Last updated: December 29, 2022
Person
Charlotte Read
Photo by Trent Albert
Quick Facts
Significance:
Environmental activist, conservationist, and educator in Northwest Indiana
Place of Birth:
Chicago, IL
Date of Birth:
March 27, 1929
Place of Death:
Chesterton, IN
Date of Death:
May 2, 2019
“Crusader of the Dunes”
Both gracious and positive, as well as incisive and fierce, Charlotte Read was a reverent guardian of public trust, who wholeheartedly committed herself to saving the Indiana Dunes from trickling to cascading threats. Always equipped with the facts and intensely credible, she joined her husband in establishing a national park in the Dunes in 1966 and continued a courageously dedicated life in environmental activism and education for over six decades.
Quote by her:
“Nothing that we did could have been done without all kinds of people who don’t get awards, whose names, maybe I didn’t even remember; but it's so important to have people who care.”
Quote about her:
“Her involvement with numerous committees illustrates her well-rounded interests in Indiana’s environmental heritage and her commitment to preserve the quality of the air, water and wildlife for all the citizens of Northwest Indiana and the nation.” -U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky
Biography:
Charlotte Johnson was the only child born to two Swedish immigrants in Chicago on March 27, 1929. Her father worked as a building contractor and painter in her youth. “I grew up near Jackson Park, and the lake was our playground. I can’t imagine growing up without that.” She attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, graduating in 1950 with a bachelors in economics.
One night in September of 1951, Charlotte met Herbert Read at a social function for singles. After having ice cream together and a second date to the stock car races, Herb took Charlotte to the dunes. Although they had never met, they grew up nearby one another and were alumni of the same university. Two years later on September 6th, 1952, she married Herb. “I was married into the Indiana Dunes,” Charlotte recalled.
Herb’s father was acquainted with Dorothy Buell and became familiar with her efforts; he got Herb and Charlotte to join the cause to save the Dunes. They wrote their first non-rent check as newlyweds for the Save the Dunes Council’s first fall dinner in 1952. Later they would agree they had no idea the amount of energy and time that would be required, but once they began, they could not stop.
In 1958, Charlotte and Herb started the Izaak Walton League’s Porter County chapter. The next year, In 1959 the couple moved to Indiana to live near the Dunes and raise their family. She recalled, “We had two sons, and a third on the way, and Herb decided it was time to move out of the city to raise our kids.” Charlotte spoke of the early years of the Save the Dunes Council:
I think that probably a lot of the council members thought that by getting out the message that [the dunes] were beautiful—there are all these birds and all these flowers—it would make its own case. You didn’t have to get [partisan] or political. They were just so beautiful that once you made the facts known, the numbers would flock… in ‘59 I think the petition drive was that type of thing. You want to impress legislators, and they tried to impress Congress, but it’s not the kind of lobbying or political involvement we thought we could do.
The group was beginning to transform. In their book, The Land Speaks, Debbie Lee and Kathryn Newfont wrote of the change in the activists:
As a result the previously nonpolitical group made a very politically charged move: it shifted its focus from raising funds to buy land for donation to the state park, to more direct efforts that challenged the creation of a port and proposed the establishment of a national lakeshore.
While Charlotte worked on the homefront, Herb was instrumental in stalling the funding of the port by finding errors in the report outlining its cost-benefit ratios. Their son recalled in an interview:
My mom and dad obviously have been well known our entire lives and for all these efforts, they have a celebrated public persona… But there are things people don’t know, like what a wonderful mother she was to all of us.
The article continued:
A mother who made a Jell-O mold in the shape of a five-pointed star, so each of her children got a piece; who often had one of the children, long before they were old enough to do so legally, grab the wheel and steer one of her vintage cars; who made Swedish pancakes and other treats; and who read classic literature to her children at bedtime.
Following a fourteen-year effort led by Dorothy Buell of the Save the Dunes Council, on October 14, 1966, Congress finally authorized an Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Charlotte remembered the unbelievable victory, “When the bill passed we had a euphoric moment.” Many in the Council believed this meant their work was over. “Everyone thought we could go home,” Charlotte said. Mrs. Read would later reflect on the success of the bill’s passing; “talk about babes in the woods.”
