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Featured Books
    All Featured Books
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Visit BHL
  • Home
  • News
  • Featured Books
    • All Featured Books
    • Book of the Month Series
  • User Stories
  • Campaigns
    • Fossil Stories
    • Garden Stories
    • Monsters Are Real
    • Page Frights
    • Her Natural History
    • Earth Optimism 2020
  • Tech Blog
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Biodiversity Heritage Library - Program news and collection highlights from BHL

All posts in Campaigns

Blog Reel, Campaigns, Her Natural History

Language of Flowers: 19th Century Literary Genre Offered Opportunities for Women Writers of Natural History

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“Language of Flowers”, a popular literary trend in the 19th century, presented the world of botany through dictionaries of flowers and associated meanings, floral poetry and prose, offering a sentimental view of natural history.  These charming books with colorful illustrations of flowers and bouquets are at the intersection of botany, horticulture, natural history, art, poetry, and women’s studies.  This Victorian fad saw many editions of works published, with multiple titles by successful authors.  The following provides a glimpse into the work of four women authors of this genre.

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March 30, 2019byLeora Siegel
Blog Reel, Campaigns, Her Natural History

The Popular and Prolific Ms. Pratt

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During the Victorian era, many gifted women participated in what has been called the “Golden Age of botanical art,” reflecting both a surge in gardening interests across English society, as well advances in book-making technology (Burns, Kramer). Though virtually unknown today, Anne Pratt (1806-1893) was one of the most prolific and popular artists and writers of this time, ultimately producing twenty published works that were loved for their handsome and accurate illustrations, and helping to create interest in flower study in the general public.

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March 29, 2019byGretchen Rings
Blog Reel, Campaigns, Her Natural History

Hildegarde Howard: The Greatest Avian Paleontologist You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

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Nearly 100 years ago, a fresh faced journalism student at the Southern Branch of the University of California (now UCLA) walked into Ms. Pirie Davidson’s biology classroom (Campbell, 2000, 775). This young woman was not particularly interested in biology and, really, why would she have been? At the time, women were barred from attending any off-site field trips and science was thought to primarily be the work of men. However, it was not long before Hildegarde was captivated by the subject — so much so that she became Ms. Davidson’s lab assistant. Young Hildegarde was soon offered a position as a part-time day laborer sorting Smilodon (Saber toothed cat) fossils for renowned mammalian paleontologist Chester Stock at the Museum of Science, History, and Art of Los Angeles County (now known as the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) at Rancho La Brea.

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March 28, 2019byYolanda Bustos
Blog Reel, Campaigns, Her Natural History

Henrietta Page sketchbook of fungi drawings

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The Harvard Botany Libraries recently acquired and digitized Henrietta Page’s [Sketchbook of drawings of fungi], volume II. The sketchbook was a gift from the Boston Mycological Club (BMC) where Page was a member and served on the executive committee for a time. She was also a member of the Boston Society of Natural History. The sketchbook mostly describes fungi collected during July and August when Page attended three-week long natural history classes held in Alstead, New Hampshire under the Alstead School of Natural History from 1899-1903.

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March 27, 2019byDanielle Castronovo and Jason Karakehian
Blog Reel, Campaigns, Her Natural History

Dorothea Eliza Smith: Resilient Botanical Illustrator

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As we celebrate the role women have played in the natural history sciences, we can find many examples of successful women who have been under-appreciated for the meaningful work they did during their lives. Women like Maria Sibylla Merian, Mary Margaret Smith, and Evelyn Cheesman significantly advanced a variety of sciences, even if they have only recently been gaining attention for doing so. But historic relegation of women has also meant that countless people throughout history were denied the tools to achieve success in these fields. How many women could have been published artists or scientists, if it weren’t for societal expectations that never gave them the chance?

Within the collections of rare botanical texts and seldom seen manuscripts housed at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation is a beautiful work by a largely unknown artist, Dorothea Eliza Smith. Her Fruits of the Lima Market – a collection of watercolors that she completed between 1850 and 1853 – stands out as an exemplary creation made even more impressive by her relative obscurity and the sparse details of her life.

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March 26, 2019byChris Byrd
Blog Reel, Campaigns, Featured Books, Her Natural History

General Instructions for Rearing Silkworms: Louise Rienzi and California’s Silk Industry

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When Louise Rienzi wrote her guide on General Instructions for Rearing Silkworms, in 1887, she was part of a movement attempting to establish a viable silk industry for the United States. The epicenter of the new industry was California, where Louis Prevost, a French botanist, was the first to grow silkworms and produce cocoons, in 1860. The physical environment was favorable, and the industry saw some success before it eventually faded.

Several groups were formed to promote the industry, including the State Board of Silk Culture in San Jose. This organization was responsible for printing and distributing Louise Rienzi’s sericultural manual in the late 1880s. Louise Rienzi also served as Secretary of the State Board and issued official reports on the monthly and annual meetings as well as the contributions of various committees, such as the Committee on Mulberry Trees, Eggs and Cocoons.

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March 25, 2019byAlison Kelly and Tomoko Steen
Blog Reel, Campaigns, Featured Books, Her Natural History

Mary Margaret Smith: Ichthyologist, Artist, and First Director of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology

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The Library at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity is named for Mary Margaret Smith (née Macdonald), the first Director of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology. Macdonald attended Rhodes University College in Grahamstown from 1934 to 1937. She was awarded her B.Sc. degree in 1936, majoring in physics and chemistry (with distinction), and became a senior demonstrator in the Chemistry Department.

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March 24, 2019bySally Schramm
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