St Louis College of Pharmacy - Prescripto Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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--d DIQESCDIDTO S1 v,' wif ,J rx f- l .IAP-' ff . - ' !.IV,+AI Ll ' jf: I WI -4 ,N ,YJ Courtesy of Misxouri Botanical Garden HENRY SHAW, 1885 9, -T w I' DA ...i 3 Q T... Q 0 Page Eightyfone

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?---a Dlsfscullivro s------- a stock of cutlery, he went up the river to St. Louis where he arrived on May Srd. He found that the second lloor of a building was to be had at a modest rental and here he established both his business and his home, for the same room served for the display of his wares and for sleeping and cooking. He was an energetic young man, for his business expanded and flourished to such an extent that only twenty years later he had acquired what in those days was a splendid fortune, and 'in 1840, he sold his business. lVisely he devoted the first term of his retirement l r r to travel, making an extended tour of Europe. In 1842 he was traveling again, remaining abroad for about three years, and going as far as Constantinople and Egypt. In 1851 the first International Exhibition was held in London, and attracted by this, Henry Shaw again went abroad. His visit to England was a momentous one for it was, according to his own statement while walking through the grounds of Chatsworth, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Devonshire, that he tirst con- ceived the idea of establishing a garden of his own, if on a smaller scale, which should not be for his delectation onlyg but also for that of the lovers of flowers in general. Gn his return to St. Louis, Mr. Shaw was occupied with the construction of his town house on Seventh and Locust Streets, the mansion at Tower Grove, at that time a, country home in the strict sense of the term, having been completed in 1849. But the thought which had germinatedfat Chatsworth continued with him, and in 1857 he commissioned Dr. George Engelmann, who was at that time in Europe, to make a survey of the great European botanical gardens and obtain and transmit such suggestions as he might think pertinent to the subject that occu- pied Mr. Shaw's mind. In the same year the preliminary operations of surveying, entrenching, and so on were begun, and a correspondence was carried on with Sir Williaiii Hooker, who was then director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew, in England. In one of his letters, Sir Williaiii called attention to the importance of a library and economic museum in connection with the garden, a point which Mr. Shaw adopted and which resulted in the construction of a library and museum building in the following year. Books were selected with the guidance of Dr. Engelmann, Hooker, Decaisne, Brown, and other botanists, but Dr. Engelmann had the good fortune to secure for the garden the large herbarium of Professor Bernhardi of Erfurt, who had recently died. Another plan in Mr. Shaw's mind at the time was the establishment of a school of botany in connection with the Garden. This was to be an elaborate institution, with library, laboratories, and residences for the members of the faculty. Dr. Asa Gray, who appears to have been consulted about the matter, did not, however, think the time ripe for an enterprise of such vast dimensions, but suggested that it might be begun in a small way. Mr. Shaw, therefore, abandoned the plan for the time, but his dream was realized in 1885 when he established the Henry Shaw School of Botany as a department of Washington University and in conjunction with the Garden. X ' L... sq 3, 2 I DQ .ff 1.-2 Page Eighty

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-------al DIQESCDIIDTC sl- The great plan of the Garden thus realized all went according to Mr. Shaw's desire. But he soon felt that the superintendence of so vast an enterprise was beyond the power of a single man and he accordingly looked about for a lieutenant. He was fortunate in finding an able one in 1866, in Mr. james Gurney. Mr. Gur- ney was connected with the Gardens of the Royal Botanical Society in Regents Park, London, and was a man of wide experience and practical knoweldge in his field. He 'enjoyed his employers full confidence, and it was through the co- operation of the two men that the Missouri Botanical Garden became what it is. About 1883 Mr. Shaw had authorized the chancellor of Vtfashington Uni- versity to place before the Board of Directors a definite plan whereby he proposed with the concurrence of the Directors to endow a school of Botany as a Depart- ment of Wfashington University, by donation of real estate, yielding over live thousand dollars revenue, and to place it in such relation with the largely endowed Missouri Botanical Garden and Arboretum as would practically secure their best uses for scientific study and investigation, to the professors and students of the said School of Botany, in all time to come. At a meeting of the Board of Direc- tors held June 8, 1885, resolutions were offered in acceptance of this proposal, and Dr. W'illiam Trelease of the University of 'VVisconsin was elected the first Engelmann Professor in the Henry Shaw School of Botany. Dr. Trelease was also elected Director of the Garden after the death of Mr. Shaw in 1889. Under Dr. Trelease's administration the activities of the Garden were extended, as Mr. Shaw had desired they should be. The founder's idea of maintaining and developing the ornamental features was religiously adhered to at the same time that the scientific functions of the Garden were put upon a solid basis. They last received an impetus through the connection of the Garden with the School of Botanyg students, graduates and undergraduates, came from all countries of the world to pursue their studies here. Taxonomy, plant physiology, economic botany in all its phases, horticulture received the attention of scientific workers. An intense scientific spirit permeated the place. 1 -Mlm. .-, 5:25 Dr. Trelease resigned in 1912, to be succeeded by Dr. Geo. T. Moore, a student of Professor Farlow at Harva1'd, and who had carried on research prev- iously during the administration of Dr. Trelease. The introduction of Dr. Moore into the Directorship was followed by an unprecedented expansion of all the activities of the Garden, he being supported in his plans and their execution by the generosity of the Board of Trustees. Large plant-growing houses were con- structed, special laboratories for scienlitic investigation were added, and tracts of land were reclaimed for the outdoor cultivation of the hardier plants. Additions were made to the herbarium and library, the staff was enlarged. The library has been fortunate in securing the splendid collection of Pre-Linnaean works, known the Sturtevant Library, one of the most nearly complete collections of old Herbals and similar works in the world. A few years ago a garden for the grow- N bs. ...-I Q ffl. 3 2 L... pq 1 r Page Eiglityffwo