Although the park was authorized, it would not exist unless funds were also authorized for acquisition. Charlotte and several other Save the Dunes members traveled to Washington D.C. to demand funding for the newly designated national park. “Charlotte possessed a natural gift for diplomacy, and a capacity to sense another person’s character and values and to understand where it was possible to find common ground.” Senator Douglas had lost his bid for reelection, and the park had lost its major federal proponent. But in April of 1968, Congressional committees succumbed to the massive, coordinated lobbying efforts and allotted 2 million in emergency funds for acquisition.
According to the park’s administrative history, Funding for West Beach development became a reality in 1971 after Congressman Roush came to the Dunes and met with Superintendent Whitehouse, Sylvia Troy, Charlotte Read, and Herb. After the meeting, Whitehouse’s original $1.2 million request grew to $2.1 million.
Charlotte was a conservationist who contended that communication between the government and local groups left room for improvement in the early years of relations concerning Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. In 1971, the National Park Service unveiled their plans for the development of West Beach. The Council, led by Sylvia Troy, had to travel to Indianapolis to find what the park’s development plans were. “An hour before daybreak, Save the Dunes Council President met future Executive Director Charlotte Read and Porter County Chapter Izaak Walton League President Herbert Read to begin the trip.” Up until then the plans had remained closely guarded with no public input.
They were left in shock as the plan was unveiled:
“...two Olympic size swimming pools… two steel bathhouses…a three-story parking garage…a pavilion, sports fields, winter coasting slopes, a manmade dune, a bandshell and amphitheater, an ice-skating rink, basketball courts, a viewing terrace overlooking the swimming pools, a general field game area, a boating and fishing lagoon, five day-use shelters, storage and maintenance facilities, an administration building, and sixteen residential units for NPS employees.”
After the meeting quickly ended, the conservationists went up to view the plans closer-up. After saying the plans were not public, the officials collected the documents and left. “They act like they’re handling C.I.A. documents,” Charlotte Read quipped, shaking her head. “No, they act like we’re the enemy,” Troy remarked.
Charlotte commented after their gloomy lunch together, “This is too dangerous to believe. We’ll change those plans…”
“They protested to the newspapers, to their congressional supporters, and to the Secretary of the Interior… A planning advisory group incorporating local and regional planning agencies as well as area citizens’ groups was created; and a new, more acceptable General Management Plan for park development eventually emerged.” “Park service attitudes have subsequently changed. Local public hearings on General Management Plans are now required throughout the National Park system…”
In 1972, Charlotte became president of Porter County’s Izaak Walton League chapter. She would continue to lead the chapter until 1976. In 1974, Charlotte became a seasonal interpretive ranger for Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. “I realized that my heart lay in being a citizen watchdog, and not a part of the bureaucracy,” she said. That same year, Charlotte became the first paid employee of Save the Dunes. She served as Executive Director from 1974-1992.
Charlotte helped lead efforts to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s first successful expansion bill in 1976, adding 3,700 acres to the park. Following years of attempts and failures, Charlotte read spoke to a reporter just weeks before it passed:
Acre for acre, there has been more struggle over the Indiana dunes than anywhere else.
…With every year this doesn’t get passed, more land is destroyed or developed. If it doesn’t pass this year the pressure for development will build.
Although the park expanded, the Council was unsuccessful in adding the “greenbelt” property, a corridor of man-made ponds and buffer land that exists between Cowles Bog and its industrial neighbors. The Council’s senses were heightened to the importance of buffer zones after it was discovered that an Indiana Toll Road Commission's salt pile was “bleeding” into the national lakeshore’s Pinhook Bog wetland. The area posed a serious risk of coal ash-pond seepage contamination, something that Charlotte and the Council alerted the National Park Service and other officials to after they witnessed accelerated dumping in the area in 1973.
With the success of their first Lakeshore expansion, Save the Dunes Council began the fight to include additional parcels within the authorized boundaries. The Council was trying to absorb areas that had been part of Paul Douglas’ earlier bills for a national park unit. Charlotte and the Council again promoted the acquisition of the “green-belt” area in a new expansion bill in 1979. Charlotte felt that control of the property was essential to ensure the ecological integrity of the area.
