Notes and resources from a Boise State Arts & Humanities Institute interdisciplinary lunch series talk.
Women mentioned or discussed
Below are links to brief biographies of the California women scientists, as well as links to places where their papers (where they exist) are archived. Many of the women corresponded with one another, so it’s common to find letters from one woman in another’s collection.
The Kate Sessions manuscript collection at the San Diego History Center
Lester Rowntree (PDF)
The Lester Rowntree collection at the California Academy of Sciences
Oral history from the Bancroft Library: Lester Rowntree: California Native Plant Woman
Ynés Mexía (PDF)
Mexía papers at the California Academy of Sciences
Méxia papers at the Bancroft Library
Bracelin papers at the Bancroft Library
Bracelin papers at the California Academy of Sciences
DeDecker papers at UC Davis
Oral history from the Bancroft Library: California Women in Botany
Shepherd papers at UCLA
Mentions of Shepherd in digitized California newspapers
Eastwood papers at the California Academy of Sciences
Some articles by Eastwood
Brandegee papers at UC Berkeley
Alexander papers at the Bancroft Library
Alexander papers at the UC Museum of Paleontology
Bryant’s papers are in the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden library special collections
Belle Benchley’s books at Amazon.com
McCaskill papers at UC Davis
Oral history from the Bancroft Library: California Women in Botany
Annetta Carter papers at UC Berkeley
Oral history from the Bancroft Library: California Women in Botany
Mary DeDecker papers at UC Davis
Finding the women
Online Archive of California: a compilation of archives and manuscript collections at institutions throughout California
California Digital Newspaper Collection
Additional resources
A Spatial Approach to California Botanists
Women and science careers: leaky pipeline or gender filter? (PDF)