From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 3, July 2019.
By Shannon Hicks and Erika Gardner
Tucked away in the US National Herbarium’s mounting preparation room is a specimen conservation cabinet that temporarily holds specimens in need of repairs. Many specimens are in need of simple repairs, but in some instances, the specimens require a major overhaul. One bundle awaiting repairs is a stack of 55 Poaceae specimens collected by Agnes Chase and Albert S. Hitchcock. The original herbarium paper and specimen label was acidifying and extremely brittle. With time, the plant material on the sheet would be compromised and eventually succumb to shattering with the slightest bump. It was pertinent to get these specimens remounted and filed back into the main collection as soon as possible for scientific use. Shannon Hicks, Botany summer volunteer, worked to get these specimens fully conserved.
Agnes Chase, born Mary Agnes Meara in 1869 in Illinois, was a pioneer for women in botany. In 1903, Chase began work as a botanical illustrator in the National Herbarium for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Chase was a self-taught botanist; she would often stay late at the herbarium so that she could learn as much as possible about botany. Since her highest level of formal education was grammar school, her years as a botanical illustrator served as her primary form of education. She became very passionate about Poaceae, the grass family, later saying that, “Grass is what holds the earth.”
After a few years as a botanical illustrator, Chase’s enthusiasm and aptitude for botany was noticed by agrostologist Albert S. Hitchcock. Chase and Hitchcock worked together for many years, and she later succeeded him as Senior Botanist in charge of systematic agrostology at USDA in 1936. In 1937, Chase became in charge of the grass section of the National Herbarium, gaining the title of Custodian. Throughout her career, Chase traveled worldwide to study grasses; she often funded her own trips with the help of several women’s rights organizations she was a part of because the government would not pay for her to travel on other expeditions. In 1922, Agnes Chase’s First Book of Grasses was published, intended to demystify the study of grasses. By the end of her career, Chase had over 70 publications describing and classifying America’s grasses and had contributed 12,000 grass specimens to the herbarium.
This summer, Hicks conserved specimens from a 1908 field trip that Chase took with her mentor, Hitchcock, for the book they coauthored, The North American Species of Panicum. The specimens were mainly from Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho. The grasses collected were primarily from the genus Poa, a very common group of grasses.
Specimen before and after restoration. Left: Signs of brittle paper crumbling is found near the bottom left corner of the sheet. Tears and rips would continue to occur if specimen is left in this condition on acidic paper. Right: All restored specimens are mounted on paper products that are pH neutral and museum archival quality. The original label is kept with the specimen.