Susan B. Nelson (April 13, 1927 – May 4, 2003) was an American environmental activist who is best known as the mother of the

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in ...

Early life

Sue Nelson was born Susan Louise Barr in Syracuse, New York on April 13, 1927, the child of an accountant and a teacher. Her family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

where she attended Alexander Hamilton High School and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, graduating in 1948 with a degree in political science. She later earned a master's degree from UCLA in urban planning in 1969.

Environmental activism

Nelson started her conservationist career as a housewife in Mandeville Canyon. She later became an active member in the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, w ...

, the

Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides C ...

, and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

. In 1964 she helped to found the Friends of the Santa Monica Mountains, Parks and Seashore, and also became this group's president. She is credited by congressman

Anthony Beilenson Anthony Charles Beilenson (October 26, 1932 – March 5, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic Congressman from Southern California. He served ten terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 un ...

as being the single greatest driver behind the establishment by Congress in 1978 of the

, the first truly urban national park. Along with Nelson, two other women (Jill Swift and Margot Feuer) were instrumental in bringing about federal, legal recognition of the SMMNRA. In the years following this federal legislation, Nelson lobbied Congress to provide more funding to expand and improve the parkland. Nelson also worked on a variety of other conservation projects throughout the Los Angeles region in the 1980s and 1990s, including areas such as

Malibu Creek State Park Malibu Creek State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving the Malibu Creek canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. The park was established in 1974. Opened to the public in 1976, the park is also a component of Santa Mon ...

Point Mugu Point Mugu (, Chumash: ''Muwu'') is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash Indian term ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, Temescal Canyon, and

Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

. She also voiced her vocal opposition, through newspaper opinion pieces and town hall meetings, to development projects such as the Malibu Canyon Freeway, the Pacific Coast Freeway, and the

Mulholland Highway Mulholland Highway is a scenic road in Los Angeles County, California, that runs approximately 50 miles through the western Santa Monica Mountains from near US Route 101 (Ventura Freeway) in Calabasas to Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) near ...

. In addition, Nelson sounded a warning bell against the privatization of public parklands. Her persistence led some to call her ruthless, but also warmhearted and feisty.

Personal life

Nelson married Earl Nelson in 1948. Together they had four children, but the marriage ended in divorce. Nelson's son-in-law was the composer

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was i ...

. She died on May 4, 2003 after she was hit by a car near her home in

Echo Park, Los Angeles Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east- central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known ...

Legacy

Nelson's archives are held in Special Collections and Archives at the University Library of

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Susan B. 1927 births 2003 deaths American conservationists University of California, Los Angeles alumni People from Syracuse, New York Activists from New York (state) American women environmentalists