On Garde Path and Hiking Trail: Conservation and Community in the Life of Caroline Livermore
Graduation Date
Spring 1999
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD
Second Reader
Leslie Ross, PhD
Abstract
Conservationist Caroline Sealy Livermore (1885-1968) was the main force in a series of community-based campaigns that created several county and state parks in Marin County, California. Founder of the Marin Conservation League in 1934, Livermore established a partnership between the public and local government agencies with influential results. Her commitment to Marin’s cultural resources culminated in her contribution to the inception of the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross, California and her participation in the site selection committee for the Marin Civic Center. This study examines Caroline Livermore’s life, revealing social and historic influences on her public career, including an analysis of the culture of leisure gardening in Marin and its connections to conservationist history.