American Journal of Botany 93(7): 942-952. 2006. Jub

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN BOTANY: A SHORT HISTORY anc Del OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 1 the for VASSIUK] B ETTY S MOCOVITIS Ew fiel ThE Department of Zoology and Department of History, University of FIOIi da, Gainesville, Florida 326 1I USA wa: ThE This paper offers highlights from the 100 (plus) years of the Botanical Society of America (BSA) and draws extensively on the rest archives of the BSA, In addit ion to examining the foundin g of the society and the attempt to " professionalize" botany in late 19th century America, the paper also explores the comp lex relations between the BSA and a number of related societies in the United apr States, the Society's struggle to create a coherent identity for itself, the place of botany as a who le in the context of the burgeoni ng rig! biological sciences in the 20lh centu ry, and the changing role of the BSA in an international context. The paper assesses both the em achievements and the challenges facing the BSA. It closes by offering some historical reflections on the status of "botany" as bot a science and the historical significance of terms like " plant biology" and "plant science." eXI Ge Key words: American botany; Botanical Society of America; history of botany; scientific society. for the elit ".. " the number of real botanists is increasing in this country by year." itself to shifting conditions, some of which led to the collapse - F. C. Newcombe 10 Erwin Frink Smith, 18 August /895 of other less adaptab le societies, It has, in short, demonstrated be! the kind of evolution ary history well known to students of plant ,,, Botanical' is good! It fits a downsized world because it has primary An producers in its portfolio." evo lutionary biology. a ! -i-An onvmous , comment in fa vor orretaining name ofBotanical Society cal of America . subm itted by David Dilcher 10 the membership, pre August / 99/ EARLY HISTOR Y OF AMERICAN BOTANY to gel In the history and sociology of science, the founding of The society evolved largely through the efforts of late 19th InC a new scientific society is generally considered a critical event, century American botanists mostly living in the northeast. int especially in the history of a discipline, Serving as a kind of Their goa l was to professionalize the study of plants and to social apparatus for disciplinary interests, societies organize distance it-and themselves-from what they felt were the individua l practitioners into a functioning community of more amateurish efforts of their predecessors as well as many workers who generally share common backgroun ds, training, of their contemporaries, Spurred by developments in in­ methods, institutional bases, along of course, with common strumentation such as microscopy and methodologies such as aims and goals (Crane, 1972). As in the case of societies like sectioning and staining, the study of botany moved from more int the Botanical Society of America, they may also have accessible fieldw ork into a technica l laborat ory setting, raJ a geopolitical focus and a commitment to the scientific study rendering it the domain of an elite set of researchers whose ml of a group of organisms, such as plants. goals included experimental rigor combined with technical sl< In its IOO-plu s years of history, the Botanical Society of , know- how, This «new botany," which grew out of mostly na America has had a changing set of aims, played a number of European, especially German workers, rapidly made its way to different roles, and has drawn on varying kinds of members in American institutions where it attracted a new generation to Ai diverse geographical as well as subdisciplinary affiliations , In new areas such as plant anatomy and cytology, genetics, and some respects it has altered itself radically as it has responded o ~ plant pathology, as well as to a revivified physiology and o ~ to differen t pressures, while in others it has remained morphology (Morton, 1981; Overfield, 1993; Campbell et, al., remarkably constant. What it has shown is the ability to adapt 1999), Because of these new methods, understanding of plants ~ . I themselves was radically tran sformed in the middle decades of In I I Manuscript received 20 April 2006: revision accepted 10 May 2006. the 19th century, as phenomena such as the alternation of a The author acknow ledges the support and assistance of Judy Jernsted t, generations and cell theory, along with Darwinian evolution ~ members of the BSA Centenni al Planning Committee and the BSA staff, were recognized, As a result of such successes. plants also especially Bill Dahl, Wanda Lovan, Amy McPherson, Claire Hemingway, s1 and Beth Hazen. Archival research was facilitated by Doug Holland and increasingly began to serve not jus t as organisms of interest in G Andrew Colligan at the Library of the Missouri Botanical Garden, by the and of themselves, but also as the preferred tools and model w I archivists at the Botany Libraries at Harvard Unive rsity, and by the study organisms in burgeon ing areas like cytogenetics. ~ librarians at the University of Chicago, ComeII University, and the In the United States, additional institutional develop ments tl University of Florida, Research was supporte d by the University of Florida also transformed the map of botanical study, The Morrill Act of tl Scholar's Enhancement Award in the Humanities and the BSA, Kim 1862 created the land-grant institution system, recognizing the n Kleinman, Lee Kass, Bill Buck, Chris Haufler, David Dilcher, Scott need for and fueling both teaching and research in agricultural ~ Russell , Anitra Thorhaug, and Art hur Ga lston provide d add itional sciences; the expansion and reorganization of Americ an information for this project. (! universities led to the demand for the study of the life sciences; Note 0 11 primary sources: All minutes of the BSA are in the iJ Archives of the BSA and located at the headquariers of the BSA in St. and the founding and establishmen t of gardens that promoted ~ Louis, Missouri. Page numbers to the minutes are included when botanical research like the New York Botanical Garden and the i available. Missouri Botanical Garden, along with the establishment of t 2 Author for correspo ndence (e-mail: bsmoco [email protected] ) a number of natural history museums such as the Smithsonian, 942 July 2006] S MOCOV ITlS- A SHOR T H1ST ORY OF TH E BOTAN1 CAL SOCIETY OF AMERI CA 943

