John Hendley Barnhart
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John Hendley Barnhart (October 4, 1871 – November 11, 1949) was an American botanist and author, specializing in biographies of botanists.Gleaston, H. A. John Hendley Barnhart—An appreciation. '' Journal of the New York Botanical Garden'' August, 1950 p. 173.


Early life and education

John Barnhart was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York to John Wesley Barnhart and Emma Miller Barnhart. He attended
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
in Middletown, Connecticut, receiving an A.B. in 1892 and an A.M. the following year. In 1896 he graduated from
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...
receiving an M.D., though he never practiced medicine.J.H. Barnhart Dies; Botanical Garden Official. New York Herald Tribune, 12 Nov 1949 His decision not to practice medicine was apparently made possible by substantial private income.Rickett, H.W. John Hendley Barnhart, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 77:163-175, 1950. 1897 found him in Jessamine, Florida where he married Emma Gertrude Platt of Southampton, New York. The couple lived in Tarrytown, New York, eventually moving to the Bronx in 1914.


Career

In 1903 he became an editorial assistant at the
library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
of the
New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...
(NYBG). 1905 saw the first appearance of ''North American Flora'', written by
Nathaniel Lord Britton Nathaniel Lord Britton (January 15, 1859 – June 25, 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York. Early life Britton was born in New Dorp in Staten Island, New York to Jasp ...
and Lucien Marcus Underwood. Barnhart was responsible for reviews of manuscripts including proof-reading and bibliographic correction. Barnhart developed a style of taxonomic citation, which is still used in the Index to American Botanical Literature. In 1907 he became NYBG librarian when
Anna Murray Vail Anna Murray Vail (January 7, 1863 – December 18, 1955) was an American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden. She was a student of the Columbia University botanist and geologist Nathaniel Lord Britton, with whom she he ...
, its first librarian, retired. From 1908 to 1926, and again in 1932 he was appointed NYBG library vice president.Staff report (September 1, 1935). Garden notes and topics.
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
During the 5 years of his tenure as librarian, the number of bound volumes increased by 20%. He also gave his personal library of 1900 items including many rare volumes. In January 1913, Barnhart was made Bibliographer of the Garden, a title he would keep for 30 years. His principal responsibility in this capacity was ''North American Flora''. It was during this period that he created the "Barnhart bibliographic file" consisting of about 50,000 cards with bibliographic information and formed the basis of his biographical books. In 1916, he became one of the two founding editors of the Garden's new botanical journal '' Addisonia'', along with
George Valentine Nash George Valentine Nash (May 6, 1864 – July 15, 1921) was an American botanist. He was the Head Gardener and Curator of the Plantations at the New York Botanical Garden, for whom he did field work in the Bahamas, South Florida and Haiti. Life ...
. Barnhart kept a careful record of his own publications, creating a separate card catalog for them. A complete listing of his publications appeared in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, volume 77, pages 167 - 175.


Final years

Barnhart retired from the NYBG in 1942. He died in his home in Southampton, Long Island and was survived by his widow. Interment was in the family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Newburgh, NY.Dr. John H. Barnart, Southampton Press, 18 Nov 1949


Works

Selected publications: * ''A New Utricularia from Long Island''. 1907 * ''The Published Work of Lucien Marcus Underwood'', in ''
Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...
'' 35 (1908): 17-38. *
Some American botanists of former days
', 1909 * ''Some Fictitious Botanists'', 1919
''"Sartwell, Henry Parker (1792-1867)"''
i
''American Medical Biographies''
ed. Howard A. Kelly (1920) * ''Biographical Notes Upon Botanists''. Compiled by John Hendley Barnhart and maintained at the New York Botanical Garden Library, 1965 * ''Ferns of the Southeastern States. Descriptions of the fern-plants growing naturally in the state south of the Virginia-Kentucky state line and east of the Mississippi river'' (with
John Kunkel Small John Kunkel Small (January 31, 1869 – January 20, 1938) was an American botanist. Born on January 31, 1869, in Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Kunkel studied botany at Franklin & Marshall College and Columbia University. He was the first Curator of ...
, 1938)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnhart, John Hendley 1871 births 1949 deaths American botanists Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni New York Botanical Garden Scientists from Brooklyn Wesleyan University alumni Writers from Brooklyn