DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Mary Daggett Lake, right there in Tarrant County. Now, some folks leave a mark on a town by buildin' something tall. Mary Daggett Lake left her mark by growin' things — and writin' things down, and playin' music, and organizin' people, and generally refusin' to sit still.
Fort Worth was her hometown, born there on November 11th, 1880, and she spent the better part of the first half of the twentieth century making sure it was a finer place than she found it. She was a botanist, a musician, an author, and a clubwoman — and you might think that's already a full life, but Mary Daggett Lake was just gettin' warmed up. In the 1920s and 1930s, she sat down and chronicled the lives of pioneer Fort Worth families in a series of articles for the Star-Telegram.
She was preserving stories the way a good botanist preserves a specimen — carefully, before they're gone. But the work she's perhaps best remembered for had roots in the ground itself. Through her active involvement and leadership with the Fort Worth Garden Club, the Texas Federation of Garden Clubs, the Fort Worth Park Board, and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Mary gained widespread recognition for her efforts in landscape conservation and beautification.
That is a serious constellation of organizations, and she wasn't just lending her name to any of them — she was leading. And here's where the story lands with some real weight. Her labors on behalf of the Fort Worth Garden Center led to a national award for its work.
A Fort Worth woman, tending Fort Worth soil, earning recognition all the way to the national level. She passed on March 1st, 1955, but the gardens, the articles, the legacy of civic devotion — those don't wilt so easy. Mary Daggett Lake saw to that.
What the marker says
(Nov. 11, 1880-Mar. 1, 1955) A botanist, musician, author and clubwoman, Fort Worth native Mary Daggett Lake played a prominent role in the civic life of her hometown throughout the first half of the 20th century. She chronicled the lives of pioneer Fort Worth families in a series of articles for the Star-Telegram in the 1920s and 1930s. Through her active involvement and leadership with the Fort Worth Garden Club, the Texas Federation of Garden Clubs, the Fort Worth Park Board and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Mary gained widespread recognition for her efforts in landscape conservation and beautification. Her labors on behalf of the Fort Worth Garden Center led to a national award for its work. (2001)