and the g ro wth of g overn me nt agenc ies like the U.S . Init ial 25 members of the Botanica l Society of Am erica Department of Agriculture, alongside pri vate founda tions like the Carnegie Inst ituti on all pro vided diverse institution al sites J. C. Arth ur F. V. Co ville c. S. Sargent for botani sts and for plant research gene rally (Rodg ers, 1944; G . F. A tkinso n D. C. Eaton" F. L. Sc ribner Ewan , 1969; O leso n and Vo ss, 1979; Vo lberg. 1983; Over­ L. H. Bai ley ** W. G. Farlow" J. Don nell Smi th field , 1993; Craig, 2005; Kin gsland, 20 05 ; M ickulas, in press). C. R. Barnes E. L. Gree ne R. Th a xt e r'~ * The num ber of people with a seri ou s sc ientific interest in pl ants C. E. Bess ey B. D. Halsted W. T release was therefore increasing greatly by the end of the 19th century. N. L. Britton A . Ho llick L. F. W ard * They in tum saw themselves as member s of an elite group of E. G . Britton C. MacMillan W. P. W ilson researchers unlike their amateur counterpa rts who had no D. H. Campbell" B. L. Robin son L. M . Un derwood app reciab le techn ical trai ning or held to little if any standard for J. M . Coulter rigorous ex perime ntal meth odol ogy. In the wid er contex t of an * Did not accept election emergi ng nati on al ide ntity too (W ie be, 1967), American ** Resign ed in 189 8 botan ists also sa w them sel ves as match ing the know-how and expertise of the ir European co unte rpa rts, es pecially in Germany and Britai n, who they felt had domina ted bot any for too lon g. G aining some measure of indepen den ce from Cha rles Reid Barnes ( 1858- 19 10) as the " founding fathe r of them increasingly became a major goal for the same gro wing the Society." elite. At that meeting, J0 charte r me mbers we re e lected who then The BSA thu s grew out of a set of shared concerns that elected an additional 15 (see inset). A committee was also ~ began to pre occupy a number of leaders of late 19th century formed to draft the cons titution of the new soc iety with William Trelease as cha ir. On 1 November 1893, Trelease sent m American bot any. The majo r ob stacle to the creation of a dr aft of the con stitution to all charter members and a spec ial a scientific soc iety specifically orga nized aro und some thin g flyer and reprint of the Botanical Gazette, the primary journal ca lled America n botan y, wo uld prove to be the persisten t for America n bo tan ists at that time, to mem bers of the prob lem that the BSA wo uld face for much of its history : ho w Bot ani cal Club . Trelease 's co mmittee in consu ltation with to unify a gro up divi ded by subd isc ipline, institutional site, charter members d iscu ssed the naming of the society and geographic region, sc ientific meth odology, as well as the co nside red three optio ns: American Botanical Society. Botan ­ individua l wishes of the usu al ass ortment of difficult and ical So ciety of Am eri ca , and So cie ty of Am er ican Botan ists. intractable personalities. After some d iscu ssion , the second was cho sen for no clearly discernable reason other than how it sounded . T he aim of the society was then de termined " to be the promotion of bo tanical FOUNDING TH E SOCIETY research" whil e mem bership would "be very rigid ly drawn." ( 1893, Minutes of BSA, p. I). This meant that only peop le who Al most from the start , the informa l group of members we re actively contributing to botanical kn owl edge we re to be interested in forming a soc iety e ngaged in lively debate if not considered members. rancorou s d iscu ssion over issu es that included criteria for The society with 10 of its cha rter mem bers met the fo llowing memb ership, discipl inary spec ializa tion, affiliation , mission year in Broo klyn , Ne w Yo rk, on 15 A ugust to ad op t the stateme nt, timing and locat ion of meetings, du es, and even co nstitution and to elec t William Trelease as the first Preside nt naming. of the Society, with Nathanie l Lord Britton as Vice Preside nt. Beginning in 1883 , botani sts associated with the Am erican But right from the start, two of its elec ted charter members, Association for the Ad vancement of Sc ience (AAAS; formally Dan iel Ca dy Ea ton and Lester Frank Ward, de clined to accept organ ized in 1848) attended the AAAS meeting in Minneap­ their election wh ile two others, Roland Thaxter and William olis, Minnesota, and formed wha t became known as the Gilson Farlow, demon strated "expressions of doubt" (18 94, Ame rican Botanical C lub . It later bec ame Section G of the Minutes of BSA). T his d id not bode well for the new soc iety. AAA S . Nine years later, at the annual meetings of the AA AS By 1896, criticism began to gro w with ch arges that the society in Rochester, New Yor k, on 22 A ugust 1892 , bot ani sts passed wa s too ex clusi ve , while some of the memb ers ex pressed a reso lution to appoint a co mmittee to cons ider the foundi ng of a pre fere nce for winter meetings with the A merican So ciety of a " new soc iety o f bot ani sts" that would " more fully un ify and Natural ists rath er than summe r meetings with AAAS. In what subserve the botanical interests of the co untry" (Botanical was to pro ve a major se tbac k, botani sts at the A merica n Gazette , Notice, 1892 , p. 289). Corne ll's Liberty Hyde Bailey, Society of Naturalists meeting in December regrouped to who appeared to endorse the forma tion of such a soc iety, was consider orga nizing their own Society for Vege tab le Morph ol ­ named the chair of the co mmi ttee . But the society was not off ogy and Ph ysiology. T he foll owing yea r, on 27 Decem ber, the to a good start; Bailey ' s co mm ittee report the foll owing year at committee to orga nize the So ciety for Veget able Morp hology the Madison, Wi scon sin meetings of the AAAS in 1893 and Phy siology met at Sage College in Ithaca, New York to recommended ab andoning the proje ct. The negativ e de cision establish a rival so cie ty with the nam e Society for Plant was supported by no less than e ight members of the co m mittee . Morphology and Ph ysiology that would meet with ASN in the Only one was in favor of found ing a new soc iety and that was winter. W illiam G ilson Farlow was first president . Fro m that the Un iversity of W isconsin Professor of Plant Physiol ogy (and poi nt on, the BS A had a se rious or ga nizational riv al with even bryo logist), C. R. Ba rnes, who filed his ow n minority repo rt. charter mem bers like Bailey and T haxter defec ting to the other That minority rep ort must have made a co mpe lling cas e botanical so ciety. beca use it rapid ly earne d itsel f a two-th irds major ity vo te. It is For the next severa l years, resign ati on after resignation was with some justificatio n, therefore, that we migh t co nsider reluctan tly accepted as the BSA experie nced one of the most 946 AMERI CAN JOURNA LOF BOTANY [Vo l. 93 lui

Margaret C. Ferguson at Wellesley Co llege became the first such as the elections of officers in the society and the move to inc woman president of the society (she was followed by Katherine create a perm anent historica l record of the soc iety. cre Esau in 1951). As a numbe r of historians have noted, the Eve n though they weren't initially invol ved, the outbreak of 1 9 ~ subject of botany attracted a large number of women, most of the war in Europe shook the mem bership of the BSA as they Stu whom failed to gain the equal status of their male peers resign ed themse lves to the fact that the International Botanical c x ~ (Rossiter, ]982; Rudolph, 1982; Stuckey, \992; Shteir, 1996; Congress scheduled for Stock holm was to be indefinitely of Rossiter, 1998). postpo ned. More immedi ately too, the BSA immediately felt An People of color were entirely absent from similar leadership the effects of the war as international membership declined itse roles, and their participation in socie ty activities was limited precipitou sly in 1939. The es timated net loss of AJB soc not so much by the intention of botanists, but by prevailing subscri ptions due to the Euro pean war was estima ted as 25 fon conditions widespread in America at this time that not only did in Germany, 35 in Russia, with an estimated 30 or so members (19 not foster, but that actively underm ined their full participation. in locations like Chin a. The tota l loss due to the war was "th One glari ng demon stration of racial