Do You Know Jane Colden, America's First Female Botanist? by Fenella Greig Heckscher

nest_clock_farsight_analog Saturday, November 14, 10:30 am - Saturday, November 14, 11:30 am

location_on Beatrix Farrand Garden at Bellefield

groups Beatrix Farrand Garden

Join us at Beatrix Farrand Garden at Bellefield for our last Garden Talk of the season to learn about Jane Colden from our local garden enthusiast, Fenella Greig Heckscher. Jane Colden (1724–1760) was America’s first woman botanist, yet her contributions to the field of early American botany remain little-known and her writings are mostly unpublished. This full account of her life and work comes from her writing, her father’s correspondence, and botanic sources of the 18th century. Richly illustrated with her own sketches and handwriting, this volume presents a full examination of Colden’s Manuscript, its important contributions to the early study of America’s flora, and, three hundred years after her birth, restores Colden’s legacy as one of the country’s great botanists. Fenella Greig Heckscher’s interest in biology stemmed from the study of wildflowers as a child in England. She studied zoology at Oxford University, and then practiced medicine in New York. From there, she and her husband, Morrison Heckscher, moved to a historic house in the Hudson Valley with a landscape of wildflowers. She learned of Jane Colden and her Botanic Manuscript at a meeting of the Garden Club of America, and became fascinated. Since her retirement from medical practice, she has devoted much of her time to the study of Jane Colden’s contributions to the American botanical Enlightenment. Fenella Heckscher's recent book, Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript, can be obtained through The American Philosophical Society Press, Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, or your favorite book store. Dr. Heckscher will happily sign your copy. If you order from Oblong Books by Nov. 1, the book can be delivered to the Garden for the author to sign.