The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Thurber, George, 1821-1890

Thurber-Woolson Botanical Manuscripts Collection

1803-1918
4 boxes 2.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 065 bd

Largely self-educated, George Thurber (1821-1890) began a career as a pharmacist before signing on as botanist to the U.S. Boundary Commission from 1850-1854. After completing a masters degree at Brown University, he emerged as a important horticultural writer and editor of American Agriculturist from 1863 to 1885.

Letters, photographs, engravings, and clippings compiled primarily by George Thurber and bequeathed to George Clark Woolson (MAC class of 1871) who added to it and donated it as a memorial to his class, the first to graduate from the College. The collection includes 993 letters written by 336 correspondents, and 35 photographs and engravings, primarily botanists and other scientists, including Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz, John Torrey, Frederick Law Olmsted, John James Audubon, Henry Ward Beecher, Jefferson Davis, Edward Payson Roe, Donald G. Mitchell, and George Brown Goode.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Letters, photographs, engravings, and clippings compiled by George Thurber, agrostologist, horticultural writer, and editor of American Agriculturist from 1863 to 1885, and augmented by George Clark Woolson, father of Harry Thurber Woolson. Bulk of the collection is the nearly 1,000 letters written by 336 correspondents, primarily botanists and other scientists, including Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz, John Torrey, Frederick Law Olmsted, John James Audubon, Henry Ward Beecher, Jefferson Davis, Edward Payson Roe, Donald G. Mitchell, and George Brown Goode. Letters are bound; binding done by Reimann.


Information on Use
Terms of Access and Use
Restrictions on access:

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Thurber-Woolson Botanical Collection (MS 65). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

History of the Collection

Acquired from Harry Thurber Woolson, 1911, 1919

Processing Information

Processed by Linda Seidman.


Additional Information

Sponsor
Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Language
English.


Subjects

Botany--HistoryHorticulture--History

Contributors

Thurber, George, 1821-1890Woolson, George Clark

Types of material

Photographs