Harley Harris Bartlett (March 9, 1886 – February 21, 1960) was an American botanist, biochemist, and anthropologist. He was an expert in tropical botany and an authority on
Batak
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...
language and culture.
Early life
Bartlett was born in
Anaconda, Montana
Anaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern Montana, United States. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the "Pintlers"), the Continental Divid ...
on March 9, 1886. His family moved to
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
in 1899, and he was enrolled in
Shortridge High School
Shortridge High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Shortridge is the home of the International Baccalaureate and arts and humanities programs of the Indianapolis Public Schools district.(IPS). Originall ...
. It was here where he cultivated his interests in botany, geology, and chemistry. After his graduation, he remained at the school as an assistant in botany and chemistry. Bartlett studied chemistry at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, receiving his
A.B.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1908. He was brought on as an undergraduate assistant 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 ...
, working under
Merritt Lyndon Fernald
Merritt Lyndon Fernald (October 5, 1873 – September 22, 1950) was an American botanist. He was a respected scholar of the taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America. During his career, Fernald pub ...
and
Benjamin Lincoln Robinson
Benjamin Lincoln Robinson (November 8, 1864 – July 27, 1935) was an American botanist.
Biography
Robinson was born on November 8, 1864, in Bloomington, Illinois. In 1887, he received an A.B. from Harvard. He married Margaret Louise Casson on ...
.
Career
Bartlett was hired by the Bureau of Plant Industry of the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
, where he worked on plant nutrition and biochemistry as well as taxonomy. Inspired by botanist
Hugo de Vries
Hugo Marie de Vries () (16 February 1848 – 21 May 1935) was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. He is known chiefly for suggesting the concept of genes, rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s while apparently unaware of ...
, he began publishing on the genetics of the genus ''
Oenothera
''Oenothera'' is a genus of about 145 species of herbaceous flowering plants native to the Americas. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae. Common names include evening primrose, suncups, and sundrops. They are not closely related to ...
''.
After an invitation from
Frederick Charles Newcombe
Frederick Charles Newcombe (1858–1927) was an American botanist, and the first editor-in-chief of the ''American Journal of Botany''
Newcombe was born in Flint, Michigan, May 11, 1858, to parents Thomas and Eliza (Gayton) Newcombe, who had emi ...
, Bartlett joined the faculty of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1915. He made his first collecting trip abroad in 1918 when he was sent to
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
with
United States Rubber Company
The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemi ...
to search for high-yielding sources of rubber. In 1919, became director of the University of Michigan's
Botanical Gardens
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, and in 1922, he became head of the Department of Botany. Bartlett served as president of the
Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters
The Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters (MASAL) is a regional professional organization of scholars. Its main activity is the annual meeting (usually March), its quarterly journal of papers (the ''Michigan Academician''), and research ...
from 1924 to 1925, and president of the
Botanical Society of America
The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society.
History
The soci ...
in 1927.
Bartlett returned to Sumatra in 1927, and became fascinated by the culture and language of the
Batak
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...
of Asahan. He became a leading authority and an adopted chief of the tribe. He made many collecting trips to
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, as well as in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. Between 1934 and 1935, Bartlett was an exchange professor at the
University of the Philippines
The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...
. In 1941, Bartlett successfully transported 4,800 ''
Hevea brasiliensis
''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large fami ...
'' plants to Haiti, helping establish the
Société Haitiano-Américaine de Développement Agricole
The Société Haïtiano-Américane de Développement Agricole, also known as SHADA, was a joint venture between the United States of America and Haiti to expand wartime production of rubber in the Haitian countryside. This program was established ...
. In 1948, he was named educational consultant for the Philippines in the United States, and a chairman of the Commission on the Philippines. He continued to study rubber production, and introduced high-yielding rubber plants from the Philippines into Haiti and encouraged the cultivation of guayule in parts of South America.
Bartlett retired from the University of Michigan in 1956, but he remained as Professor Emeritus of Botany and Director Emeritus of the
Botanical Gardens. Bartlett was the author of 179 publications.
Bartlett died of a heart attack at the age of 73 on February 21, 1960, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Bentley Historical Library
The Bentley Historical Library is the campus archive for the University of Michigan and is located on the University of Michigan's North Campus in Ann Arbor. It was established in 1935 by the regents of the University of Michigan. Its mission is ...