Genevieve Gillette / Genevieve Gillette

Conservationist E. Genevieve Gillette was born on May 19, 1898, in Lansing. She became the first female graduate from Michigan Agricultural College’s landscape architecture program in 1920. After graduation, she worked for landscape architect Jens Jensen in Chicago until she moved to Detroit in 1924. About the same time, Gillette began working with classmate Percy J. Hoffmaster, then superintendent of the Michigan state parks system and later Department of Conservation director, to develop and promote Michigan State Parks, natural areas and nature education. Gillette conducted much of her work through such organizations as the Michigan Horticultural Society, Michigan Parks Association (of which she was president), Michigan Natural Areas Council, Michigan Botanical Club, and the Michigan Wilderness and Natural Areas Advisory Board. For more than sixty years, landscape architect Genevieve Gillette focused her conservation efforts on preserving and creating parks, including Hartwick Pines, Muskegon, P. J. Hoffmaster, and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Parks. As an unpaid volunteer, she advocated for state park funding. In 1969 she testified at a legislative hearing, arguing that it was the state’s duty to help preserve Michigan’s “heritage of natural beauty.” In the 1950s she began working on proposals to establish a national park that included Lake Michigan sand dunes and the Platte River. She and others fought against strong opposition until Congress created Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 1970. Gillette died on May 23, 1986. Her bequest to the state was used to help purchase 5,000 acres along Lake Huron to create Thompson’s Harbor State Park.