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Rebecca Northen

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Rebecca Tyson Northen
BornRebecca Tyson
(1910-08-24)August 24, 1910
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedApril 30, 2004(2004-04-30) (aged 93)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma materWayne State University, Mount Holyoke College
Years active1948–1990
Notable worksHome Orchid Growing
Orchids as House Plants
Miniature Orchids
Ingenious Kingdom
Greenhouse Gardening
Notable awardsAmerican Orchid Society Gold Medal of Achievement,
Certificate of Meritorious Achievement in Orchid Education
SpousesHenry Theodore Northen (m. 1937)
ChildrenElizabeth Northen Lyons
Philip Tyson Northen
Thomas Henry Northen

Rebecca Tyson Northen (August 24, 1910 – April 30, 2004) was an American author, educator, and conservationist known for her work on orchids.

She was recognized for popularizing orchids through her books and articles on their culture and has been referred to as the "Julia Child of Orchids".[1] Northen made contributions to orchid conservation, including the establishment of the Lankester Garden in Costa Rica.[2][3][4][5] She authored several books and articles on orchid culture, including Home Orchid Growing, which was first published in 1950.[6]

Early life

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Rebecca Tyson Northen was born on August 24, 1910, in Detroit, Michigan. She received her bachelor's degree from Wayne State University in 1935, and her master's degree in Zoology from Mount Holyoke College in 1937.[citation needed]

In 1937, she married Henry Theodore Northen and they had three children together.[citation needed]

Career

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Northen had a lifelong interest in orchids, which began with the gift of a flask of tiny orchid seedlings. Despite the lack of information and resources on growing orchids at home, she persisted and eventually found ways to successfully cultivate them.[7][8] In the late 1940s, she co-authored articles on orchid culture with her husband Henry in the Journal of the American Orchid Society.[9][10] She was also known as the 'orchid lady' in letters to the editor of the Denver Post, providing tips on orchid culture.

Due to the demand for information on growing orchids at home, she wrote and published a book titled Home Orchid Growing in 1950, which provided guidance on orchid biology and their cultivation.

Rebecca Northen was a horticulturist and author who specialized in the study of orchids. She was active in the orchid community, giving presentations at international societies and publishing research in journals[11] and co-authoring books with Henry.[12][13][14]

In 1976, Rebecca Northen published Orchids as House Plants, a book aimed at providing guidance for growing orchids at home. She also wrote about miniature orchids,[15][16][6] and published papers in the Journal of the American Orchid Society for beginner orchid growers.[6][17][10]

Northen received recognition for her work in the field, including the American Orchid Society's Gold Medal of Achievement in 1979[18][19] and the Certificate of Meritorious Achievement in Orchid Education in 1999.[18] Some orchids have been named in her honor including Clowesia Rebecca Northen, Trichoceros muralis 'Rebecca Northen', and Laelia anceps Rebecca T. Northen,[20] and her work has been featured in exhibitions at Smithsonian Gardens and the U.S. Botanic Garden.[21]

