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Dorcas Brigham

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American botanist
Dorcas Brigham
A young white woman, with short wavy hair, wearing a collared white blouse; she is looking directly at the cameraDorcas Brigham, from the 1918 Smith College yearbook
Born(1896-05-18)May 18, 1896
Newtonville, Massachusetts, US
DiedFebruary 14, 1986(1986-02-14) (aged 89)
Mount Dora, Florida, US
Occupation(s)Botanist, horticulturist, farmer

Dorcas Brigham (May 18, 1896 – February 14, 1986) was an American botanist, horticulturist, and farmer.

Early life and education

Brigham was born in Newtonville, Massachusetts, and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Frank C. Brigham and Frances McFarlin Brigham. She graduated from Dana Hall School in 1914, and she graduated from Smith College in 1918.

Career

In 1923, Brigham returned to Smith College as a botany professor. In 1928 and 1929, she taught at the Lawthorpe School of Landscape Architecture. In 1929, she and Dorthea Wallace Ward bought a 25-acre farm near Williamsburg, known as Village Hill Nursery. Brigham sold off the farm's livestock when Ward left to marry in 1939, but expanded the mail order business in herbs, adding a grape arbor, a greenhouse, and a pond. During World War II she oversaw the victory garden on the Smith campus.

Brigham retired around 1957, maintaining a mountaintop garden in Cashiers, North Carolina and spending the winter months in Mount Dora, Florida. She contributed an article to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's Handbook on Herbs (1958). In 1959 she was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Herb Society of America. She led the local Audubon Society chapter in Mount Dora, and was president of the local Friends of the Library. She lectured to community groups, and led Audubon field trips to Corkscrew Swamp and Sanibel Island into the 1970s. She was a founding member of the Florida Native Plant Society in 1980.

Personal life

Brigham traveled in her retirement, studying plant and animal life in Fiji, Australia, and Greece in her seventies. She died in 1986, aged 89 years, in Mount Dora. Her papers are in the Smith College archives.

References

  1. ^ "Dorcas Brigham 1914". Helen Temple Cooke Library at Dana Hall School. 2013-11-05. Archived from the original on 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  2. "Brigham, Dorcas". Smithipedia. Archived from the original on 2010-05-02. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  3. "Miss Dorcas Brigham to Speak on Herbs". The Berkshire Eagle. 1953-08-10. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Dorcas Brigham Speaks Before Garden Club". The Berkshire Eagle. 1933-04-07. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Osborne, Clyde (1978-06-19). "Retired Educator Spends Her Time Now with Flowers". Asheville Citizen-Times. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Down-to-Earth Guide Found in Herb Book". The Times Dispatch. 1958-09-21. p. 90. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. The Herb Society of America, Award Descriptions and Winners by Award.
  8. "Audubon Chapter Plans Christmas Bird Count". The Orlando Sentinel. 1974-12-06. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "About Audubon". Oklawaha Valley Audubon. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  10. Cooper, Lou (1975-01-05). "Women in Leadership Look to '75". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 48. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Guest Speaker Queried". The Orlando Sentinel. 1964-04-26. p. 70. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Nevin, Susan B. (1960-10-10). "Herb Society to Hear Miss Dorcas Brigham". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Florida Ferns Program Topic". The Orlando Sentinel. 1975-12-30. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Cooper, Lou (1973-12-27). "Club Hears about Australia Tour". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Lantz, Don (Summer 1990). "The Founding of FNPS" (PDF). The Palmetto. 10: 14.
  16. "Obituary for DORCAS BRIGHAM (Aged 89)". The Orlando Sentinel. 1986-02-15. p. 38. Retrieved 2021-10-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Collection: Dorcas Brigham Papers". Smith College Finding Aids. Archived from the original on 2021-04-10. Retrieved 2021-10-12.

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