discrimination was seen at estimated at about 80 sub scription s (1939 , BSA Minutes, p. 9). Soc the 193 1 meetings of the BSA, which took place in New Perh aps because of the realization of an increasing internation al cor Orlea ns. Acco rding to the minutes of the Society, discussion presence and beca use the European theater was engaged in rep was had on the " unfortunate difficulties encountered in the war, the BSA in 1940 began discussio ns of " poss ible mean s of eff attendance of the meetin gs of the Society and of the AAAS by coo peration betwee n botanists of North , Central, and South a c Dr. Turner, one of our mem bers, because of racial relations" Amer ica" (1940, BSA Minu tes, p. 5), and for the first time, reh (19 31, Minutes of Council, p. 78). Th e secretary was exch ange rates with foreign countries were discuss ed and left Inti "i nstructed to convey personally to Dr. Turner the regrets of to the discretion of the Treasurer. But almost as if the BSA ten the Council that this unfortun ate situation has arisen" (193 1, kne w that it too would be shortly dragged into the war, little reh Minutes of Council, p. 78). While the specifics of the situation activity was noted in the early I940s, the sole major po licy p. I remain unclear, it appears that Dr. Turner was barred from initiative launched being the designation of a new class of entering the SI. Charles Hotel, the site of the annual meetings. mem ber, that of the husband and wife. pre However sincere the council members were in expressing their Without surprise, no minutes were recorded for 1942- 1943 ov: regrets, they did not hesitate to "th ank the citizens of new as American botanists were indeed brought into the world war. vot Orleans for the welcome extended to the society" (193 1, BSA Not until February 1943 did American botanists meet in what Minutes, p. 72). was an "emergency meeting" con vened by President M. L. pn Still more problems presented themselves to the society in Fem ald at Harvard. With only 19 members present, the society inc the aftermath of the Grea t Depression , which led to voted on the memb ers of the Co mmittee on Nome nclature, the nei "ex ceedingly difficult financia l conditions" for the Society Comm ittee on Botanical Teac hing, and a proposal for the PIa (1932, BSA Minutes, p. 83). It weath ered that finan cial crisis Emergency War Co mmittee was presented and accepted . In sci along wit h the collapse of the Genetics and Mycol ogical Janu ary 1944, a busin ess meet ing was called to order in New po : Sections in the 1930s (they became victims of their own York Cit y at the New York Botanical Garden where much of am success with members moving to specialized soc ieties) and the discussion cen tered on wartime measures like ass igning to ph continued to revitalize itself by the creation of new sections the War Emergency Committee the task of recording the SOl like the Paleobotani cal Section in 1936 (it proved to be one of wartime activi ties of botanists. Formal meetings of the society III the livelie st sections and a mains tay of the society). Legislation were deemed difficu lt espec ially gi ven that the AAAS ne on behalf of nature preservation was actively supported as in meetings were cancelled at the request of the Office of Defense a ~ the case of the creation of the National Parks System, and Tran sport ation (ODT). Gasoline rationing was in effe ct and 19 national institutions devoted to botanical study, such as the non-es sential travel was not encouraged duri ng wart ime. Still, National Botani c Gard en, we re also similarly supported botanists wanted so me kind of forum for showcasing their pre througho ut the 1930s. Increasingly, the BSA introduced research, and regional meetings were planned that wou ld not lik permanent institutional structures for the teaching of botany con flict with the instructions from the ODT. ide and the neve rending nomenclatorial debates, po licies, and other th matters like the location of type speci mens, which were be mediated by the Committee on Nomenclature. TH E PLACE OF BOTAN Y IN A UNI FIED SCIENCE we Other pressing matters in the decade of the 1930s included OF BIOLOGY "6 increa sing problems with the editing and publication of the b journal, with the recom mendation being made in 1935 " that the T he end of war brought with it a num ber of alterations in the r, Botanical Society of America as soon as possible assume the fabric of Ame rican science . Not on ly had it benefited from the tn.I responsibility for the manag ement and publication as well as influ x of emigres fleeing war-torn Europe generally, and the ur. the editorial work of the American Journal of Botany" (1935, Nazi regime in particular, but it had also de monstrated its ill I BSA Minutes). Thus the agreement between the BSA and the utility to serve nation al interests. Resources that had been p ~ Brook lyn Botanic Garden was officially terminated in 1935. As poured into American science and tech nology duri ng the pr well, working out the relations between the newly formed wartime yea rs were now redirected to peacet ime efforts and in ul American Society of Plant Ta xonomists (founded in (935) ma ny situations not dim inished appreciably. T he postwar a ~ took a great deal of negotia tion so as to avoid competition and period thus proved a critical time for Ameri can science as eve n tIl to enhance the joint interests of both societies. In only 2 years, more soc ieties, institutes, and finally fund ing agencies like the u the first joint meeting between the two societies took place. Natio nal Scie nce Fou ndation were established (Appel, 2000 ) cr. Other major deve lopments were the formal inco rporation of For biologists, the critical event was the formation of the the society under the laws of the State of Connecticut as of 9 Ameri can Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), which s May 1939, which led to changes in a number of procedures wo uld serve as the first " umbrella" organi zation to unify the gl 93 July 2006] S xrocovms-i-A SHORT HISTO RY OF THE BOTANICAL S OCIETY OF AMERICA 947

[0 increasingly heterogeneous biological societies: efforts to proposed at the annual meetings "that the Botanical So ciety of create a coherent organization had failed until that tim e (Appel, Am erica appoint a committee to promote the professional unity 1986). At the sa me time, societies such as the Society for the amo ng all plant sc ientists, and to study the problem of an all Study of Evolution, the first international society devoted inclusive plant science society." It was further suggeste d that expressly to the promotion of evolutionary research in the wak e "bot anists, individually and co llective ly, en courage the of the " new synthesis" of evolution, were founded on widespread use o f botany and plant sc iences as synonyms in American soil. The BSA rapidly lent its support and buttressed all publications, in teaching and in all other co mm unication itself in the process through its affiliations to even more medi a av ail able" (1952, BSA Minutes, p. 69 ). societies. The executive report of 1946 outlined plan s for the It wa s no surprise , therefore, that whe n the society finally formati on of an "effective unit ed organization of biologists" approved the cre ation of a leafl et or new sletter in 1954, which (1946, BSA Minutes, p. 55), and members vot ed unanimously it had been discussin g for two de