The Council was dismayed when the controversial greenbelt tract was eventually dropped from the successful Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s expansion bill in 1980. Although the greenbelt was never officially acquired by the national park, the most recent expansion bill from 1992 stipulated that the property owner is required to maintain the natural state of the greenbelt, and must notify Congress three years prior to changing the character of the property.
In 1981, the Shirley Heinze Environmental Fund, today’s Shirley Heinze Land Trust, was established by an endowment from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Seidner on behalf of their friend who had recently passed away. Dr. Shirley Heinz was devoted to nature study in her free time and participated in the fight to save the Indiana Dunes. Charlotte became the group’s first executive director. Their mission is to “preserve and restore natural lands and waters in northwestern Indiana, and to engage people in nature and conservation.”
Charlotte recalled, “I started out just wanting to preserve the beautiful dunes, but I realized that I couldn’t ignore the air and water pollution and other factors that affect the dunes.” In August of 1970, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO,) had filed an application for a permit to construct a nuclear power plant adjacent to its fossil-fuel Bailly generating facility at Burns Harbor. The most active group that opposed the facility, known as “Bailly I,” was the Porter County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League led by Herb and Charlotte. They, along with Sylvia Troy and Edward Osann of Save the Dunes were instrumental in halting a nuclear power plant in the Dunes’ backyard. “There was little the Service could do except monitor the activity and express its opinion.” Charlotte said of the project, “The company knew when they picked that site, it was like waving a red flag in front of the environmentalists.” Countless court battles ensued, but the Council did not become involved in any until 1980. Charlotte commented on the lack of an evacuation plan for visitors to the park, “It’s ludicrous to say we’ll worry about evacuation when the plant is built. The time to stop Bailly is now.”
In 1981, eleven years after NIPSCO revealed their project, they pulled the plug on the Bailly I project after spending $191 million. “The anti-nuclear groups dragged Nuclear Regulatory Commission proceedings to a point where it was no longer feasible to build the plant,” reported the Times of Munster. “Ultimately the project became a victim of one lengthy delay after another,” said NIPSCO chairman of the time, Edmund Schroer. Charlotte reflected on the victory, “When you put 10 years of your life into trying to fight something like this, you find it hard to believe they’ve finally done the right thing. I congratulate them for having the wisdom to make a hard and important choice.”
She recalled the reason for opposition the next year; “It wasn’t because we were anti-nuclear… But a reactor located 800 feet from the boundary of the park would and has been damaging to park resources,” referring to the lowered water levels caused by initial construction that was started on the reactor. She also told the reporter:
The idea of preserving the dunes precedes World War I. A proposal to designate it a national park was made in 1916. But it failed, largely because much of what is now the lakeshore was private land, and in those days public funds were not used to buy private land to create a national park…
It was an uphill fight all the way. It probably always will be.
Charlotte would later wisley remind readers that NIPSCO pulled the permit “without prejudice, meaning they could resurrect it if they wanted to.”
The Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education was authorized in the park’s 1980 expansion bill. By 1983, proposed plans were released, but Charlotte was concerned that conventional construction would destroy the land’s beautiful rolling beach ridges and dunes. She urged the federal subcommittee overseeing the project to approve additional funding so the center could be built as “a series of pods that will be placed on top of the dunes, grouped for different activities.” Charlotte said at the time, “Since the plans are not yet final, the council will keep a watchful eye on the plans so that the facilities serve their intended purpose and are compatible with the area.”
U.S. House Representative Katie Hall submitted her first bill that year that successfully increased the funding for the education center. Rep. Hall was Indiana’s first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Later that year she successfully led legislation that established Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday. Charlotte’s ideas were incorporated and can be experienced at the center today.
Charlotte was a founding member of the Hoosier Environmental Council in 1983. She explained the watchdog group organized because, “we really wanted to have a presence in Indianapolis to see that the good federal laws we have to protect the environment are actually carried out on the state level.” She continued:
I think that the work I do is just an example of democracy at work. Citizens have a responsibility to see that what they expect from their government actually turns out…
The impetus for these laws doesn’t come from the top down, unfortunately, but from the bottom up. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the increasing complexity of society so keeping the government on track is an important and very challenging job.
