Stella Trafford at 97, was a tireless advocate for area parks by Sandra Miller

by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun

The area’s community of parks protectors lost a strong advocate with the recent passing of Stella Trafford, the Steel Magnolia of Boston, who died of natural causes March 13 at the age of 97 in Boylston Place at Chestnut Hill.
Trafford was a tireless protector of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Public Garden and other area parks. She was able to use her Southern charm and her political background to battle those who would let the Back Bay wilt in the shadow of so-called progress.
Raised in Jackson, Mississippi, she was the daughter of a state senator, William E. Mallett, and her cousin was a congressman. A Democrat, her background in politics gave her skills that came in handy as a volunteer with Planned Parenthood in New York City and the League of Women Voters, and also later in the Back Bay.
“She knew the name of every member of the state Legislature and the name of every county in the state,” said her friend, Luanne Pryor.
When she arrived in Boston with her third husband, William Bradford Trafford, in the 1960s, Stella was shocked at the dying Commonwealth Avenue Mall and its elm trees, and angry at plans to develop the area.
In 1970, Trafford took on major developer Mort Zuckerman, who wanted to construct five skyscrapers near the Public Garden, an idea that was supported by nearly every major player in town, including the mayor and Boston newspapers. But Trafford and Henry Lee formed the Friends of the Public Garden, and for seven years slowly gathered opposition. They eventually won.
Wrote Trafford, "If I were going to point to one thing in which I take the greatest pride, it would be to the blue sky over the south side of the Public Garden, which but for our determination, might be obscured by three 600-foot towers."
Anne Swanson worked with her fellow Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (NABB) member for decades, fighting to save the elms along Commonwealth Avenue and the Boston Common, which suffered from Dutch elm disease. “She had quite deep feelings for the elms,” said Swanson. “To see them dying of Dutch elm disease… she was probably the whole program.”
Trafford helped launch “The Boston Tree Party,” and with NABB formed the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee to attack Dutch elm disease, one of the first such efforts in the nation. They figured out how to use bicycle pumps to insert antifungal liquid into the trees. Trafford then came up with a memorial tree program where neighbors would give money to care for or plant new trees.
She was instrumental in making the Commonwealth Avenue Mall what it is now. She was involved in the Victorian Promenade, where locals in parasols, straw hats and tea gowns strolled the Public Garden, and arranged lighting from nearby rooftops to spotlight Commonwealth Avenue mall statues. The mall gained beautiful magnolias, and Stella, being from the South, helped to care for them. Everyone said magnolias couldn’t be grown up north, but Trafford knew better, and she knew how to care for them.
“In about a month, you’ll see, it’s a sea of pink here,” said Karin Dumbaugh, a Friends of the Public Garden Board member. “When you look at books on Boston, they always feature those magnolias in some way or another in postcards, in the newspapers. I think she made a real difference, visually and otherwise. She organized people around her cause.”
Longtime friend Luanne Pryor first met Stella Trafford in 1991, when the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Pooch Parade was formed.
In conjunction with the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, 100 dogs and their people paraded up and down the mall for six years, carrying signs that read "Be a Good Neighbor, Pick up after Your Dog”.
“It was a complicated issue for Stella as she didn't like dogs, but she wanted the mall cleaned up,” recalled Pryor, whose dog, Lucky, Stella had considered a “gentleman”.
Stella’s campaign succeeded, although, said Pryor, “The challenge was to keep Stella away from dog owners whom she liked to chastise -- not a good way to go, as they were actually her allies. Somehow, we all survived. Dog owners are a formidable group, and I think they brought Stella to a new understanding of the importance of animals in human existence. Not long afterwards Stella adopted a cat to whom she was devoted.”
Jackie Yessian, a former NABB chair and 30-year Back Bay resident, recalled Trafford’s nearly 40 years of tireless community efforts. “Even through a dizzying succession of parks commissioners over those years, she was steadfast and was able to forge a new partnership and level of trust that allowed her to pursue her single-minded purpose, as she called it. We really have Stella, her patience, her perseverance, and her considerable political skill to thank for the way these parks look today.”
It was her Southern charm and political experience that made her literally a force of nature.
Friends of the Public Garden President Henry Lee said City Hall didn’t know what to make of the sweet-talking Southerner who somehow managed to make them sit up and take notice of the area parks, including the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, that sat neglected for years until she went to battle. Others also recalled Trafford’s ability to turn amusing stories into political currency.
“She always seemed a bit of an anomaly here, being from Mississippi,” said fellow Neighborhood Association of Boston member Anne Swanson. “She’d tell anecdotes -- she’d use that charm in a political way, to wield power and to have influence. Other people would call City Hall and get no response, but then she called and they’d say, ‘Yes, Mrs. Trafford, yes, Mrs. Trafford.’ I think it was just her iron will and her soft southern style that was such a striking combination.”
