Angie Maria Beckwith (27 January 1881 – 2 October 1964) was an American

phytopathologist Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

, at the primary pathology laboratory at the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

's Bureau of Plant Industry under

Erwin F. Smith Erwin Frink Smith (January 21, 1854 – April 6, 1927) was an American plant pathologist with the United States Department of Agriculture. He played a major role in demonstrating that bacteria could cause plant disease. Life and career Smith wa ...

and Florence Hedges during the 1920s. In 1921, Beckwith was one of more than twenty women who worked in Smith's lab, and who were credited with studying

bacterial wilt Bacterial wilt is a complex of diseases that occur in plants such as Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae (tomato etc.) and are caused by the pathogens ''Erwinia tracheiphila'', a gram-negative bacterium, or '' Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumf ...

in new dry beans. Among her cohort were several notable mycologists and botanists including

Charlotte Elliott Charlotte Elliott (18 March 1789 – 22 September 1871) was an English evangelical Anglican poet, hymn writer, and editor. She is best known by two hymns, Just As I Am (hymn), "Just As I Am" and "Thy will be done". Elliott edited ''Christian R ...

, Nellie A. Brown, Edith Cash, Mary Katherine Bryan, Anna Jenkins, and Lucia McCulloch, Pearle Smith. She was a member of the

Mycological Society of America Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, ...

and published regularly in the ''

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...

''.

References

American women botanists 20th-century American women scientists 1881 births 1964 deaths American phytopathologists Women phytopathologists 20th-century American botanists United States Department of Agriculture people {{US-botanist-stub