”. Though the exact date is unknown, Wilcox did purchase the land from her sometime prior to 1961.

In 1955, she was hired at Cedar Creek to serve on the Special Consultant Group on Wildlife. Two years later, she was invited to attend the dedication of the then-named Cedar Creek Forest Laboratory. The lab area could only be accessed through the land of neighboring property owners, including the Crones.

Other Work

Always a busy woman, Crone was an active member of the Minneapolis Bird Club, Minneapolis Science Museum Society, and Cook County Historical Society. She worked at the Minneapolis Public Library Science Museum during the months that the garden was closed. Crone remained active in multiple roles in the Friends of the Wildflower Garden long after retiring as its curator. In total, she dedicated an estimated 53 years to the garden. She was honored with the bronze medal for horticultural achievement by the Minnesota Horticultural Society in the 1950s, and in the 70s a shelter in the wildflower garden was dedicated to her.

Through her work and her enthusiasm, she inspired future generations, from botanists to birders alike. “Mrs. Crone seemed so approachable that in my following high school years, while birding by myself in the Garden, I felt bold enough to knock on her cottage door. That was a brown, vine covered wooden house, or what I called a shack. She could always tell me what birds were in the Garden that day.”

As Martha herself wrote in her final correspondence to the Friends of the Wildflower Garden, “I have devoted my life to what I consider this satisfying pursuit”.

References