Young, Mary Sophie (1872–1919)

American botanist and teacher. Born in Glendale, Ohio, in 1872; died of cancer in 1919; attended Harcourt Place Seminary; Wellesley College, B.A., 1895; University of Chicago, Ph.D., 1910.

The daughter of an Episcopal priest, Mary Sophie Young was born in Glendale, Ohio, in 1872 and, from an early age, followed her older brothers as they explored the Ohio countryside. Young spent several years in public schools and then at Harcourt Place Seminary. A diligent, though shy, student, she received a B.A. from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1895, then taught school in Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri to 1908. During these years, she also enrolled in correspondence and summer courses, and finally earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1910. Immediately after graduation, Young was hired as a botany tutor at the University of Texas at Austin. The next year, she was promoted to instructor and in 1912 was named curator of the university's herbarium. Capitalizing on her experience, Young taught botany and later taxonomy to freshmen. Her Socratic teaching style tended to trouble students who did not share her interest in botany, but those who were curious learned to think problems through themselves and often accompanied her on collecting trips. Despite limited funds from the university, her collecting trips, from 1912 to 1918, and numerous trades with other herbaria, resulted in thousands of new specimens of Texas flora for the university. Because it is the meeting place of Eastern and Western species, the territory surrounding Austin proved to be an abundant source of plants, allowing Young to fill several botanical gaps.

One collecting trip is vividly recorded in her journal. In 1914, she bought two burros and a buggy and headed out to the Trans-Pesco area of Western Texas with Carey Tharp, a 17-year-old student. The gun that she carried for protection became a source of survival when the two had to supplement their diet of beans, bacon, cornmeal, biscuits, and hardtack with jack rabbits. Though Young was preoccupied with finding food, she still managed to collect and dry numerous specimens and help Carey with some math problems during their six-week adventure. Three of these weeks were spent lodging in a deserted adobe house on a hillside covered with blooming Aloysia lingustrina, an aromatic shrub. During their stay, Young made several solitary trips into the mountainous region, often bringing only a few small cakes for lunch. She remembered one long trip up several steep, trailess hills that led to a beautiful view of the canyon and several new plant samples.

In 1917, Young published a definitive guide, A Key to the Families and Genera of Flowering Plants and Ferns in the Vicinity of Austin, Texas. "The Seed Plants, Ferns, and Fern Allies of the Austin Region" appeared in the University of Texas Bulletin no. 2065 in November 1920. Two years later, while Young was undergoing routine surgery, doctors discovered cancer that had spread. Although she was never told that her condition was fatal, the pain she underwent in silence probably warned her of her impending death. She died less than a month later, on March 5, 1919, at age 47, leaving much of her work unfinished.

sources:

Bailey, Brooke. The Remarkable Lives of 100 Women Healers and Scientists. Holbrook, MA: Bob Adams, 1994.

Bonta, Marcia Myers. Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1991.

Margaret A. Zakem , freelance writer, Plymouth, Michigan