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A very helpful article about Alma's trip around the world with Glady.
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Retired Mt. Holyoke Professor Ends Third World Tour At 79
At the age of 79, Mount Holyoke professor emeritus Alma Stokey has recently completed her third world tour. Miss Stokey, former chairman of the plant Science department at Mt. Holyoke who retired in 1942, returned to South Hadley in March from nine months abroad spent in sightseeing and doing research on ferns.
On both of Miss Stokey's previous trips, she has collected fern spores, sending them back to South Hadley, where she continues her research. At present she has some 150 different species growing in Clapp laboratory. Not all of Miss Stokey's ferns were collected by her own hand, however. Botanists from all over the world, hearing of her work, send her samples which they have gathered. She now has rare specimens of a fern which grows only on one island of Northern New Zealand, and another which grows in the mountains of Malaya.
According to Miss Stokey, making a study of fern species and their propagation offers the collector some real problems. She explained that most ferns flourish on mountain slopes, and that a further difficulty is added by the fact that 9/10 of the known ferns grow in damp, tropical climates. "The wind around the mountains comes in contact with the clouds there, and more rain falls," she said. In contrast to about 60 species of ferns found in the Northeastern United States, there are some 600 in Jamaica, where Miss Stokey has collected twice, and over 1000 in Java, where she has also made two trips. I send all the spores I collect back to Mrs. Geoffroy Atkinson in Amherst," Miss Stokey explained. "We can't go away at the same time; when I'm away, I send spores to her, and when she's away, she sends them to me." As a result of this arrangement, the two have collaborated on some 10 papers. (Mrs. Atkinson is Dr. Lenette Rogers Atkinson, Mount Holyoke '21.)
Miss Stokey's search for ferns has carried her through not only 10,000 miles of Europe, but to the Near East, the East Indies, and the Orient. With a friend, Miss Gladys Green of Miami, Miss Stokey covered the European countries, as well as India, Ceylon, Java, Singapore, Formosa, Syria, Lebanon, Greece and Turkey to name a few. She spent part of the winter in Ceylon, collecting specimens and visiting the island's two botanical gardens. "Ceylon was the most profitable part of my trip. I didn't do as much mountain climbing there as I have before, though," she commented. She visited the island in 1931, and again in 1939.
When pressed to name any events that occurred on her last trip, Miss Stokey said, "Oh, well, yes, something did happen in Damascus, as a matter of fact. We had to be evacuated by car into Beirut, Syria." She went on to explain that while she was staying with the American ambassador and his family, a bomb went off in the French embassy around the corner, and the ambassador suggested that they continue to Beirut. They later found out that they'd been evacuated, and had witnessed a part of the recent flare-ups in the Middle East. The ambassador's family feld by plane a few days latre. Miss Stokey said that she and her companion went to Istanbul from Beirut: "We had to -- they wouldn't allow planes to fly over Syria."
"Did anything else happen?"
"Oh, nothing really happened on this trip. Well, one other thing -- we landed in San Francisco in March about 10 days before the earthquake. But we left before that, too."
"I met a great many interesting people all over, though, including some Mount Holyoke graduates," Miss Stokey said. After her somewhat precipitous exit from Syria, Miss Stokey continued into Pakistan and India, where she visited the Women's Christian College in Madras. Miss Stokey's connection with that college extends back 26 years, when she was asked to find a competent teacher to organize a department of botany there. She became so interested in the project that she took a two year leave of absence and taught there herself, as visiting professor of botany, from 1929-31. Five years later, she returned to teach for another year, and her interest in the college has continued until the present day.
Miss Stokey included Formosa in her last trip. Here she observed "The Chinese women are wonderful. They're trying to start a school all on their own. Single-handed. Most of them are graduates of Ginling college." In Hong Kong, she found the city over-crowded to the extent tht there was not enough water for everyone, and its use must be limited to three hours during the day. There, as in all the places she visited, she found non trace of hostility towards herself or her companion as Americans. "All the people I met were very friendly and helpful."
In Japan, Miss Stokey did no collecting, but did do some sightseeing before flying back to the United States from Yokahama. After a trip of that length "you're rather glad to get back home," she admitted. Miss Stokey began her career with a B. A. from Oberlin college in 1904, and a Ph. D. in botany from the University of Chicago in 1908. She served as an assistant in botany at Oberlin for 3 years prior to her appointment as an instructor at Mount Holyoke, where she was named to full professorship in 1916. She was a member of the plant science department for 34 years before her retirement.
The results of Miss Stokey's research have appeared in numerous scientific journals. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Botanical Society of America and the American Fern society. Oberlin conferred an honorary doctor of science degree upon her in 1955.
Miss Stokey says that she and Dr. Atkinson hope eventually to put their findings into a book, for which most of the research is practically completed. When questioned about her future plans, she expressed a desire to visit Trinidad. "Of course," she said, "The best place for ferns is really New Zealand..."