Conservation

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Northen studied orchids in their natural habitats by visiting different locations around the world. She also participated in efforts to establish the Lankester garden in Costa Rica,[9] through writing articles and raising funds.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Meet the Julia Child of orchids". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  2. ^ "Miscellaneous front pages, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc., Volume 76, Number 2 (1970)". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 76 (2). March 1, 1970. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1970-12439-9. ISSN 0002-9904.
  3. ^ Ossenbach, Carlos (April 30, 2014). "Charles H. Lankester (1879-1969): his life and legacy". Lankesteriana. 13 (3). doi:10.15517/lank.v13i3.14424. ISSN 2215-2067.
  4. ^ Rodríguez Caballero, Rafael Lucas (April 30, 2014). "Instalación de la primera junta asesora del jardín Charles H. Lankester". Lankesteriana. 13 (3). doi:10.15517/lank.v13i3.14348. ISSN 2215-2067.
  5. ^ """El Silvestre", which Lankester kept when he sold the rest of his farm in 1955, was inherited by his daughter Dorothy (Fig. 20), but difficult financial circumstances made it seem impossible to fulfill Lankester's dream of conserving the place as an "orchid heaven". Dorothy was forced to put the garden up for sale. However, through the efforts of the Costa Rican Orchid Society and Costa Rican biologist Rafael Lucas Rodríguez, a group of members of the American Orchid Society (led by Rebecca T. Northen), raised half of the purchase price: $25,000. The other half was donated by the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust of Great Britain." Pzage 370-1". doi:10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-07/kgazzard/p48. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d Summerhayes, V. S.; Northen, R. T. (1951). "Home Orchid Growing". Kew Bulletin. 6 (2): 300. Bibcode:1951KewBu...6..300S. doi:10.2307/4120606. ISSN 0075-5974. JSTOR 4120606.
  7. ^ Smith, Carol (May 15, 2004). "Book opened orchid-growing to the world". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  8. ^ "Miscellaneous back pages, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc., Volume 59, Number 2 (1953)". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 59 (2). March 1, 1953. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1953-09712-9. ISSN 0002-9904.
  9. ^ a b Bunce, John W. (October 1, 1987). "Book Review: Completely bounded maps and dilations". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 17 (2): 358–360. doi:10.1090/s0273-0979-1987-15593-5. ISSN 0273-0979.
  10. ^ a b Northen, R. T. (1983). "The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Edinburgh [England, Scotland]". American Orchid Society Bulletin. ISSN 0003-0252.
  11. ^ "Miscellaneous back pages, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc., Volume 59, Number 4 (1953)". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 59 (4). July 1, 1953. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1953-09748-8. ISSN 0002-9904.
  12. ^ Biekart, Henry M.; Northen, Henry T.; Northen, Rebecca T. (1954). "The Secret of the Green Thumb". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 81 (5): 466. doi:10.2307/2482293. ISSN 0040-9618. JSTOR 2482293.
  13. ^ Northen, Henry T.; Northen, Rebecca (1957). "The Complete Book of Greenhouse Gardening". AIBS Bulletin. 7 (1): 39. doi:10.2307/1292052. ISSN 0096-7645. JSTOR 1292052.
  14. ^ Northen, Henry T.; Northen, Rebecca Tyson (January 1, 1939). "Time and Temperature of Protoplasmic Coagulation". Plant Physiology. 14 (1): 175–176. doi:10.1104/pp.14.1.175. ISSN 0032-0889. PMC 438242. PMID 16653542.
  15. ^ Swanson, C. P. (1951). "Home Orchid Growing.Rebecca Tyson NorthenOrchids and How to Grow Them.Adelaide C. Willoughby". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 26 (1): 61. doi:10.1086/397931. ISSN 0033-5770.
  16. ^ Gabella, G. (1980). "Electron microscopy of enzymes Principles and Methods, Vol. 5 Hayat, M. A. (editor) Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Ltd. - Wokingham 1977". Scanning. 3 (1): 51. doi:10.1002/sca.4950030114. ISSN 0161-0457.
  17. ^ Swanson, C. P. (March 1951). "Home Orchid Growing.Rebecca Tyson NorthenOrchids and How to Grow Them.Adelaide C. Willoughby". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 26 (1): 61. doi:10.1086/397931. ISSN 0033-5770.
  18. ^ a b "Medal and Award Recipients". www.aos.org. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  19. ^ Allen, Carol (1996). North American native terrestrial orchids : propagation and production : conference proceedings, March 16 & 17, 1996, [held at the National Arboretum, Washington, D.C) /. Germantown, Md.: North American Native Terrestrial Orchid Conference. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.131246.
  20. ^ "Laelia anceps 'Rebecca T. Northen'". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  21. ^ "Orchids: Hidden Stories of Groundbreaking Women". Smithsonian Gardens. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
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