Clarissa Tucker Tracy (November 12, 1818 – November 13, 1905) was an American botanist and educator.

Early Life and Education

Tracy was born in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, daughter of pioneers Stephen Tucker and Lucy Tucker (née Harris). When Tracy was three years old, she began attending local schools, and by about 1832 was teaching, while she continued her studies. From 1835 to 1840 she was both student and teacher at the Franklin Academy in Harford. In 1840 she became assistant at Ladies Seminary, Honesdale, being appointed head around 1842 and holding that post until 1846. In 1844 she spent one term at Troy Female Seminary, New York. Also in 1844 she married Horace Hyde Tracey, with whom she had two children.

Career

In 1848, Tracy's husband died. From approximately 1849 to 1851, she ran a private school at Honesdale. From then until about 1856, she was associated with the academy there. Between 1856 and 1859, she ran another private school at

Neenah Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Green ...

, Wisconsin. In 1859, Tracy was appointed matron in charge of domestic arrangements, head of the ladies department and teacher at Ripon College in

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

, Wisconsin. She studied the local flora for almost thirty years, publishing her ''Catalogue'' in 1889, based entirely on specimens collected by her or her students. Tracy retired in 1893, buying a house off-campus. She continued tutoring and retained her association with Ripon College up to her death in 1905.

Works

* 26 pages.

References

1818 births 1905 deaths American women botanists American botanists People from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists 19th-century American women scientists Emma Willard School alumni 20th-century American women scientists {{US-botanist-stub Ripon College (Wisconsin) faculty