Josephine Adelaide Clark (9 March 1856 – 24 March 1929) was an American teacher,

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

, and botanist. She was the head librarian 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, ...

from 1901–1907. Clark was a part of the second class to graduate from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in 1880 and she conceived the idea of publishing a card index of new genera and species of American plants, which was continued 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 ...

Biography

Josephine Adelaide Clark was born on 9 March 1856 to John and Caroline (Derby) Clark in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She graduated from

Waltham High School Waltham High School is a public high school located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only high school operated by Waltham Public Schools. History The current Waltham High School was constructed in 1968 and expanded in 1998 a ...

in 1873, and continued to teach there after graduation. In the fall of 1876 she began attending

and earned her

Bachelor of Arts 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 1880. After graduation, she taught until 1888 when she began attending Columbia College in

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for library science. After graduation, Clark became the assistant librarian at the

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 ...

. She became the Botanical Bibliographer for the Division of Botany at the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

in 1891 and quickly became the Assistant Librarian for the whole department. While working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she first compiled the index currently known as the Gray Herbarium Card Index which was the first available to botanists in a card format and published at regular intervals. The index was first published in catalog format in 1891 and compiled in a card format in 1894. The card format enabled the botanist to order alphabetically, systematic groups or geographical groups. Clark was the main organizer of the index until 1903 when she turned it over to

Mary Anna Day Mary Anna Day (1852–1924) was an American botanist and librarian at the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University from 1893 to 1924. She edited and compiled the ''Card Index of New Genera, Species, and Varieties of American Plants'', a quarterly pub ...

at the Gray Herbarium with 27,999 cards. From 1901–1907 she was Head Librarian for the U.S. Department of Agriculture before returning to Smith College as Librarian, a position she held until 1919. She died of pneumonia on March 24, 1929 in Claremont,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Her papers are held by Smith College.

Publications

* "North American Phanerogams and Pteridophytes" (1891) * "Systematic And Alphabetic Index Of New Species Of North American Phanerogams And Pteridophytes," ''Contributions from the United States National Herbarium''. Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution (1892) * "Reference list of publications relating to edible and poisonous mushrooms" (1898) * ''A Bird Tablet for Field Use'' (1898)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Josephine Adelaide 1856 births 1929 deaths American librarians American botanists American women librarians Smith College alumni United States Department of Agriculture people United States Department of Agriculture officials Waltham High School alumni Columbia University School of Library Service alumni