cades, the title was chosen as "that the members of the Executive Committee and the Plant Science Bulletin, and it rem ains so today. The goal was to Society 's representative to the Nati onal Research Council integrate all the plant sciences. To that end, the editorial board constitute a spec ial committee to keep in touch with and had members of the teaching committee on it. Th e first represent the Society in the mov ement afoot to form an new sletter appeared in 1955 und er the ed itorship of Harry J. effective organization of biologists. It was voted th at Fuller. a committee be appointed by the President to es tablish close As the BSA approached its 50th anni versary, however , the relations and co operate with the Botanical Section of the soc iety began to reflect on its ori gins. The actual founding date International Union of Biological Sciences, the next In­ being subject to definition and debate, the Council decided that ternational Botanical Congress, the UNESCO, and in the the 50th anniversa ry would be celebrated officially in 1956 , the rehabil itation of war-damaged libraries" (1946 BSA Minutes, date that saw the merger and union of three societies. Tn 1955 p.99). the Report of the 50th Anniversary Committee sugges ted the A vote of 1947 on whether or not the soc ie ty should join the publication of a Golden Jubilee volume that would be propo sed AIBS as a member organi zation resulted in an co mprised of con tribution s " insofar as possible, stres sing the overwhelming ly positive recommendation. Some 539 members unity of plant sci ence and the contribution s of botany to human voted in favor, while only 58 voted against. welfare" ( 1955, BSA Council Minutes). Edited by William As ea rly as 1946 too , the BSA began to see itself as the Ca mpbell Steere, the vo lume titled " Fifty Yea rs of Botany. primary organ of research in " plant sc ience " with the more G olden Jubilee Volume of the Botanical Societ y of America" inclusive rubric gaining popularit y in use among members. A appeared in 1958 (Steere, 1958 ). It included contribution s from new committee titled the Committee for the Cooperation o f no less than 40 botanists who reviewed their respective areas of Plant Science Societies was formed. With the numbers of plant research. It also included a po rtrait gallery of botanists who scientists increasin g and oc cupyin g e ven more di verse were awarded a spec ial " Ce rtificate of Merit. " positions (the war effort had fue led the growth of fertilizer and he rbicide development along with suppo rting th e pharmaceutical industry), the need was increasin gl y felt for A MIDDLE-AGED SOCIETY: THE BSA AFTER 50 some sort of "clearing house, placement service, or employ­ ment bureau " for American plant scientists. At discussions, the The society membership in the jubilee year of 1956 stood at need for a new s bulletin, either as part of a journal or as 1868. Th ou gh it increased in the next couple of dec ades by a separate publication was brought up repeatedly in the late about 1000 members, thanks to the intensification of efforts at 1940s. recruitment, it was to stab ilize at about 2500 members. Though As the BSA's acti vities began to be more and more it was a workable number, membership co ntinued to concern preoccupied with its relations to larger biological societies the lead ership of the BSA who repeatedl y mediated to maintain like the AIBS, botanists also began to recognize that their sel f­ representational balance and to maintain a unifi ed fron t. identification as " bio log ists" was a double-ed ged sword. On Some sectio ns co mpla ined more than othe rs. In 1956, the institutional front, this was starting to threaten the well­ William Stern, Chair of the Committee on Membership being of something ca lled " botany," as botany departments reported that taxonomists were losing interest in the BSA were being con solidated with zoology unit s in what were called becau se of the " alleged impossibility o f publishing taxon omic "biology" dep artments, As early as 1949, the potential threat to papers in the American Journal of Botany" (1956, BSA botany began to conce rn members of the BSA, most of wh om Co uncil Minutes,p. 3). Dr. Reeder , then Chair of the retained a primary commitme nt to " bo tany ." As they noted in Sy stematics Section " corro borated this feel ing amo ng taxon o­ their minutes " in view of the growing tenden cy of colleges and mists " (1956, BSA Council Minutes, p. 3). Th e same concern unive rsities to eliminate dep artments of bot any per se or to was ech oed by Oswald Tippo, Chair of the Committee on the incorporate the m in biology departments, 1. Fischer Standfield Relation of the Botanical Society to other Plant Science proposed to the Society that it appoint a committee to study this Societies. H. 1. Fuller read ex cerpts from letters the Plant problem." (19 49, BSA Minutes, p. 175 ). Thi s proposal was Science Bulletin (PSB) had received from ta xonomists wh o unan imou sly approv ed. Th e matter of pre serving the ex istence made similar co mplaints. Not to be outdone over their feelings and integrity of something recognizable as " botany," whil e at of exclusion, so me phy siologists also ex pressed " dissatisfac­ the same time taking the study of plants in all its diversity into tion wi th the Journal and deplored the number of morpholo­ the boo ming biological sc iences wo uld prove to be o ne of the gists ele cted to o ffice" (1956, BSA Co uncil Minutes, p. 3). critical problems of the society during its next 50 years. While pres erving harmony in and between the sect ion s was One thin g was clear , if botany we re to have a chance at of some concern, the BSA a lso took advantag e of funding surv iving, it would have to provide a united front including the oppo rtunities from the newly creat ed Nation al Science growing numbers of plant scientists. Thus, in 1952 it was Foundation, especially with respect to promoting and teaching 948 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY [Vol. 93 July botanical science. Summer institutes, like those run by Harlan them) joined the next year. The Council additionally favored Ar P. Banks for College Teachers of Botany at locations such as the establishment of a National Tropical Garden in Hawaii and that Cornell proved to be effective means of promoting the study of sent a resolution urging the passage of the new Bill, S-1991, Secti botany through education at the college level. Also of then before Congress. This was passed the following year by scie n relevance to teaching, the BSA began to actively compile a list both houses of the Congress and signed by the President. reorg of films useful for botanical instruction and in 1959, the first of While botanists felt that they had to increasingly justify their been what would be a series of Careers in Botany booklets aimed at existence in the context of newer areas such as biochemistry A~ encouraging young people to enter the field made its and molecular biology increasingly dominating the biological mem appearance. Over 5000 copies were distributed to individuals sciences, they also took advantage and benefited from the the Sl and institutions. increasing attention given to the sciences in general, and ballo Other high points in the BSA in the decade of the 1950s biology in particular in the wake of the launching of the Soviet absei included the IX International Botanical