Mary Moncrieffe Livingston Ripley (May 11, 1914 – April 15, 1996) was a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

horticulturist, entomologist, photographer, and scientific collector.

Early life

Mary Livingston was born 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 Un ...

in 1914. She was the daughter of Gerald Moncrieffe Livingston, a governor of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

, and Eleanor Hoffman ( née Rodewald) Livingston. Through her father, she was a member of the long prominent

Livingston family The Livingston family of New York is a prominent family that migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic, and then to the Province of New York in the 17th century. Descended from the 4th Lord Livingston, its members included signers of the Unit ...

. Her sisters were Mrs. Livingston Briggs and Geraldine Livingston. Her paternal grandfather was Crawford Livingston and her maternal grandfather was William MacNeil Rodewald of

Tuxedo Park, New York Tuxedo Park is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 623 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area as well as the larger New York metropolitan area. Its name is ...

. Her great-grandfather was the Rev. Dr. Charles Frederick Hoffman.

Career

She worked in a clerical position for the Office of Strategic Services during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. While traveling with the OSS, she was a roommate of Julia Child (then Julia McWilliams). After she married, she accompanied her husband on ornithological and entomological expeditions to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

. Ripley's work of organizing volunteers led to the creation of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

s Women's Committee. In 1983, Ripley was made an Honorary life member of the Smithsonian's Women's Committee.

Personal life

Mary, a member of the

Colony Club The Colony Club is a women-only private social club in New York City. Founded in 1903 by Florence Jaffray Harriman, wife of J. Borden Harriman, as the first social club established in New York City by and for women, it was modeled on similar ...

and the Colonial Lords of the Manors and the Colonial Dames of America, was first married to Spencer F. Eddy Jr., son of diplomat Spencer F. Eddy, before their divorce in 1935. While stationed in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) and working for the OSS, she met Sidney Dillon Ripley. They married in 1949, and were the parents of three daughters:Julie Dillon Miller, Rosemary L. Ripley, and Sylvia McNeill Addison. Ripley died in

Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorpora ...

on April 15, 1996. The Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, part of the Smithsonian Gardens, is named after her.

References

External links

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Photograph of Secretary Emeritus Ripley and Wife, Mary Livingston Ripley
1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Mary Livingston American horticulturists 1914 births 1996 deaths Livingston family American women botanists Photographers from New York City People of the Office of Strategic Services 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American botanists Scientists from New York (state)