Smithsonian Institution Archives

Records, 1886-1928 and undated

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU0221
Creators:
United States National Museum. Division of Plants
Dates:
1886-1928 and undated
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
22.74 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (40 document boxes) (3 tall document boxes) (1 oversize folder)
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
These papers include official records that document the history of the USNH while Joseph Nelson Rose was assistant botanist at the United States Department of Agriculture (1888-1896), assistant and associate curator, USNH, United States National Museum (1896-1911), and the Division of Plants, USNM (1917-1928); also personal and official papers documenting Rose's professional career, including incoming and occasional loose outgoing correspondence after 1910 (watermarks on 1910 and 1911 outgoing loose correspondence along with virtually nonexistent outgoing letterpress correspondence after 1909 are a result of water damage to the records) with leading foreign and United States botanists; colleagues; herbarium and nursery curators; florists; agrostologists; field agents; amateur plant collectors; United States Department of Agriculture administrative officers; Smithsonian Institution administrative officers; agricultural experiment stations; editors; and friends. Correspondence regards examination, identification, and reports on botanical specimens; identification of specimens for publications; transfer of specimens to the USNH; exchange of specimens; requests to Rose regarding information on the flora of Texas and Mexico; requests for bulbs, seeds, and plants; purchasing of cacti collections; research and collecting expeditions; authorization for expeditions; nomenclature; illustrations for journals; collaboration over collecting specimens and publishing; requests for jobs; requests to recommend colleagues to systematize cultivated plants; proposals for a building to house the USNH in order to expand the collection; meetings of scientific societies; requests for Who's Who autobiographical information; outgoing letterpress correspondence (1894-1909, 1911-1912) regarding the above; also manuscripts and correspondence pertaining to the joint Cactaceae project with Nathaniel Lord Britton; manuscripts and correspondence about the joint project with John Donnell Smith regarding Hauyeae; reviews; and occasional newspaper clippings pertaining to botanists whose letters are located in the correspondence folders.

Historical Note

Historical Note
Joseph Nelson Rose, botanist, was born on a farm near Liberty, Indiana, on January 11, 1862. In 1881 he entered Wabash College, graduating with an A.B. in 1885. Rose stayed on at Wabash College as its first postgraduate student, receiving his A.M. in 1887 and his Ph.D. in 1889. During his last two years he acted as an assistant in botany under John M. Coulter, who was to have an influence on his later career.
Rose was appointed as an assistant botanist in the United States Department of Agriculture under George Vasey, working in the United States National Herbarium (USNH), in August 1888. (For a history of the USNH and George Vasey, see the description for the Hunt Institute collection 105.)
When the USNH was moved back to the Smithsonian in 1896, Rose transferred to the United States National Museum as an assistant curator, Division of Plants. In 1905 he was made associate curator.
Though Frederick Vernon Coville was honorary curator, USNH and the Division of Plants, in the United States National Museum (while at the same time chief botanist of the Plant Industry, USDA), it appears that Rose was directly in charge of the National Herbarium. Outgoing letterpress correspondence within these records contains copies of the USNH report for the Smithsonian Annual Report being transmitted by Coville through Rose and Rose's report on the Division of Plants for the Annual Report being sent to Coville. At times, Rose signed outgoing correspondence over the title, acting curator. Coville remained Rose's supervisor, however, with correspondence regarding Rose's collecting activities being transmitted between Smithsonian administrative officers and Coville.
In 1912, Rose transferred from the United States National Museum (USNM) to the Carnegie Institution of Washington as a research associate in order to prepare a monograph with Nathaniel Lord Britton on Cactaceae of the world. This work was jointly supported by the Carnegie Institution, the New York Botanical Garden, and the USDA. Rose was relieved of his administrative duties with the Smithsonian. Nonetheless, he retained an office in the Smithsonian and was allowed the use of Smithsonian franking privileges for all correspondence regarding his project, while retaining the title of custodian of "Cactaceae, Crassulaceae, and Miscellaneous Mexican Collections" in the National Herbarium.
Rose officially returned to the Smithsonian as associate curator, Division of Plants, in 1917, retaining that position until his death on May 4, 1928.
Rose's collecting activities and botanical studies began with the flora, fungi, and pine of Indiana and the Umbelliferae of North America. He was assigned the Mexican collections gathered by Edward Palmer while assistant botanist at the USDA. This led to 20 years of study of the flora of Mexico and numerous publications, including his "Studies of Mexican and Central America Plants," published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium (1897-1911). His important study on Cactaceae of the world with Nathaniel Lord Britton resulted in the publication of four volumes titled The Cactaceae (1919-1923). Overall, Rose published almost 200 articles and monographs by himself and in collaboration with other botanists. Besides his own collecting explorations, Rose was instrumental in bringing to the Smithsonian one of its most important gifts, the large private herbarium and botanical library belonging to John Donnell Smith of Baltimore.
In reward for his botanical investigations and publications, Rose received an LL.D. from Wabash College in 1925. His remarks made during the ceremonies are included in this collection.

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 221, United States National Museum, Division of Plants, Records

More Information

Notes

SI Records


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Britton, Nathaniel Lord, 1859-1934 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, John Donnell Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rose, J. N. (Joseph Nelson), 1862-1928 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Department of Agriculture Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States National Herbarium Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cactus Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Botanists Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Botany Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Texas Place Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexico Place Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scientific illustrations Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuscripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Maps Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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