Congress, sponsored by satellite Sputnik in 1957. In fear that the Soviets were excelling Barb Canadian botanists at Montreal, Quebec in 1959, which drew at basic science and technology, American leaders channeled pers: on the participation of American botanists who voted not to more and more resources into the teaching and development of maki meet with the AIBS that year, and the creation of an especially basic and applied sciences in the late 1950s and early 1960s. inclr active new section, the Developmental section which un­ Science education boomed in the early 1960s, with the newer Soci derwent "exceptional growth" in membership (1962, BSA biological sciences featured prominently by groups like the Palsl Minutes). In 1958 the BSA set into motion the administration Biological Sciences and Curriculum Study. Mindful of their Pres of the BSA merit awards in 1958. On Ralph Wetmore's status, the Education Committee of the BSA began to monitor the ( recommendations, a Merit Award Committee of three was high school biology textbooks for botanical content. In 1965, "the established with rotating membership comprised of past the suggestion was made to create a Guide to Graduate Study of tl recipients. in Botany, which appeared as a 48-page booklet the following mee Financial problems appeared on the horizon in 1958, year, largely through the efforts of Adolph Hecht. As well, the o however, as Lawrence Crockett, the Business Manager, BSA authorized another revision to the successful Careers in envl Act "presented a dismal report with respect to the financial Botany pamphlet. Con condition of the Journal." With income static, and production The Historical Section now officially founded in 1963, costs rising, there seemed no real solution to long-range "leg members of the BSA considered depositing their growing financial problems other than by raising membership dues and the archive in a safe location for future historians. In 1965, the continuing to recruit new members. The following year, an start agreement was made with the University of Texas to store the aggressive recruitment campaign involving 1000 applications archives of the BSA, making some of the material more easily forms with an accompanying letter led to a "substantial accessible for consultation by members by having it micro­ increase in new members" (1959, BSA Council Minutes, p. 3). filmed. But while recruiting new members was critical, society By the end of the decade, the society appeared to be in good members recognized that maintaining a united front was E financial shape with the journal showing "very excellent equally important. In 1959, Ralph Wetmore delivered an yeai financial health" (1967, BSA Minutes), mostly because of the "excellent" report to the BSA, which was approved by the bot< Council. That report was the first of many exploring the use of publication page charges, and members looked forward Cor possibility of creating a federation of plant societies within the to the IBC meetings scheduled in Seattle, Washington, for Ch, institutional structure of the AIBS. The "Wetmore Committee" 1969, to which they had contributed 10000 dollars. While the unr: had originally been formed in response to the financial crisis, society approved the emergence of yet another section, the Eve but as it became apparent that the deeper concern was Phytochemical Section, problems persisted in the Physiological rela coordination between the disparate set of plant science Section of the BSA. In 1968, at President Arthur Galston's the urging, Graeme Berlyn agreed to chair the Physiological societies, it evolved into the committee whose charge was to Be~ explore the possibility of creating a special Central Committee Section, which had become defunct during the preceding year. tior for Plant Sciences within AIBS that would serve to unify the The hope was that he would activate the section. A symposium pro plant sciences. was promptly organized in the hope that the Section "will sai: By 1962 however, the AIBS was having problems of its again be on its feet" (1968, BSA Council Minutes, p. 5). Some ane own, thanks in some part to the success of the biological problems were also raised with respect to the PSB. The report the sciences and because member societies were increasingly of the editor, William Stern, pointed to "the continuing lack of cffl feeling isolated within the larger group and were mindful of the cooperation on the part of the membership of the Society with in dues that they paid for membership. Following the organiza­ respect to the provision of articles and notes for publication" Ch tional structure of the AAAS, the AIBS planned to broaden its (1968, BSA Minutes). Whatever problems encountered by the so base by permitting membership on individual basis rather than PSB, they paled in comparison with the even bigger problem of ext centered on participatory societies. Given this reorganization at membership in the BSA as a whole. Between the years 1967 ob AIBS. the proposed Federation of Plant Science Societies and 1968, membership increased by only 12 members. By see seemed questionable. Plans for such a central committee were 1972, it was apparent that membership had been dropping for 19 therefore put on hold while the AIBS underwent its the past 3 years. This was due "mostly because of the attrition in reorganization. of former members, particularly students, not in decrease in the BS In 1963 a new History Section was formed, and the position addition of new members (1972, BSA Minutes of Council, pp. int of "program director" to be held for 3 years was filled and 1, 2). One possibility explored was the hiring of a "PR person" a r a new membership category, that of "sustaining member" was to promote botany and good relations with other societies, but introduced in the hope of luring in commercial companies. Five that was dropped because it was thought too difficult to find En co mpanies (Triarch, Geigy, and Agricultural C hemicals among a person to handle that particular job. su: July 2006 1 S MOcovITl s-A SHOR T HI STORY OF THE BOTANI CAL SOCIET Y OF A MER ICA 949

An eve n bigger indi cator of the status of botany was the fact sympos ia and sessions at meetings, attract ing more ecological that in 1970 AAAS dissol ved Section G, on botany, and pape rs to the Journal and perhaps brin gin g mo re ecolog ists into Sect ion F on zoology to create a section on life or biological the Societ y" (197 6, BSA Minutes, p. 1976 ). It was fo unded science s, ca lled Section FG , Biological Sci en ces. With tha t forma lly in 1977 wi th a total membership of 334 peo ple. For reorgani zation, the original home of American botany, had similar reasons, discu ssions to found an Economic Botan y been subsumed by the biological sc iences . section fo llowed, and it was agreed that the Society for As the wo me n 's movement was taking effect, so me Econ omic Botany would be approached formally. Mem bers members of the soc iety began to question the dominan ce o f also introdu ced the possibility of found ing another Gen et ics the society by men. During the elections of 1973, sev eral of the sec tio n, lon g disbanded. ballots had ano nymous written comments "questioning the Also in 1977 some of the most active members of the soc iety absence of any wom en candidates in this year." Writing to in the Paleob otanical Section entered into discussions with the Barbara Palser, Kenton Chambers noted, "May I