Medicinal Plants and Illustrated Herbals in Philadelphia

The Benjamin Rush Medicinal Garden at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Dr. Benjamin Rush, a founding Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, first proposed that the College create a medicinal plant garden in 1787. The garden would not only provide medicinals for use by physicians, but would also be used as a pedagogic resource for the training of medical students.

Rush’s vision did not come to fruition until the College moved to its current site at 22nd and Ludlow Streets in 1909. An adjoining property was acquired in 1911, and a garden was planted in memory of Wharton Sinkler, a vice-president of the College. This garden contained flowers, trees, and shrubs, typical of small city parks.

A medicinal plant garden was cultivated in place of the original garden 150 years after Dr. Rush first proposed its creation. In 1937, as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations, the College converted the garden, which was tended at first by a volunteer committee made up of wives of Fellows of the College.

Today, the garden is designed around four identical parterres, planted with more than 25 different medicinal species that would have been easily identified by Dr. Rush. Each plant is labelled with its usage, the common name, and the botanical name. Therapeutic or poisonous properties have been verified by modern pharmacologists and botanists. Interpretation, including signage and an audio tour, inspires and educates visitors to consider the role of herbals in current medical applications. Information about the medicinal garden can be found here and at “No Bones About It,” a YouTube channel of the Mütter Museum.

The medicinal garden is complemented by a selection of early illustrated herbals that are in the collections of the Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians. The earliest herbals include two editions of the Herbarius, one of the Gart der Gesundheit, and five editions of the Hortus Sanitatis, including the first edition, printed in 1491, which has been described as the largest herbal ever printed. Search the Library’s catalog to learn more. To view a selection of digitized images from the herbal collection, visit the College’s digital image library.

Early Women in Science

While men such as Dr. Rush and the Fellows of the College have contributed greatly to medical and botanical knowledge, there were trailblazing women contemporaries who engaged in the same endeavors. Many of these women had to fight societal beliefs that women should be confined to the domestic sphere in order to pursue the scientific fields of medicine or botany. In the Biodiversity Heritage Library’s digital exhibit, Early Women In Science (created for the Biodiversity Library Exhibition with support from the Smithsonian Women’s Committee), you will learn about women in scientific fields working prior to the twentieth century, including botanists who explored rough terrain across the United States and other countries in order to contribute to our knowledge of different plants.

Alice Eastwood, Courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences Archives

Often these women identified many entirely unknown species. For instance, Alice Eastwood (1859-1953) hiked the High Rockies in Colorado collecting plant specimens, and continued collecting and identifying new specimens until her death; she ultimately contributed 340,000 specimens to the California Academy of Sciences Herbarium. Just as intrepid was Katharine Brandegee (1844-1920), who fought against criticism in order to enter the medical field (traditionally a job reserved for men). She obtained her M.D. from the University of California in 1878, and it was her study of medicinal plants while in the medical program that led her to ultimately take up botany as a career instead of medicine. To learn more about Alice, Katharine, and 14 other early women in science—including those who contributed to botanical (and thus medical) knowledge—please visit the digital exhibit, Early Women In Science.

Special thanks to Beth Lander and Robert Hicks, of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, for contributing information about Dr. Rush, his medicinal garden, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and their digital holdings, and the Mutter Museum.

The sixteen women featured in the “Early Women In Science” exhibition are each extraordinary for unique reasons.  One trait they all share is that they were doing work in scientific fields reserved for men. They sometimes had to fight for recognition of their work—or went completely unrecognized for some of their major contributions. For instance, Maria Emma Gray (1787-1876) was a talented natural history illustrator. She not only contributed to the work of her husband, zoologist John Edward Gray, but also saw him through his nervous breakdown, eventually helping him to work again. Despite her contributions to his studies, however, she is not credited in his works.

Illustration by Maria Emma Gray, from Figures of Molluscous Animals, Selected from Various Authors. Etched for the Use of Students by Maria Emma Gray, vol. 2, 1859 | Smithsonian Biodiversity Heritage Library

Even when the male scientific community did praise the contributions of their feminine peers, many of the earliest women scientists remained resistant to any form of boasting or taking credit, since that was considered unseemly in women. Not so with bold scientists like Ynes Enriquetta, Julietta Mexia, or Alice Eastwood, who rightfully took credit for their amazing accomplishments.

Alice told her contemporary, Agnes Chase (agrostologist, 1869-1963): “the most proper [honor] is that officially the name of the Herbarium is the Alice Eastwood Herbarium of the California Academy of Sciences” since she built it herself “with no help” from 1912 to 1930.And in truth, Alice did manage this effort with little help. Furthermore, prior to the new herbarium’s construction, Alice risked her life to save the Academy’s collections during the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Despite fires in the surrounding buildings and a caved-in stairwell, Alice climbed into the previous herbarium and managed to save the most irreplaceable of the herbarium specimens with a rope and pulley and the help of one other man.

Alice Eastwood collecting Festuca eastwoodae grass, courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences Archives

These women were brave. Not only did they enter their respective fields at a time when women were meant to remain in the domestic sphere, but they often solitarily braved harsh wilderness conditions to explore, observe, and collect flora, fauna and other specimens.  Katherine Brandegee(1844-1920) was a botanist, and in her journeys she survived shipwrecks, seclusion with bears, wolves and coyotes, and encounters with potentially dangerous men in the uninhabited areas she trekked. All the while, collecting and preserving specimens, rather than her own safety, were her primary concerns.

Many of the women in the exhibit shared a courage, a sense of adventure, and a love of nature that allowed them to push through the difficulties—whether physical or mental—of becoming scientists.Some were self-taught, while others were accepted to prestigious schools. Most of them were given honorary degrees and other awards. Some, like Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894), were multi-talented, engaging not only in scientific pursuits, but other artistic endeavors like fiction writing.Furthermore, many of these women demonstrated exceptional foresight, warning that neglect and abuse of our natural environment would result in dire consequences. They were right.

Enjoy the fascinating stories, illustrations and books from and about “Early Women In Science” in our new exhibit here.