Lady Raiders Luncheon

Lecture Description

When Julia Sturtevant Tuttle, a young wife and mother of two from Cleveland, visited her parents in remote South Florida in 1875, she fell in love with the clear blue waters of Biscayne Bay. She later purchased 640 acres at the mouth of the Miami River and returned as a widow to live there in 1891. Thanks to her convincing Henry Flagler to bring his railroad to the Miami River, and working relentlessly to build, promote, and nurture the community, in 1896 Miami was incorporated as a city. In her seven years of living on the banks of the Miami River, Julia Tuttle transformed a region. She can be seen as a role model for the strong women leaders who have impacted Miami ever since.

Becky Roper Matkov, a director and past president of the Deering Estate Foundation, is a writer, acclaimed historic preservationist, and author of the award-winning documentary On This Land, the Charles Deering Estate. For 18 years she served as executive director of Dade Heritage Trust, leading fights to save the Freedom Tower, the Historic Miami City Cemetery, and the 2000-year-old Miami Circle. She has served as chairperson of the State Historic Preservation Advisory Council, as a trustee of the Florida Trust, and as president of the Junior League of Miami. For ten years she was the Florida Manager of the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation, working on environmental and preservation issues throughout the state.