CORNELIA OTIS SKINNER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 07/25/1968 - HFSID 288183

CORNELIA OTIS SKINNER
Personally signed fundraising letter in the 17-year legal fight against Con Ed's plan for a power plant on Storm King Mountain, a precedent-setting victory for the young environmental movement
Typed Letter signed: "Cornelia Otis Skinner", 1 page, 8½x10½. New York, N.Y., 1968 July 25. On letterhead of the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference to "Dear Mr. Moore". In full: "In the years I have been touring the United States, writing and acting, I have been increasingly struck by the many changes which have degraded the beauty of our nation's countryside. What were once unparalleled stretches of magnificent grasslands and forests are today unending ribbons of concrete. Our fresh air has become polluted, our waters contaminated, and our soil blighted. Poisons have stripped our land of its natural beauty and healthy environment. And now, one of the remaining splendors of our country - Storm King Mountain in the Hudson River gorge - is being threatened. When the Federal Power Commission granted a license in 1965 to one of the world's largest utilities - Consolidated Edison - to build a power plant at Storm King Mountain, a group of concerned citizens, of which I am one, filed and won a restraining suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals. In directing new hearings, the Court told the FPC that 'as a basic concern, the preservation of natural beauty' must be considered. An unprecedented victory for the cause of conservation! In the past three years, Scenic Hudson has had to raise over $500,000 to sustain the fight in the courts and before the FPC. We have faced a million-dollar battery of Con Ed lawyers whose costs are charged to the consumer. One of the great lawyers of our country, Lloyd K. Garrison, has, at great sacrifice, taken up this cause and heads our legal counsel. We must meet costs of expert witnesses, technical exhibits, and all the essentials of a historic legal battle. We are fighting to establish firmly that the country's natural beauty belongs to all the people and must not be ruined for any narrow economic purpose. This is truly a battle in behalf of all the people of the United States. The precedent we seek will protect citizens from California to Maine, Wisconsin to Texas, as well as in New York. Yet only you and other citizens who believe with us that the beauty and natural treasures of our countryside are worth fighting to protect can stop such unnecessary desecration. Will you please join in this fight by sending your generous contribution to us? It will be put to use at once. Your gift of any amount will aid this cause so important to the future beauty of our land. Sincerely" [signature]. P. S. For tax deductibility, please make your check payable to NATURAL AREA COUNCIL, HUDSON FUND, at the above address. We will be most grateful." The daughter of distinguished actor Cornelius Skinner, Cornelia (1901-1979) was a gifted stage and screen character actress and writer. She began her career with her father on Broadway in 1921's Blood and Sand and appeared in five more shows until embarking in 1926 on a three-year U.S. tour of a one-woman show she produced. In addition to writing satirical and witty verse, Cornelia was the author of eight plays, including The Pleasure of His Company (1958, with Samuel Taylor). She also wrote essays, but is perhaps best known for Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, a description of a European vacation she took with Emily Kimbrough. Both works were made into feature films (Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, 1944; The Pleasure of His Company, 1961) in which Cornelia appeared. Her film credits also include Kismet (1930). From 1963 to 1981, the fledgling environmental movement waged a legal struggle to prevent Con Ed from building a power plant at Storm King Mountain, on the Hudson. As noted in this letter, the fight set important legal precedents, and also stimulated passage of environmental legislation. In 1981 Con Ed abandoned plans to build this plant, a victory Skinner did not live to see. Today Storm King Mountain is a state park. Corners and edges creased and worn. Notch at center left edge. Multiple mailing folds.
Otherwise, fine condition.