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American horticulturalist and botanist (1901–1942) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elizabeth Seymour Rawlinson (March 29, 1901 – July 19, 1942) was an American botanist, horticulturalist, gardener, writer, and naturalist.[1][2] In the 1920s and 1930s, she was a pioneering conservationist who collected, and documented some of Virginia's rare plants and shrubs.[3] She is being considered as an early Shenandoah Valley environmentalist for her extensive works in collecting and preserving plants from this area during the 1930s.[3][4] From 1936 until her death in 1942, she served as editor of Garden Gossip, a newsletter published by the Garden club of Virginia and the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs.[2][3]
Born on March 29, 1901, Elizabeth Seymour Rawlinson was the only child of Lionel Seymour Rawlinson and his wife Anne Elizabeth Cochran (1859–1931).[3][5] Her father, the son of George Rawlinson (1812–1902), an eminent historian, and his wife Louisa Chermside, was a nephew of Sir Henry Rawlinson (1810–1895), an eminent Egyptologist, and a first cousin of General Henry Rawlinson (1864–1925), the commander of the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.[6][7]
Elizabeth Rawlinson's father, a British aristocrat, came to America at the age of 22 to visit his uncle, Walter Chermside. She lived with her parents at Herringstone, near Staunton, Virginia.[3] She completed her schooling from Stuart Hall School and St. Hilda's Hall, Charles Town, West Virginia.[3] She was inspired by her mother who was a member of the Augusta garden club. During her childhood, she showed interest in collecting rare shrubs, wildflowers, crocuses and other bulbs.[3]
She was a self-taught horticulturalist who explored many of the natural areas in Virginia and other places to collect plants.[4] Some of these areas include Shenandoah National Park, Magnolia Springs, Stingy Hollow, Franklin Hollow, Briary Branch, Spring Pond, and Cold Springs bog.[2][3] During her trips to southeastern Augusta, she was accompanied by Ruskin Freer, the editor of Claytonia.[3]
Her writings on botanical topics were given top billing as a regular columnist in The New York Times.[2] She also published articles in House & Garden and other horticultural journals including Claytonia, a Virginia botanical journal published by the Virginia Academy of Science.[2]
Between 1928 and 1936, she served as the director of the new plant material at the garden club of Virginia.[4] She was associated with numerous garden clubs and its events.[3] In 1935, she won five first-place awards for her flowers and flower arrangements during the Augusta garden club spring flower show.[3][4]
A reference library, established by the Augusta garden club at the Staunton public library in 1946, was named after her.[2]
Her herbarium collections have been archived at the Virginia Tech arboretum.[3]
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