Violetta White Delafield

Violetta White Delafield, née Violetta Susan Elizabeth White, (1875–1949) was an American amateur mycologist[1] and member of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.[2]

Violetta White Delafield
Born(1875-05-10)May 10, 1875
DiedMay 1, 1949(1949-05-01) (aged 73)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesVioletta Susan Elizabeth White; Violetta Susan White
Scientific career
FieldsMycology
Author abbrev. (botany)V.S.White

Early life

Violetta Susan White was born in Florence, Italy to expatriate American parents. She spent most of her childhood in southern France. In 1890 Violetta with her family moved back to the United States, where as a teenager she began collecting mushrooms and studying mycology and botany.[3][4]

Mycological research

Violetta White worked with L. M. Underwood at the New York Botanical Garden from 1900 to 1902.[2] In 1901 and 1902 she published three scientific articles on fungi. She is credited with the discovery of several species of fungi, including 8 species of Tulostoma (stalked puffballs).[5] She corresponded with and borrowed mycological specimens from Charles Horton Peck. After her marriage, she devoted less time to scientific work.[1] She created hundreds of annotated watercolors of fungi and plants.[2]

Marriage and family

Violetta Susan White married John Ross Delafield (1874–1964) on 14 June 1904 in Manhattan. He was born in Fieldston, Bronx; both of his parents were from wealthy, prominent Hudson Valley families; the Delafields were related to the Livingston family,[6] who established the country estate known as Montgomery Place. Violetta and her husband John established Montgomery Place as their country retreat; from 1921 onward they made it their main residence.[4] John R. Delafield graduated from Princeton University in 1896 and from Harvard Law School in 1899. John and Violetta had three children.[7]

According to her husband's unpublished biography of her, Violetta continued to collect specimens at their various summer homes in Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania, the Catskills, New York and Litchfield, Connecticut.[3]

Montgomery Place

John White Delafield, one of John R. and Violetta's two sons, inherited Montgomery Place in 1964 and sold the property to Sleepy Hollow Restorations in 1986. Bard College purchased Montgomery Place in 2016.

Selected publications
  • "The Tylostomaceae of North America". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 28 (8): 421–444. August 1901. doi:10.2307/2478590.
  • "The Nidulariaceae of North America". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 29 (5): 251–280. May 1902. doi:10.2307/2478721.
  • "Some Mt. Desert Fungi". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 29 (9): 550–563. September 1902. doi:10.2307/2478853. (See Mount Desert Island.)

References
  1. Abir-Am, Pnina G.; Outram, Dorinda, eds. (1987). ""Chapter 5. Nineteenth-Century American Women Botanists: Wives, Widows, and Work" by Nancy G. Slack". Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives: Women in Science, 1789–1979. pp. 77–103. (p. 83)
  2. "Violetta White Delafield Mushroom Collection". New York Heritage Digital Collections.
  3. "The Mushroom Drawings of Violetta Delafield". Stevenson Library Digital Collections, Bard College.
  4. "Violetta Delafield, Clio's Sisters: Women Who Made History In and Around Bard". Stevenson Library Digital Collections, Bard College.
  5. "V.S. White". MycoBank Database.
  6. "Delafield Family Papers". Philadelphia Area Archives Research Portal (PAARP).
  7. Whitus, Miranda Fey (2018). "Collection Ontogenesis: Following the Nascence and Maturation of the Montgomery Place Archive, 1802-2018".
  8. IPNI.  V.S.White.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.