Mary Kay Rothert, who was on the Hoosier Environmental Council’s board with Charlotte, recalled Charlotte’s role as moderator:
She would sit there and always be practical. People would say, ‘Oh, yes, we’ll do X, Y, and Z.’ Charlotte was the one who would say, ‘Look, let’s keep it realistic.’ She would ask questions that would make you realize that you were sort of over the cliff in terms of what you were imagining.
In 1984, Charlotte summed up her years spent fighting to protect the region; “They call us bunny lovers, tree huggers and little old ladies in tennis shoes. But I take that as a back-handed compliment because I know we are respected for what we’ve done.” After Charlotte and Save the Dunes Council helped the passage of another park expansion bill in 1986, she wrote an open letter to the Times of Munster, Indiana:
Welcome to Northwest Indiana, an environmental stronghold.
Don’t laugh. Just because you still see a smoke-filled horizon doesn’t mean things are getting worse. In fact, I think things are starting to get better. As a long-time practicing environmental activist… I see a growing awareness of our area’s environmental problems, and more people wanting to correct them. I also see a widespread appreciation of the good things Northwest Indiana has to offer.
…Times are changing. Citizens are refusing to allow Northwest Indiana’s environment to deteriorate.
… It’s a big job, but not an impossible one. If you care, and want to help, it will make the job easier. The environment we are protecting is the only one we have.
In 1988, the fight to save a 35 acre tract known as Crescent Dune was evolving; proposals for a marina at the site began to circulate. Charlotte Read said that environmentalists would rise up as one to fight against a proposed marina for the site. Although the land owned by NIPSCO was within the authorized boundaries of the national lakeshore from the 1976 expansion bill, there was a stipulation that had failed to be met that the land had to be acquired within two years. In November of 1989, NIPSCO revealed a condominium development proposal. The following January, fellow Save the Dunes member and environmental activist Irene Herlocker-Meyer said, “I would think that every national park in the country would be up in arms because it affects all national parks.”
The then Council president, Thomas Serynek explained, “If Crescent Dune is permitted to slip out of the park, it will set a precedent that will further encourage private interests to chip away at other authorized lands in park boundaries.” Prospects to stop the condominium efforts seemed dismal after local U.S. House Representative Pete Visclocky supported a plan to allow for the construction of the housing structure with public access to the beach. In addition to defacing the lakefront, Charlotte feared that development on the tract would be threatened by erosion; “This beach eroded 170 feet in the last about 17 or 18 years… the most eroding part of the Indiana shoreline.”
On March 27th, 1990, Rep. Visclocky announced a reversal in his position to endorse the condominium plan due to an outpouring by his constituents. He instead arranged Crescent Dune to be purchased through eminent domain. Charlotte found the news to be a fitting birthday present, “We, of course, think this is the right decision and we appreciate the congressman re-evaluating his position. It must be a hard thing for anyone to do.” Six years later, park officials completed negotiations and Congress appropriated $3.7 million for the purchase of Crescent Dune.
In 1988, as Executive Director of Save the Dunes Council, Charlotte went to Washington D.C. to testify on the topic of “acid rain oversight” to a subcommittee on “energy and power.” She spoke of the conditions around the Dunes:
As watchdogs for a very small and very fragile natural resource… we have become early leaders in the fight for clean air in Northwest Indiana, and find we must continue that role today.
Northwest Indiana’s three counties along the lake, Lake, Porter, and LaPorte, are nonattainment, or unclassified, as we speak, for sulfur dioxide. Lake and Porter Counties are also nonattainment or unclassified for most of the rest of the criteria pollutants. This, 18 years after the enactment of the Clean Air Act.
The Council believes there is no other area in the State of Indiana where the promises of the Clean Air Act have failed so completely as they have there.
In 1985, the Indiana Dunes had the unfortunate distinction of experiencing one of the top ten most acid rainfall single events, with a pH of 3.38.
