Maine Women Botanists and Their Overlooked Contributions, by Johna Vandergraaf
Information about these photos:
- Article: Josselyn Botanical Society- Organization in Maine That Has Accomplished Much Good, Written By: Boston Daily Globe, Year: 1911
- Image: Kate Furbish, Year: approximately 1900
- Article: Journal of the Portland Society of Natural History, Year: 1864
- Book: Kate Furbish, Botanist: An Appreciation, Written By: Louise H. Coburn, Year: 1924
- Article: The Josselyn Botanical Society Of Maine, Written By: Louise H. Coburn
I am aiming to explore the history of women botanists and their contributions to Maine botany to understand how they shaped the development of botany and what roles they played within the scientific community in hopes to provide a written documentation and appreciation of women botanists who have remained largely invisible within history. These documents help tell a story of the environment within the field of Maine Botany for women during the nineteenth century.
While societal beliefs served as barriers to women’s participation in science, women such as Kate Furbish, a Maine native botanist and painter, and Louise Coburn, a Colby alumna, helped break through these barriers. In particular, the Josselyn Botanical Society, cofounded by Kate Furbish played an important role in giving women an opportunity to get involved in botany when the field was so overly saturated with men. Louise Coburn often wrote about botanical news including the Portland Society of Natural History, but she regarded the Josselyn Botanical Society as being one of the most important contributors to Maine botany’s development. Her writings also show that it was built upon a passion for nature and harboring a welcoming environment. Included in her publications was an appreciation autobiography of Kate Furbish to shed light on her lifelong botany mission while also showing the importance and power of friendship and collaboration among women botanists. Together, she and Furbish accomplished important work for botany in Maine as well as advocated for women during a time where it was needed by pursuing their passions together and leaning on each other for support. Since many of the contributions women made to botany were overlooked and undocumented as a result of the usual narrratives of the time period, these documents in particular help provide insight into the environment of the time and how women worked within this field.
Curated by Johna Vandergraaf