Plant Science Department records

Courses in plant science, also called botany, have been taught at Mount Holyoke since the opening of the Seminary in 1837. At this time, the course of study in botany consisted solely of the identification and classification of flowering plants. Mary Lyon, founder of the Seminary and College, began an herbarium in 1837. In 1861, Professor Lydia Shattuck began her significant contribution to the herbarium. Shattuck opened the botanical gardens at the Seminary in 1878. In 1884, the Botany Department expanded when Professor Henrietta Hooker began teaching a course on mosses. Also added at this time were classes in general morphology and classification of phanerogams and general histology and physiology and systemic botany. Until the 1896/1897 academic year, botany was a required subject for all Mount Holyoke College students. In the 1941/1942 academic year, the department was renamed the Plant Science Department. However, at the request of faculty, staff, and students, it was changed back to the Botany Department in the 1960/1961 academic year. In the 1964/1965 academic year, it merged with the Physiology and Zoology Departments to form the Biological Sciences Department.