Marjorie Vreeland von Gal (in memoriam)
Statement: Known to all as Mimi, my grandmother Marjorie Vreeland von Gal (1892–1985) consistently pushed the boundaries of what women could and should do. She drove a truck to transport medical supplies in World War II; she was arrested for distributing birth control in Connecticut; she divorced her husband when it was just not done and raised her four sons on her own. Most of all, she was a photographer and a gardener. Between and just after the World Wars, she traveled the globe, taking garden photos with her trusty Leica camera. She brought bulbs home from Holland and great stories from exotic places like Egypt, Russia, and China. She had a big, old, somewhat run-down garden with the only mixed border in our town of Brewster, New York, and she even had a special room for flower-arranging. She was a Garden Club of America judge. Tall and imposing and ever the lady, she was graciously unstoppable. She was beloved and inspiring, and she was my mentor.
–Edwina von Gal, September 29, 2019