Mira Lloyd Dock (December 25, 1853 − July 11, 1945) was an American
botanist, environmentalist, and educator.
Biography
She was born in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the first child of coal businessman Gilliard Dock and his wife Lavinia Lloyd Bombaugh.
The couple would have five more children: four daughters and one son, including
Lavinia Lloyd Dock, born February 26, 1858.
Lloyd Dock was home-schooled by her parents and a governess before attending private schools in Harrisburg and
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
She attended
Brook Hall Seminary in Pennsylvania, completing her studies when she was in her 20s.
When her mother died in 1876,
Lloyd Dock returned home to care for her father and siblings, a task that would occupy her for the next 20 years. Her younger sister, Lavinia, went on to a renowned career in nursing, being a founder of modern professional nursing education, an author of several nursing guides, and an editor of the ''
American Journal of Nursing
The ''American Journal of Nursing'' (AJN) is a monthly peer-reviewed nursing journal established in 1900. the editor-in-chief was Maureen Shawn Kennedy and it is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In 2009 the journal was selected as one o ...
''.
It was only after her father died in 1895
that Lloyd Dock matriculated to 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 ...
to study botany, chemistry, and geology.
After graduating in 1896,
Lloyd Dock became interested in the city's landscape and recreational parks, as well as the health of Harrisburg's residents. She formed the Civic Club of Harrisburg, becoming president of its Department of Forestry and Town Improvement.
In 1899, Lloyd Dock was selected by both the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women and the Parks Association of Pennsylvania to be their representative in the
International Congress of Women
The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal m ...
, that year held in London, England.
On December 20, 1900, Lloyd Dock gave a speech to the Harrisburg Board of Trade titled "The City Beautiful," or "Improvement Work at Home and Abroad." This would launch a process of city beautification in Harrisburg, PA, with Lloyd Dock working in partnership with
J. Horace McFarland, President of the
American Civic Association
The American Planning and Civic Association (APCA) was an American organization for improving living conditions in the United States, with an emphasis on improving the physical and structural growth of communities. Its purpose was briefly state ...
.
In 1901, Pennsylvania governor
William A. Stone appointed Lloyd Dock to the Pennsylvania Forestry Reservation Commission, the first woman to serve in that position. She spent time touring the state, looking for
deforested and abandoned areas across the state, which she recommended for purchase by the government. Over 175,000 acres were purchased during her first year in office. She began lecturing at the State Forestry Academy in 1903, having lobbied for the formation of the school, and would continue to teach there until 1929.
After serving for three successive terms, she declined a reappointment to the Forestry Reservation Commission when her final term expired on July 25, 1913.
By that time the state had purchased over a million acres of forest reserves.
There is a historical marker for Lloyd Dock located in Harrisburg across the street from where she lived.
See also
*''
Mira Lloyd Dock and the Progressive Era Conservation Movement''
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dock, Mira Lloyd
1853 births
1945 deaths
People from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
American botanists
American conservationists
Suffragists from Pennsylvania
American women botanists
International Congress of Women people
Women in forestry
University of Michigan alumni
Women conservationists