make the Department of the Interior and the Society of Verteb rate personal suggestion to next years Election Committee that they Paleontologists with regard to sorting out the status of fossil make a more co nsc ientious effort than we did this ye ar to plant rema ins in the Antiquities Act. Th e minutes of 1977 includ e qu ali fied women nominees on the ballot for the j ustified it thu s:" because of increased leasing of the Bureau of Society's election" (Le tte r from Kenton Chambers to Barbara Lan d Management land for coal mining in the west , so me Palser, 2 June 1973; 1973 , BSA Minutes). In 197 5, then coord ina ted effort see ms prudent to en sure the collecti on and Presiden t Peter Raven read a statement that was circulated after preserva tion of the fossil plant record before it is destroyed " the Co ngress in Len ingr ad an d signed by 2 I per son s deploring (1977 , BSA Minutes of Council, p. 8). Records show that the " the fact that so few wo me n we re involved in the or ganization Paleob ot an ical sectio n was especially acti ve at this tim e. Not of the Co ngress or served in the administrati on of scientific o nly did the section help g uide policies for the Dep artment of meetin gs" ( J97 5, BSA Minutes of Council, p. II ). the Interi or for prot ection of plant fossil s, but a new gro up Oth er political involve me nts we re ge nde r-ne utra l, but called The Intern at ion al Organi zati on of An giosperm Paleo­ environment friendly. Th e passage of the Endangered Species bot anists (wi th the ir ow n ne wslett er) was also founded. Th e Act of 1973 placed new demand s to the society, and the other active section at this tim e was the new Ecol ogical Co nservatio n Com mittee had to det e rmine formall y if Secti on , which wo rked with the Conservation Committee. As " legislative ac tivity" was allowed for such organizations und er they no ted , " rea lis tic con servation policies depend on realistic the Intern al Revenue Co de. The BSA wa s consulted from the bio logica l appraisals of the specific organisms and habit ats start to assis t in providing lists of endangered plant species. co ncerned" ( 1978 , BSA Minutes of Council, p. 90). The attempts to lure in new members made members of the BSA think more ge ne rally in terms of the age distribution o f THE BSA ENTERS THE GLOBAL THEATER the society. It targeted college and university seniors and tried to lure juniors by the awarding of the Young Botan ist By far the major de ve lopment of the BSA in the middle Recognition A ward . Administered by John Romberger as years of the 197 0s was its entry into the global theater of member of the Membership Committee, the targeting of botanical activity. Members of the BSA attended the Botanical und ergradu ate students as members had the potential for Congress in Len ingrad in 1974 through the efforts of the enOlTI10US payb ack if tho se members contin ued to invol ve Charter Flight Co mm ittee and orchestrated a number o f them sel ves in the soc iety. The first group of awardees was important exc hang e program s at the peak of the Cold War. chosen in spring [97 9. Even an attempt to create a new " logo" Even more ex citing, the BSA took advantage of ne w formal to advertise the society was mad e in 1978, but it took ano ther relations with the People 's Republic of China to launch one o f decade to design the new logo ; see the 12 proposed design s in the first exchange pro grams with botanists in the PRe. " A Logo for the Botani cal Society" in Plant Science Bulletin Beginning in 1975, the Committee on Scholarly Communica ­ (December 1978 , p. 38) . tion with the Peopl e 's Republic of China solicited ideas and Despite the effort s to recruit new members, the membersh ip proposals from interested organizati ons. President Peter Ra ven dropped a staggering 39% in 1978 and that increased to a 45 % said he wo uld appo int a co mmittee to de vel op a "significa nt drop by 1979. Neverth eless, attendance at the annual meetings and coo rdinated resp on se from the Societ y" ( 197 5, Minutes of did not go down and the "Botany 80 " meeting in Van cou ver, the Societ y, p. 6). It took a co uple of years of or ganizational British Co lu mbia, was " the largest botanical meeting held on efforts led by hi m to set in moti on the exchange pro gram, but the co ntinen t in recent years" (Charles Heimsch, 1980, BSA in 1978, delegates selected by a specia l committee went to Minutes, p. 3). China from 18 May unti l 20 Jun e. The exchange was deemed Th e decade of the 197 0s, which continued to mirror some of so succes sful tha t it was hop ed to institute a program of such the soc ial and political uph eaval of the 1960s, also brought the exchanges. As stated in the minutes, "one of the eventual BSA more intimately into the fold of wider political culture. As objectives of the prog ram is to exchange scientific publications, scien ce itself becam e increasingly politicized in America, so seeds and po st-d octor als" (J 978, BSA Minutes, p. 11). In too did the BSA follo w suit. In the late 1970s, the society took 1981, Peter Rav en him self went to China to engage discussion po sition s on the teaching of ev o lution in Am erican high in the Flora of China project. Co ntinuing into the 1980s, the schools, was concerned with issues like defense spend ing , BSA's relati on s wi th the PRC continued to showcase the pollution , as well of co urse as keeping abreas t of en vironmen ­ international nature of the society, as we ll as leading to tal and co nse rva tion issues ge nerally. On e lette r from Randolph a number of critical publicati ons. Hank e, po inted out that indu strial sc iences were ha vin g more Other events in the late 1970s echoed developments like the of an impact on the directi on of plant sc ience research than Endangered Sp ecies Act. A new Ecol og ical Se ction was some fed eral funding age ncies like the Nati onal Scien ce sugge sted. whic h "s ho uld be useful in scheduling ec ological Foundation (NS f). As an example, he noted that Mon sant o 950 A M ERI CA N JO UR NAL OF B OT AN Y [Vol. 93 July ,. had given more money to finance research in the life sciences years of a " trial run," and the BSA council finally voted to the s than had the NSF. While the BSA demonstra ted concern with adopt it officially in 1991 at the San Antonio meetings, with that ~ these wider issues, it also approa ched the matter of lobbying one change at the request of officers and other memb ers. The and ~ with some caut ion. In 1982, a prolonged and lively discussion daffodi l in the right corner panel in the origina l logo The I was led by David Dilcher, on whether or not the society could represen ting angiosperms and located above the word chain lobby to support a piece of legislation . Its IRS tax status stated "America" was thought inappropriate. It was subsequently The 'I explicitly that " no substantial part" of an organ ization 's replaced with a columbine, a native plant (see PSB, vol. 37, no. PSB, activities may consist of "carrying on propaganda or otherwise 3, 1991, p. 4). Ye attemptin g 10 influence legislation. " But as BSA members also Up to 1989, the minutes and documents of the society were its in. quickly noted , the language was vague and never fully defined, sorted, catalogued, and bound in a series of volumes for for A and most nonprofit organizations of its kind stayed within the 5 historical use by archivists at the