Between 1980 and 1987, the pH of the rainfall in the Indiana Dunes ranged from 3.88-4.38. Charlotte spoke on some of its effects in the park:
Studies that the National Park Service has done of air pollution damage to vegetation within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore… have found visible damage to sensitive species, in particular, the absence of many forms of lichen… vital indicators of pollution.
Charlotte continued with examples of acid rain affecting boats with damaged hulls, decks and rails that moored just downwind of Michigan City’s coal-burning power plant. While Charlotte believed boat-owners were being paid by the power company to repair their watercraft, she alluded that there was no assistance to the Old Lighthouse Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure that housed the fearless lighthouse keeper, Harriet Colfax, had been showered with pollutants for the past seven years. Charlotte believed in finding a solution:
The Council believes that the time has come to enact meaningful acid rain control legislation now. If not now, when? If not us, who? … we also believe that utilities should be encouraged or if need be, mandated, to manage their loads based on the least polluting, not necessarily just the least cost, units.
…I think we need a dialogue involving all of us. And I think the time has come that we now take steps to control a problem that is not going to go away.
As a lover of my particular national park, and all national parks, I think we cannot afford to wait any longer until all our trees are dead, all our sensitive lakes are acidified and all our fish have rolled over and are no longer edible or swimmable or fishable. I think we have to bite the bullet. And I personally and my organization are willing to take our fair share of the cost of acid rain control. Thank you.
In September of 1988, Charlotte told the Vidette-Messenger of Porter County of what she believed to be the only solution to the acid rain problem afflicting the county; “Legislation is needed to show a federal commitment to solving the problem.” Two years later, the Clean Air Act would be amended to include a system known as the “Acid Rain Program,” to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions to half of 1980’s value.
Charlotte was deeply connected to the Dunes region and committed to bettering it. A later article revealed some of Charlotte’s character:
Tom Serynek, who was hired by Read to work at Save the Dunes in 1989… recalled when a region mayor called Read “Queen of the Nitpickers” because of her attention to detail, her tenacity and her knowledge of facts and law.
In 1989, Charlotte and Save the Dunes opposed a new subdivision in Dune Acres and the subsequent issues septic tanks and erosion would have to Cowles Bog. “Our immediate goal is to protect the park.” In 1990 she and Save the Dunes supported designating part of U.S. 12 a scenic highway; a plan that was since shelved. In 1991, Charlotte and Save the Dunes supported IDEM’s enforcement of state air quality laws when a company was renewing an incinerator permit. In 1992, Charlotte and Save the Dunes were involved in the negotiations leading to successfully reducing toxic air pollutants from coke plants. Charlotte told a reporter; “The standards are not as low as we would like to have them, but they’re much higher than industry wants them.”
On March 25, 1994, Charlotte along with Barbara Plampin, Kay Franklin, and Irene Herlocker-Meyer gave a program honoring “Women of Dunes” at the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center on Emma Pitcher, Dorothy Buell, Bess Sheehan, and others. In an interview a month later, she said:
We’re prickly advocates for the dunes. We’re not everybody’s favorite environmental group because we take a stand. We still have to re-save the dunes periodically…
The plant species diversity blows your mind. It’s not only beautiful but the floral biodiversity is incredible, especially for the park’s size and the neighborhood it’s in.
Charlotte understood and appreciated the inherent value in the entire “Dunes” landscape. In 2001 she said, “The dunes are more than just the lake. The way the glaciers retreated you have a botanical melting pot. There are arctic plants sitting right next to desert plants. It’s a fascinating place from a lot of angles.” Charlotte told a reporter in 2003, “There are places in the Dunes where you can go and think you’re the only person in this wonderful wilderness. Considering how industrialized Northwest Indiana is becoming, that’s important.” They wrote that Charlotte’s “gentle demeanor contrasts with the spirited battles she has waged on behalf of Northern Indiana’s premier natural reserve.” Stephen Higgs’s book Eternal Vigilance quotes Charlotte’s description of her own life as a preservationist:
You get hooked on the little victories, and the little defeats, and then pretty soon you find, at least in our case, that it becomes the central part of your life. There’s no finite point when you say, ‘It’s over, I can rest.’ Eternal vigilance is the price of preserving your good idea.
