Hoyt, Minerva Hamilton (1866-1945)
Item
Title
Hoyt, Minerva Hamilton (1866-1945)
Contributor
Pryor, Erin
Source
birthday
1866-03-27
Birthplace
Durant, MI
Death Date
1945-12-15
Occupation
Activist
Biographical Text
Minerva is an American civil rights activist who fought for the establishment of Joshua Tree National Park in California. Hoyt was born to an upper-class family on a plantation in Mississippi. She attended a local school for white students. She married Dr. Albert Sherman The couple had two sons. Initially, the couple moved to New York City for a few years but then eventually relocated to South Pasadena, California in 1897. It was during her time in California that Hoyt developed an appreciation for the desert and gardening. She worked with numerous charities to hold events to promote deserts. After the deaths of her husband and two children, Hoyt traveled across America and even Europe to educate people on desert plants. In 1930, Hoyt founded the International Desert Conservation League where she encouraged the state of California to create parks in these deserts. Those parks are today’s Joshua Tree, Death Valley, and Anza-Borrego Desert. She was backed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared approximately 800,000 acres of California’s deserts to be named Joshua Tree National Monument.
