Read below for an essay excerpted from 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People, Wildlands’ 50th anniversary book honoring the partners and volunteers who have made remarkable contributions to land conservation in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Read “The Next Remarkable Chapter,” our series introduction by President Karen Grey.

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“As a young kid, I just thought all grandmas were like mine,” says Kofi Ingersoll. In 1957, Kofi’s intrepid grandmother, Hope Ingersoll, waged a lengthy battle against plans to extend a highway through her 900-acre farm in Bourne. After many years in a contentious legal feud with the State, Hope prevailed, prompting a 1982 article in the New York Times: “Farmer Wins 25 -Year Fight Over Cape Cod Road.”

Hope Ingersoll passed away in 2001 at the age of 96, but her legacy lives on. Family members have dutifully carried on Hope’s commitment to the Bourne farm and to land conservation more broadly. Her son Jerry, an architect by training, served on the Wildlands Trust Board of Directors for over a decade and led the Trust’s efforts to protect the region’s last dairy farm, O’Neil Farm in Duxbury. Jerry and his wife Phyllis secured the preservation of hundreds of acres of the Ingersoll family land, which is held today by Wildlands Trust. Their children and grandchildren still live on the family land in Bourne. Son Kofi and his wife Erin are highly respected farmers operating Bay End Farm, including an iconic farm stand on the very land once slated to become a highway.

Purchase 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People today: wildlandstrust.org/shop50

Become a member of Wildlands Trust today to receive discounts at Bay End Farm and other farms and retailers across the region.