In June 2004, as Assistant Director of Save the Dunes, Charlotte spoke out about federal budget cuts for Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. “The lack of money threatens to do permanent damage to the park’s flora and fauna and to Americans’ ability to experience the park fully and safely.”
Charlotte continued to stress the importance of communication and clarity between the National Park Service. Due to financial constraints, the national lakeshore discontinued their “living farm” programming at Chellberg Farm around 2008. The exceedingly popular programming had become a part of the community, and the public was shocked and upset at the sudden discontinuance. At a public meeting in 2009 with the then park superintendent, a frustrated Charlotte spoke: “Talk to us first and then you won't have to apologize later” To the pleasure of Charlotte and the whole community, in 2017 live animals returned to Chellberg Farm through a partnership with the Dunes Learning Center.
In the summer of 2015, Charlotte spoke of going to the dunes the first time with Herb. “I loved it and still do, and I hope we can keep it from being spoiled any more than it is already,” she said. That fall she stressed to a reporter, “I want people to know how much importance the public played. Without public support, it wouldn't have happened.” On February 15, 2019, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was officially renamed Indiana Dunes National Park, an achievement that delighted the Reads. Charlotte died May 2, 2019 at age 90. Herb died 7 months later on December 22 at age 93.
Former Save the Dunes president Tom Serynek said of Charlotte after her death:
...she left her mark on clean air and clean water and clean land in Indiana…
She was always upbeat and positive. She’d say we’d figure it out and take care of it. But, she made sure you’d done extensive homework and that you could back up your facts.
Serynek continued in another interview; “She held a torch for environmentalism in Northwest Indiana long and high. It’s going to be hard to find someone to take up all her years of dedication and hard work.”
The vice president of the Porter County chapter of the Izaak Walton League, Jim Sweeney, spoke of Charlotte after her passing:
She did her homework. She was not willing to go out on a limb unless she knew something was right. Then she was fierce…
I have always wanted to have both Herb’s scrappiness and Charlotte’s intellect and grace…
She was so committed. There was no schedule when it came to the issues. It was more than a job to her…
As we saw Shifting Sands, she loved to acknowledge and brag on the impact women had on the efforts to protect the Dunes. Talking about what they could do with more money and members, Charlotte looked right at me and said, ‘You need to get more women.’
Jeanette Neagu said, “Both she and Herb and Dorothy Buell and all the dunes people made an impression on me. They taught me that even if it seemed pie in the sky, if you work hard and organize, you can achieve.” Jeanette went on to be a distinguished activist in her own right.
A former Save the Dunes executive director, Susan MiHalo said:
Charlotte’s work inspired us and reminds us we are all part of nature…
She believed we needed to be informed and participate in public commentary. That was very important to Charlotte. We have to honor her by making sure we show up, make sure our voices are heard. We have to honor her by realizing the dunes are never completely really saved.
MiHalo continued in another interview:
She’s one of the most principled people I ever met, and one of the things she taught me is when you’re taking a position on something, take an informed position…
As a result, she gained a lot of credibility…
How things were held in public trust was very important to her. She never wanted to see that compromised.
Gary Brown, the president of the Porter County chapter of the Izaak Walton League said of Charlotte; “She never held back from truth or duty. Honest virtue was her vision. Intelligence and courage were her weapons. Perseverance and faithfulness were her victory.”
Herb and Charlotte Read’s home stands within today’s Indiana Dunes National Park and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and its role in housing countless meetings to save the Indiana Dunes. At the time of designation, Herb and Charlotte hoped in the future that the house would be used for environmental education as a museum or interpretive center “to tell the story of the citizen movement to preserve the dunes.” The home is occasionally toured during the spring architectural tour, “Logs to Lustrons.” In Shirley Heinze’s 1984 publication, “The Indiana Dunes Story,” Charlotte wrote, “It is impossible to predict what the major threats will be in the future. It is possible, however, to predict that the park will survive only if it has public support.”
