Limberlost & Found

The Life and Legacy of Gene Stratton-Porter

Gene Stratton-Porter was one of the most prolific Hoosier writers of all time. In IHS’s newest exhibit, Limberlost & Found, we look at the life, writing, photography and heritage of Gene Stratton-Porter. Opening June 15, 2024, the exhibit will showcase her legacy — a complex and storied one — and what it tells us about our world today.

She was born in August 1863, in Wabash County, Indiana. As a child, she had a special love for birds and spent much time outside at Hopewell, her family farm. Into her adulthood, she took up nature photography, spending hours in the swamp to get the shot just right.

In 1903, Stratton-Porter published her first book, The Song of the Cardinal, combining her love of birds with writing. She would go on to write 12 novels, seven nature studies, and several poetry and non-fiction publications. Some of her most famous works include the novels Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles.

Gene Stratton-Porter’s Cabin at Wildflower Woods on Sylvan Lake, Rome City, Indiana, ca. 1940, Indiana Historical Society, P0408.

In many of her books, she taught a love for the natural world, especially her beloved Limberlost Swamp in Geneva, Indiana. Visitors will experience her deep love of nature through her publications and photography.

Through highlighting the IHS collections, the exhibit will tell the story of Gene Stratton-Porter’s photography, which displays animals and plants of Indiana’s past and present; materials about her homes, which are Indiana historic sites today; and books adapted into several films.

Supported by the Emerson B. and Jane H. Houck Endowment for Hoosier Photography