“Her stories about her mother -- Momma -- were tantalizing and gave credence to the well-brought-up, socially aware woman who took on Boston to save its historic neighborhoods,” said Pryor.
“I admired her grit, charm, and amazing ability to get things done,” said Friends of the Public Garden Board Member Linda Cox. “’Polite persistence is the key,’” she said, and I’ve never forgotten those wise words.”
Dumbaugh described Trafford as “wispy-thin, with an iron will. She’d get her way most of the time - I would say all of the time. She was inspirational. What a role model for all of us. She had a very soft exterior that hid a very steely interior -- like a steel magnolia.”
The Friends of the Public Garden planted a tree for her, a Chinese handkerchief tree that looks like doves floating in the trees, said Dumbaugh. “That’s pretty much what she was like, very feminine, very wispy.”
And very adventurous. Pryor recalled stories of Trafford driving barefoot around Jackson, Mississippi in her father’s car, and she doesn’t think that attitude changed much over the years.
“To drive with Stella at the wheel of her car was not dissimilar to Russian roulette,” she recalled. “One occasion, we packed a gourmet lunch and headed with Lucky [Pryor’s dog] to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, where Stella wanted to tell me about the trees. Before reaching the gate, we were pulled over by a policeman. ‘If I didn't know better,’ he said, ‘I would have assumed the two of you had just come out of the local tavern. You were all over the road.’" Stella was driving a second-hand Lexus that she wasn’t used to driving. She also didn't have her license. “And her spiel about trees didn't gain us any ground,” said Pryor. “I rummaged through the glove compartment and found a Parks Department permit that belonged on the dashboard. It saved us. But once inside Mt. Auburn, we were firmly but nicely thrown out.” Apparently, neither picnics nor dogs were allowed, so they headed back to Trafford’s car. “The siren went off, wailing as we drove out of Mt. Auburn and continuing until someone at a stop sign told us what to do. ‘Lets forget the trees now, Stella,’ I said, knowing full well that she would not.”
Swanson recalled going with Trafford to Crane Beach in Ipswich, and was concerned when her friend proposed swimming so as to be drawn out with the tide and into the ocean. “I remember being rather fearful for her, hearing her description,” said Swanson. “I thought, would I be able to save her? It wasn’t quite that dramatic,” she chuckled.
Stella was also known for her impeccable wardrobe and always-coiffed appearance, even into her 90s. Her stepdaughter said she died with her pearls on.
“Fashionista that she was, Stella was delighted when I invited her to join me in New York at my family's apartment, from which we could take the Fifth Avenue bus to Bryant Park to see the latest fashions,” said Pryor. “The problem was that it was pouring rain. I raided the family coat closet and came up with the most beat-up raincoat imaginable. There was nothing else. Looking at Stella on the bus, I couldn't get over how lovely she looked, in rags. They didn't matter. She was incredibly beautiful.”
Trafford told her that her beauty helped her reach her goals, but her friend disagreed. “Those with whom she worked saw the commitment, will and determination to succeed that lay deep within her.”
Still, she always tried to keep in shape. Dumbaugh recalled, loaning Trafford an exercise bike. “She was 80 years old and actually used it,” she said. She recalled Trafford’s 90th birthday, with her walking down the stairs in a Chanel outfit, making a grand entrance. “She really had style,” said Dumbaugh. “She was always coiffed.”
“The last time I saw Stella in December 2008 she was frail,” said Pryor. “Still so much of her remained -- her interest in politics and people. Not gossip. Stella never gossiped, and that is where she rose so far above so many. I have never known anyone like her. I don't think I would want to - maddening, incorrigible, true to herself, and therefore so forgivable.”
“We were incredibly fortunate to have her as our ally,” said Swanson. “She knew [the beauty of the Back Bay] was why people wanted to come here and never leave again.
“People love it here. Stella Trafford’s impact on this area was quite important. She dedicated many years to community service, and left a really powerful message. She’ll always be here. People like her, their spirits are still coursing through the Back Bay and the mall.”
A three-time widow, Stella married Jerome Yates, a fighter pilot who was lost over the South Pacific in World War II; Rene Champollion, who died of cancer in New Hampshire; and William Bradford Trafford, a lawyer, music composer, and World War II veteran who died in 1983 of a heart attack while cross-country skiing on the Esplanade.
Mrs. Trafford leaves two stepdaughters, Abigail of Washington, D.C., and Vinalhaven, Maine, and Elizabeth of Bridgton, Maine; a stepson, William Jr. of Bridgton; two step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be announced in the spring.