Everglades Biographies

Ivar Axelson

Ivar Julius Axelson was born in Portland, Connecticut on March 19, 1891. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his Masters from the University of Oklahoma. In the early 1920s, Ivar Axelson worked as a real estate broker in South Florida where he met and married Mary McDougal in 1923. Together with Daniel A. McDougal, they became major shareholders in the Chevelier Corporation. Profits from land sales allowed them to leave the Miami area and pursue other careers. Ivar Axelson completed his PhD coursework in economics at Columbia University and taught economics at various universities during the 1930s. He then worked as a government economist in Washington during the early 1940s. Returning to Miami to care for his extensive land holdings, Ivar Axeslon taught economics at the University of Miami. Ivar Axelson served as president of the Everglades National Park Landowners Association and led the Association for the Best Use of Florida Lands. He crusaded for many years against the expansion of Everglades National Park in Monroe County where he and Daniel McDougal owned a great deal of land. Ivar Axelson died in 1972 in Coral Gables, Florida.

Biography prepared by Ruthanne Vogel, University of Miami

Sample of Ivar Axelson's correspondence,
June 2, 1934

Image courtesy of University of Miami Libraries, Mary McDougal Axelson Papers