WOMEN OF IMPACT 2008 Honors

Frances (“Dolly”) MacIntyre for Preservation

 

 

The Women's History Coalition sponsors and coordinates the celebration of WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH each March. The Women of Impact event is a reception honoring the accomplishments of South Florida women whose photographic portraits and oral histories will be placed in the archives of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida to be seen by future students of the history of our times.

 

Board Memberships and Affiliations

Charter Member

The Villagers

 

Founder

Dade Heritage Trust

 

Board Member (past)

The Vizcayans

 

President (Past)

Coconut Grove Woman's Club

 

President

Dade County Federation of Woman’s Club

 

Board Member

Miami Woman’s Club

 

Miami's Community Newspapers - On-Line

www.aventuranews.com/2002/

Published on: 6/24/2003  

 

For almost four decades, Frances "Dolly" MacIntyre has been on a mission to protect and restore historical structures throughout Miami-Dade County.

Her mission began in 1966 when MacIntyre, 66, was working as a commercial artist and production manager and heard the news that the historic Douglas Entrance in Coral Gables was to be torn down. Determined to stop this, she became a charter member of The Villagers, a then newly-formed preservation society, and with the help of local architects they fought to buy the property and have it restored. It was a hard-fought battle, but they won and MacIntyre became hooked on the sense of satisfaction she derived from the experience.

"My father was in the Navy," she said.
...

The couple soon had three daughters and two sons together and MacIntyre stopped working to care for her family. She did not, however, stop her historic preservation efforts.

Over the coming decades, she would go on to become one of the most visible and tireless historic preservation activists in the Miami area. In 1972 she founded the Dade Heritage Trust - still a driving force today - which works to educate the public on local history and historic sites, and to restore and preserve those sites.

But even that was not enough to keep MacIntyre busy. She devoted herself to other organizations as well. MacIntyre served as a board member for The Vizcayans, as chair for the Dade County Historical Board and also served on several zoning boards for the City of Miami. A great lover of art, MacIntyre is also a member of the Lowe Art Museum's Friends Board and serves on the international advisory board of the Frederic Remington Art Museum in New York. Five years ago, she joined the Woman's Club of Coconut Grove, an organization founded in 1891 and the oldest federated women's club in South Florida. In 2002, she was elected president of the club, a two-year term during which she has headed a project to restore the club's building on the corner of McFarlane and South Bayshore Drive, one listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

McIntyre said she has a strong affection for the club and is grateful for the opportunity to serve as president. The club has an impressive history of strong women before her who worked not only to protect historic sites, but also to protect the environment, establish libraries, promote and display the work of young local artists and make contributions to such organizations as the Salvation Army, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Hacienda Girls Ranch and the Special Olympics.

During her presidency, MacIntyre has carried on these traditions and continued her work preserving historical sites. In 2002, in honor of her years of public service, she was given the Dade Heritage Trust's Henriette Harris award for outstanding lifetime contributions to historic preservation.

Though her children are grown, McIntyre has remained a Coconut Grove resident and has deep affection for the city that she's called home for the past 30 years. Asked what she'd like to see in its future, McIntyre says the preservation of the Grove's character.

"The Grove is unique; so many of South Florida's communities look alike, you can't even tell them apart," she said.