University of Texas. After BSA to 15% range of their total activities when it came to such that point, critical documents have remained until recently in BSA political activism. Discussions continued over the years about the hands of the officers of the society. The transi tion between critic; the extent and nature of the BSA 's political involvement, with 1989 and 1990 might thus serve as a kind of demarcation point when a consensus emerging that the society should ally itself more for what we might consider the current or living history of the the t\ with educational rather than political concern s. The fact of the Society, especially since a number of issues remain alive for mem matter was that they were increasingly linked. To that end , the BSA members. Among these is the naming of the society itself. the , ~ PSB increasingly served as the vehicle to inform its readership In this transitional period, the BSA witnessed one of its most the I of such matters that were considered "educational " and acrimonious debates in its 100 years of history . Con cerned with the ;. discu informative rather than activist in nature . the lack of success at recruitment and because a nu mber of . I members felt that the society was too conservative or stodgy, smce the suggestion was made to change the name of the society and a sm CRISIS OF IDENTITY IN THE SOCIETY journal and to adopt the name of plant biology. The debate Al overlapped with the long-standing concern over the health of chan. As the Society moved into the 1980s, it became apparent that botany departments across the nation as they were consol idated was ~ something drastic had to be done to revitalize it. It clearly was into larger units such as " biology" (Smocovitis, 1992). The adop failing to attract sufficient numb ers of new members. The field debate over the naming and identit y of the BSA seared the into of botany in general was not helped by the continued pages of the PSB and can be followed with some precisi on (see BSA dissolution of botany departments around the country. Robert volume 35, issues numberin g I to 4); it ended with the decision co m l ~ Lloyd brought the matter to the attention of the Committee on to retain the word botany. Put to a vote, some 536 membe rs, prom, Education in 1983. Samuel N. Postlethw ait, a member of the a staggering 93% of the voters, favored the retention of the inexp committee noted " . . . that he wanted students to read AJB and name of the Botanical Society of America (only 42 members subrr be exposed to experimental design." He urged that students be voted to change the name of the society) (Papers of Christopher ofB(J properly informed that botany continued to be exciting and " on Haufl er, BSA Archives). The occasion of the identity crisis and the B the cutting edge." He urged that the BSA should " overha ul the the debate over naming, galvanized at least one member to cohes stodgy image of the AJB by publishing more exciting and additionally reconsider the "a " word in the title, America. cultiv experimental research." Too many of the papers, he noted , Writing from the University of the West Indies, in Bridgetown, A were "purely descript ive" ( 1983, BSA Minutes of Council, p. Barbados, Louis Chinnery wrote that he wanted to see a name and c 7). Suggestion s the following year from the educa tion change that had " little to do with the debate between " Botany" devo i committee includ ed inviting "exciting botanists" to speak to and "Plant Science :" but everything to do with being more like college students as a recruitment device (1984, BSA Minutes inclusive and recruiting new members. His prop osal was to evolu of Council, p. 8) and even that the AlB consider publishing amend the name from the Botan ical Society of America to the late I special papers by "r ising stars" ( 1985, BSA Minutes of "Botanical Society of the Americas" and to includ e abstracts in effon Council). Wheth er the "stodgy" image was true or not, the AlB in Spanish. Members of the BSA were tired with the the E BSA leadership knew that the society was facing a pending debate over the " b' name change so that few followed up on askec crisis in its history if it did not somehow recruit new members. Chinnery's proposal (see Louis Chinner, " Botanical Society of depo In what was an ironic but mature "about face," the BSA the Americas?" PSB, 199I, vo!.37, no. 2, p. 6). deve originally founded by an elite to distance itself from amateurs, The decade of the 1990s also witnessed major structural and progi now began to consider drawing on amateur botanists to administrative changes in the society as it recogni zed that it whic preserve its existence. More traditional recruitment tools such was concluding not only the first hundred years of its existence stude as information pamphl ets and booklets, like the Guide to but also entering the new millennium . In 1992 the BSA began enter Gradu ate Study continued to be revised and made available, to organize itself for the next century and millennium through divei while the Careers in Botany pamphlet was entirely revised in its "Botany for the New Millennium " project to identify activ 1986 and distribut ed widely. "research and educational goals, priorities, and opportunities" uctiv The official " logo" to represent the society was finally as the society approached the 21st century (PSB , ] 992, vol. 38, Arne produced in 1989 and rapidly made its way to paraphern alia no. 3, p. 10). The report was published as " Botany for the Next alwa like canvas tote bags and " Hanes beefy-T 's" (proceeds from Millennium" in 1995. On the more local front, a perm anent natic the sales went to the BSA Endowment Fund ). The design of the office with a full-time business office manager was vo ted on as a logo printed in green against a cream-colored background and approved in 199I. It was established on I December 1992 bota included a sequence of six plant grou ps that represented the in the Department of Plant Biology at Ohio State University adhc diversity of plant life and the diversity of member's interests. (this was one of "four excellent offers" (PSB , 1992, vo!. 38, and The design of the logo was by a Davis, Californi a artist, no. 3, p. 10) with Kim Hiser as the first business office citiz originally solicited by Judy Jernstedt. The logo underwent 2-3 manager. Yet another change involved a kind of face-lift for serer July 2006] SMOC OVITlS-A SHORT HISTORY OF TH E BOTANI CAL S OCIET Y OF AMERI CA 951 the soc iety in 1992 by the adoption of a new fonnat for the AlB BSA is more than ju st the history of a group o f people with that included a new size, a ne w co ver with glossy photographs, shared comm itments to the scientific study of plants whose and a new organization for the tabl e of contents listed by topic. membersh ip happen s to resid e w ithin a geo po litical categ ory, The decision had co me by way o f an Ad Hoc Com mittee nam ely "Ame rica. " The history of the BS A is simultaneous ly, chaired by Darlene de M ason , while Nels Lersten wa s ed itor. the history of biology, the history of sc ienc e, and the history of The " bo ld new desi gn " appeared to please the members (see a natio n making its way in the per iod of globalization. If it is to PSB, 1992, vo l. 38 , no. 2, p. 3). surv ive and flourish in the new mill enn ium, the BSA will do so Yet anothe r major cha nge was a brea k with the AIBS. From only if it can continue to succe ssfully envi sion itself as a vital its inception in 1947 as the first " umbrella-like" organization part of some larger whole. The cha llenge will be to preserve for Am eri can biologists, the AIBS had re lied heavily on the enoug h of its integrity and original go als of the scientific study BSA and other societies that form ed its co re supporters. The of plants, while at the same tim e dem on stratin g flexibility and BSA had in turn bolstered the organization at a number of adaptab ility to an ever-changing world. critical points in its history, pro vid ing fund s and other support when required. Matters pertaining to the relation ship bet ween LITERATURE C IT ED the two organiza tions came to a head in the 1990 s when BSA members grew increasingly unh appy wi th the gro w ing size of ApPEL, T. 1988. Organizing biology: The American Society of Naturalists and its 'affiliated societies,' 1883-1 923.111 R. Rainger, K. Benson, the annual meetings held in conj unc tion with AIBS, and w ith and J. Maienschein [eds.