Cecile Hulse Matschat
Cecile Hulse Matschat (1895–March 4, 1976) was an American geographer and botanist, known best as the author of books on gardens, gardening and the Okefenokee Swamp. Biography. Cecile Hulse Matschat was born in 1895 and grew up in upstate New York, later studying art at the Pratt Institute. Growing up, she began studying orchids in nearby swamps and in New Jersey, eventually expanding her explorations to the Everglades, West Indies, Central America and Mexico. She collected the orchids for paintings. Throughout Matschat's career, she wrote 16 books including her Rivers of America book on the  Suwannee River —"Suwanee River: Strange Green Land" (Farrar & Rinehart, 1938)— provided rare insight into the society and history of the people of the Okefenokee Swamp. She won a Literary Guild award and membership in the Explorer's Club for the work. Matschat was a member of the Society of Woman Geographers from 1937 to 1966. Matschat died on March 4, 1976 in New York City.