Today, a foundation named in her honor continues to promote preservation for coastal ecosystems
Aviator, equestrian, and suffragist Isabel “Belle” Wilcox Baruch stands at her airport hangar in Georgetown, South Carolina, in this circa-1942 image. The eldest child of a prestigious family, Baruch followed her father Bernard’s passion for riding and hunting at Hobcaw Barony, a pristine tract of land about 10 miles south of Pawley’s Island, totaling more than 16,000 acres and encompassing an ecological wonderland of salt marshes, pine forests, and cypress swamps. Eager to protect the land and its wildlife from development, Baruch purchased 5,000 acres of the property from her father in 1936, acquiring the remaining land two decades later and establishing a private educational trust for conservation. Today, the Belle W. Baruch Foundation hosts researchers from more than 50 colleges around the world, who conduct studies and foster research on the preservation, wise use, and sustainability of coastal ecosystems.
