From left to right, Art Wade, Elaine Spencer, Valerie Rivers and Keith Honeycutt cut the ribbon to usher in the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings rose. It was dedicated to the author on Sunday afternoon at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings House and Farm.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings had two dreams that didn’t come true.
The first was to win a Nobel Prize, and the second was to have a rose named after her.
She won a Pulitzer Prize before her death in 1953, and now, 63 years later, a rose is registered under her name.
Two professors at Florida Southern College – literature professor Keith Huneycutt and rose expert Malcolm Manners – collaborated to make Rawlings’ dream a reality.
“She’s finally going to get her rose,” Huneycutt said.
The pair contacted Art Wade, who owns a rose nursery in Newberry, Florida, to help grow the new rose.
“I was only 9-years-old when she died. I would have loved to meet her.”
Elaine Spencer, the president of the Friends of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Farm, and Valerie Rivers, the manager of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, joined Wade and Huneycutt to cut a ribbon in honor of the rose.
Spencer’s father, a humanities professor at UF for 25 years, often had Rawlings as a guest speaker in his classes.
“I was only 9-years-old when she died,” Spencer said. “I would have loved to meet her.”
Rawlings’ relationship with UF was more than just a few guest appearances. After her death, her manuscripts were donated to the school and placed in Smathers Library. In 1958, UF opened Rawlings Hall, named in her honor.
Florence Turcotte, a literary manuscripts archivist, is responsible for Rawlings’ documents.
Turcotte said it’s nice Rawlings’ farm is close to UF. Students are able to read about Rawlings at the Smathers Library and then visit her property.
“The idea is you slip inside the grounds and you’re in the ’30s and ’40s,” she said. “The papers are given flesh by my referring people to her home, and when people want to learn more they come to the library.”
On Sunday, more than 50 people gathered at Rawlings’ home, which is now maintained as a Florida State Park in Cross Creek.
Three Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings rosebushes were planted in a flowerbed built outside the home.
Just before the dedication, a deer ate the new blooms on the rosebushes, said Lowell Garrett, a member of the board of directors for the Friends of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Farm.
During the celebration, two names were drawn out of a hat to win Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings rosebushes.
Marshi Huneycutt, Keith Huneycutt’s wife, won a rosebush. John Lowry then became the second winner.
“I was excited,” he said. “I love flowers, I love plants, and it’s what I do to entertain myself these days.”
The afternoon concluded with refreshments, lemonade and gingerbread made in Rawlings’ own kitchen.
“I hadn’t been out here for probably 30 years,” Lowry said. “It’s nice to be back; not much has changed.”
Email Catherine at: cdickson@alligator.org