} R7- 120. The American Development of run the less than perfect organization of those meetings out of Biology. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia, Pennsylva­ the AIB S offi ce and w ith so me ex pense . Following some nia, USA. discussio n, the BSA " broke" fro m the AIB S in 2000 and has ApPEL, T. 2000. Shaping biology: The National Science Foundation and si.nce held its annual meetings in less ex pensive locales with American biological research, 1945-1 975. Johns Hopkins University a smaller number of particip an ts an d conc urrent ses sions. Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Alt hough the break with AIBS and othe r developments CAMPBELL, C. L., P. D. PAITERSON, AND C. S. GRIFFI TH. 1999. The formative changed thing s permanently for the BSA, no other development years of plant pathology in the United States. APS Press, SI. Paul, was to have a greater impact on the society , however, than its Minnesota, USA. adoption of electro nic communicat ion technology and its entry CrTTADI NO, E. 1980. Ecology and the professionalization of botany in into the World Wide Web. Orch estrated by Scott Ru ssell, the America, IR90- 1905. Studies ill History of Biology 4: 171- 198. CRAJG, P. 2005. Centen nial history of the Carnegie Institution of BSA moved qui ckl y to adopt th is tool as a way of not onl y Washington, vol. 4. The department of plant biology. Camb ridge communic ating with each other, bu t also es pec ially as a way of University Press, Cambridge, UK. promotin g the study of botany and the soc iety effective ly- and CRANE, D. 1972. Invisible colleges. Diffusion of knowledge in scientific inexpen sivel y-on an int ernation al sca le . Pro posal s were communities. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, Illinois. USA. submitted in 1998 for the publica tion of the American Journal EWAN, J. [ed.]. 1969. A short history of botany in the United States. Hafner of Botany in e lec tro nic fo rmat, and eventually its we bs ite and Publishing. New York, New York, USA. the BSA's horn e we bs ite would prove critical in m aintaining the GALLOWAY, B. 1904. The twentieth century botany. Science 19: 11 -18. cohes ion and unity that the society had so desper ately sought to KINGSL,IND, S. E. 2005. The evolution of American ecology, 1890-2000. cultiva te throu ghout its history. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. As wit h a number of other sc ientific soc ieties in the 1990s MICKULAS, P. In press. Britton's botanical empire: Nathaniel Lord Britton and the New York Botanical Garden. New York Botanical Garden and early yea rs of the 21 st century, mo re and more time was Press, Bronx, New York, USA. devoted to di scussing policy issues, es pecially in vital areas MORTON, A. G. 1981. History of botanical science. Academic Press, New like biodi ver sity loss, climate change, and the tea ching of York, New York. USA. evolution in Ame rican high schoo ls. Officers of the BSA in the NEWCOMBE, F. C. 1914. Introductory. Amcricanlournal of BOlan)' 1: 1-12. late 1990s and the ea rly yea rs of the 21 st century devoted more OLESON, A.. AN D J. Voss [eds.}. 1979. The organization of knowledge in effort to suc h co ncerns than at an y other tim e in the history o f modem America, 1860-1 920. Johns Hopkins University Press, the BSA. As a sign o f the increasin g role that the BS A was Baltimore, Maryl and, USA. asked to play in poli cy issues, a number o f documents OVER FI ELD , R. A. 1993. Science with practice. Charles E. Bessey and the deposited in the archives dealt spec ifically with media and maturing of American botany. Iowa State University Press, Ames, deve loping good media re lati ons. Educati on al outreach Iowa, USA. RODGERS, A. D. 1944. American botany, 1873-1892. Decades of programs that connec ted the society to other gro ups, some of transition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. which had amateur membership or included high school ROSSI TER, M. 1982. Women scientists in America. Struggles and students and young people generally , flou rished as the society strategies to 1940. John Hopkin s University Press, Baltimore, entered the new millennium. At the same tim e that a more Maryland, USA. diverse gro up of Americans were actively incl uded in the ROSSITER, M. 1998. Women scientists in Ameri ca: before affirmative activities of the soc iety, the Soci ety also ex tended itself to action, 1940- 1972. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, activities the wo rld over, especially and increasingly in Latin Mary land, USA. America. Like the plants that they studied, botanists did not RUDOLPH, E. 1982. Women in nineteenth century American botany: always and still do not , adhere strictly to human-created a generally unrecognized constituency. American I ournal of Botan y national or political boundaries. Ironi call y eno ugh, what began 69: 1346-1 355. SHTEIR , A. B. 1996. Cultivating women. cultivating science. Johns as a society of elit e northea stern Ameri ca n (mostly male) Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. botanists gav e way to an international society that on ly loosely S MOCOVITI S, V. B. 1992. Disciplining botany: a taxonomic problem. Taxon adheres to co nventional definitions of "botany" and"America" 4 1: 459-470. and that now depends on am ateurs, students, an d ordinary SMOCOVITIS, V. B. 1996. Unifying biology: the evo lutionary synthesis and citizens for its audience. Closing this sho rt history of an old evolutionary biology. Princeton University Press, Princeton , New scientific society, this historian concludes that the history of the Jersey, USA. 952 AMERICA N JO URNA L OF B OTAN Y [Vol. 93 Ameri

STE ER . W. C. [ed.] Fifty years of botany. Golden Jubilee volume of the W. C. Steere [ed.], Fifry years of botany. 1- 13. McGraw-Hill. New Botanical Society of America. McGraw-Hill. New York, New York, York, New York. USA. USA. VOLBERG, R. A. 1983 . Constraints and commitments in the development of American botany, l8 80-1 920. Dissertation, University of Californ ia, STU CK EY, R. L. 1992. Women botanists of Ohio. Greene's Printing, Ocala, San Franscisco, California, USA. Florida. USA. WEIB E, R. H. 1967. Search for order. 1877-1920. Hill and Wang, New T,PPO, O. 1956. The early history of the Botanical Society of America. //1 York, New York, USA.

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