Mary Anna Day (1852–1924) was an American botanist and librarian at the

Gray Herbarium The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1893 to 1924. She edited and compiled the ''Card Index of New Genera, Species, and Varieties of American Plants'', a quarterly publication that was considered "indispensable" to botanists. By 1923, the publication contained about 170,000 cards. Her publications also include a "List of local floras of New England" and "Herbariums of New England" for the New England Botanical Club.

Early life

Day was born on October 12, 1852, in

Nelson, New Hampshire Nelson is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 629 at the 2020 census, down from 729 at the 2010 census. Nelson includes the village of Munsonville. History Originally named "Monadnock No. 6", the town ...

, the daughter of Sewell and Hannah (née Wilson) Day. During childhood, Day moved with her family to Lancaster, Massachusetts, and went to school at Lancaster Academy. From 1871 to 1880, Day worked as a public school teacher in Massachusetts and public librarian in

Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. History Clinton was first settled in 1654 as a part of Lancaster after the land was deeded by Sachem Sholan of the Nashaway ...

. On January 1, 1893, Day moved to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, where she was appointed librarian of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University. Her work involved checking bibliographical references, proofreading manuscripts, preparing indexes and statistics on the library and herbarium collections." Day's first major assignment was the verification of about 5,000 bibliographical references in a collection of manuscripts by

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botany, botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' (1876) was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessaril ...

and

Sereno Watson Sereno Watson (December 1, 1826 – March 9, 1892) was an American botanist. Life Watson was born on December 1, 1826, in East Windsor Hill, Connecticut. Graduating from Yale in 1847 in biology, he drifted through various occupations unt ...

, which were being prepared for a posthumous publication by the curator

William Coolidge Lane William Coolidge Lane (July 29, 1859 – March 18, 1931) was an American librarian and historian. He served for over 45 years in the Harvard Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Early life and education Lane was born in Ne ...

. Day aided in the publication of many botanical works, notably Gray's ''Synoptical Flora of North America'' and the 7th edition of Gray's ''Manual of Botany''.

''Card Index of New Genera, Species, and Varieties of American Plants''

Day's most important work was her contributions to the ''Card Index of New Genera, Species, and Varieties of American Plants,'' a quarterly publication that was begun by

Josephine Adelaide Clark Josephine Adelaide Clark (9 March 1856 – 24 March 1929) was an American teacher, librarian, and botanist. She was the head librarian of the United States Department of Agriculture from 1901 to 1907. Clark was a part of the second class to grad ...

, who preceded Day as librarian of the Gray Herbarium. In 1903, after the publication of the first 20 issues (about 28,000 cards), the work was turned over to the herbarium. Day prepared the publication between her regular duties as a librarian, indexing over 130 scientific serials, including foreign language monographs. Upon its completion in November 1923, the index contained 170,000 cards.

Death

Day fell seriously ill in 1922, but recovered to return to work at the age of 70. In November 1923 she again became sick, and retired due to her health. She died January 27, 1924, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Mary 19th-century American librarians 19th-century American women librarians Harvard University librarians 1852 births 1924 deaths People from Nelson, New Hampshire American women botanists American botanists 20th-century American librarians 20th-century American women librarians