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 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 com ...

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

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...

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.

Biography

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

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 ...

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 yea ...

in 1880. After graduation, she taught until 1888 when she began attending

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

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

. She became the Botanical Bibliographer for the Division of Botany at the U.S. Department of Agriculture 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 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 Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. 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