Bibliography
March 18, 2001; Munster Times, Munster IN
“Charlotte Read: Crusader for the Dunes continues to battle to preserve lakeshore treasure” by Ed Collier; Page 62
April 17, 1994; Chicago Tribune, Chicago IL
“Earth mothers” by Marya Smith ; Page 231
September 14, 1952; Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL
“Weds in Church” Page 2
July 19, 1986; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, IN
“Dunes play a large part in her life” by Alicia McClean ; Page 2
October 20, 1982; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, IN
“Save the Dunes Council marks 30 years” by Sandi Holt; Page 33
October 4, 1972; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County; Valparaiso, IN
“Citizen Groups” Page 22
January 13, 1976; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County; Valparaiso, IN
“Today’s Scene” Page 2
September 2, 1976; Chicago Tribune, Chicago IL
“Those who love the Indiana Dunes fight to add more land to the park” by Casey Bukro, Page 5
September 3, 1972; The Times, Munster, IN
“Dunes Lake Park Gets Land Gift” by Gary Wilson, Page 12
August 23, 1973, Vidette Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso
“Deny Save-Dunes Charge of Destroying Bog” Page 1
September 28, 1978; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, IN
“Dunes photo insight varies” by Kevin Leininger; Page 22
October 9, 1992; South Bend Tribune, South Bend, IN
“Dunes bill took 2 terms to pass in the Congress” by Matthew S. Galbraith; Page 11
April 8, 1979; The Kokomo Tribune; Kokomo, IN
“Utility coddles nuclear problem child, neighbors attack it” Page 38
February 20, 1980; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, IN
“Evacuation estimates grim on Bailly mishap” by Joyce Obermeyer; Page 1
October 14, 2007; Munster Times. Munster, IN
“Fight paying off 30 years later” by Lauri Harvey Keagle ; Page 8
October 11, 1999; Munster Times, Munster, IN - from Sylvia
“Celebrating a Decade of Hard Work” by James Mitzelfield; Page 7
June 10, 1983; South Bend Tribune, South Bend, IN
“Dunes center funding opposed by parks chief” by Tod Robberson ; Page 8
July 29, 1984; The Times, Munster, IN
“We generation speaks out” by Richard Bryant; Page 1
November 9, 1986; The Times, Munster, IN
“Environmental battle being won” by Charlotte J. Read; Page 17
January 21, 1988; The South Bend Tribune, South Bend, IN
“West Beach considered for marina” by Thomas Pliske ; Page 13
January 10, 1990; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, IN
“Condos or park on dune” by Jeff Walz ; Page 1
March 15, 1990; The Times, Munster, IN
“Dunes expansion deal struck” by Anne Hazard; Page 1
March 28, 1990; Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, Valparaiso, IN
“Dune back in Lakeshore addition” by Paul Furgia ; Page 1
September 22, 1996, South Bend Tribune; South Bend, IN
“NPS acquires Crescent Dune” by Matthew S. Galbraith; Page 52
May 12, 2019; The Times, Munster, IN
“Read’s legacy stretched beyond Lake Michigan’s shores” by Joyce Russel; Page A4
June 13, 1989; The South Bend Tribune, South Bend, IN
“Judge dismisses suit to block subdivision near Cowles Bog” by Steve Smous; Page 9
October 19, 1990; The South Bend Tribune; South Bend, IN
“Dunes draft plans criticized by some as being one-sided” by Lee Schelling; Page 13
February 14, 1991; The Times; Munster, IN
“E. C. incinerator permit prompts meeting” by Rada Indjich; Page 12
October 29, 1992; Noblesville Ledger; Noblesville, IN
“New coke pollution rules” Page 3
March 24, 1994; The South Bend tribune, South Bend, IN
“Program on ‘Women of Dunes’” ; Page 14
June 13, 2004; The Times, Munster, IN
“Officials say most visitors will not notice the effects of cutbacks” by Brian Williams ; Page 1
May 6, 2009; The Munster Times, Munster, IN
“Indiana Dunes supporters tell park boss: ‘Talk to us’” ; Page 4
June 7, 2015; Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL
“Lifelong conservationists won’t give up the fight” by Heather Augustyn; Page 1
November 6, 2015; Munster Times, Munster, IN
“Sands of time” by Joyce Russell ; Page 1
The content for this article was written by Joseph Gruzalski, a researcher with Indiana Dunes National Park. Funds were made possible by a National Park Foundation grant.