Name Minerva Hoyt | Died 1945 | |
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Minerva Hamilton Hoyt (March 27, 1866 – December 15, 1945) was an early American activist who worked to preserve California desert areas, including Joshua Tree National Park.
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Early life and move to California
Minerva Hamilton was born on March 27, 1866 on a plantation near Durant, Mississippi to an upper-class family. She attended a local school. After marrying Dr. Albert Sherman Hoyt, she moved with him to Pasadena, California. In Pasadena, she was a wealthy socialite and civic activist, working for a variety of civic causes, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Involvement in natural preservation
Hoyt became interested in Southern California's desert plants through her interest in gardening, particularly cactus and Joshua Trees. After the death of her husband in 1918, she became concerned that increased automobile traffic in the desert was threatening the area.
She began to exhibit desert plants across the country, to educate people about their qualities, starting at the 1928 Garden Club of America show in New York. She later exhibited as far as London. In 1930, Hoyt founded the International Desert Conservation League. Throughout the 1930s she worked to encourage the state of California to create three parks, including Joshua Tree, Death Valley, and Anza-Borrego Desert.
She also persuaded the Mexican government to set aside 10,000 acres for cactus preservation. In 1936, her efforts persuaded the administration of President Roosevelt to designate more than 800,000 acres in the area as the Joshua Tree National Monument.