At the age of 79, Mount Holyoke professor emeritus Alma Stokey has recently completed her third world tour. Miss Stokey, former chairman of the plant Science department at Mt. Holyoke who retired in 1942, returned to South Hadley in March from nine months abroad spent in sightseeing and doing research on ferns.
On both of Miss Stokey's previous trips, she has collected fern spores, sending them back to South Hadley, where she continues her research. At present she has some 150 different species growing in Clapp laboratory. Not all of Miss Stokey's ferns were collected by her own hand, however. Botanists from all over the world, hearing of her work, send her samples which they have gathered. She now has rare specimens of a fern which grows only on one island of Northern New Zealand, and another which grows in the mountains of Malaya.
According to Miss Stokey, making a study of fern species and their propagation offers the collector some real problems. She explained that most ferns flourish on mountain slopes, and that a further difficulty is added by the fact that 9/10 of the known ferns grow in damp, tropical climates. "The wind around the mountains comes in contact with the clouds there, and more rain falls," she said. In contrast to about 60 species of ferns found in the Northeastern United States, there are some 600 in Jamaica, where Miss Stokey has collected twice, and over 1000 in Java, where she has also made two trips. I send all the spores I collect back to Mrs. Geoffroy Atkinson in Amherst," Miss Stokey explained. "We can't go away at the same time; when I'm away, I send spores to her, and when she's away, she sends them to me." As a result of this arrangement, the two have collaborated on some 10 papers. (Mrs. Atkinson is Dr. Lenette Rogers Atkinson, Mount Holyoke '21.)
Miss Stokey's search for ferns has carried her through not only 10,000 miles of Europe, but to the Near East, the East Indies, and the Orient. With a friend, Miss Gladys Green of Miami, Miss Stokey covered the European countries, as well as India, Ceylon, Java, Singapore, Formosa, Syria, Lebanon, Greece and Turkey to name a few. She spent part of the winter in Ceylon, collecting specimens and visiting the island's two botanical gardens. "Ceylon was the most profitable part of my trip. I didn't do as much mountain climbing there as I have before, though," she commented. She visited the island in 1931, and again in 1939.
When pressed to name any events that occurred on her last trip, Miss Stokey said, "Oh, well, yes, something did happen in Damascus, as a matter of fact. We had to be evacuated by car into Beirut, Syria." She went on to explain that while she was staying with the American ambassador and his family, a bomb went off in the French embassy around the corner, and the ambassador suggested that they continue to Beirut. They later found out that they'd been evacuated, and had witnessed a part of the recent flare-ups in the Middle East. The ambassador's family feld by plane a few days latre. Miss Stokey said that she and her companion went to Istanbul from Beirut: "We had to -- they wouldn't allow planes to fly over Syria."
"Did anything else happen?"
"Oh, nothing really happened on this trip. Well, one other thing -- we landed in San Francisco in March about 10 days before the earthquake. But we left before that, too."
"I met a great many interesting people all over, though, including some Mount Holyoke graduates," Miss Stokey said. After her somewhat precipitous exit from Syria, Miss Stokey continued into Pakistan and India, where she visited the Women's Christian College in Madras. Miss Stokey's connection with that college extends back 26 years, when she was asked to find a competent teacher to organize a department of botany there. She became so interested in the project that she took a two year leave of absence and taught there herself, as visiting professor of botany, from 1929-31. Five years later, she returned to teach for another year, and her interest in the college has continued until the present day.
Miss Stokey included Formosa in her last trip. Here she observed "The Chinese women are wonderful. They're trying to start a school all on their own. Single-handed. Most of them are graduates of Ginling college." In Hong Kong, she found the city over-crowded to the extent tht there was not enough water for everyone, and its use must be limited to three hours during the day. There, as in all the places she visited, she found non trace of hostility towards herself or her companion as Americans. "All the people I met were very friendly and helpful."
In Japan, Miss Stokey did no collecting, but did do some sightseeing before flying back to the United States from Yokahama. After a trip of that length "you're rather glad to get back home," she admitted. Miss Stokey began her career with a B. A. from Oberlin college in 1904, and a Ph. D. in botany from the University of Chicago in 1908. She served as an assistant in botany at Oberlin for 3 years prior to her appointment as an instructor at Mount Holyoke, where she was named to full professorship in 1916. She was a member of the plant science department for 34 years before her retirement.
The results of Miss Stokey's research have appeared in numerous scientific journals. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Botanical Society of America and the American Fern society. Oberlin conferred an honorary doctor of science degree upon her in 1955.
Miss Stokey says that she and Dr. Atkinson hope eventually to put their findings into a book, for which most of the research is practically completed. When questioned about her future plans, she expressed a desire to visit Trinidad. "Of course," she said, "The best place for ferns is really New Zealand..."
audio---images---comment---transcript---~NOTES~---links---site navigation
1.The picture in this article was used nine years later for Alma's obituary:
2.
"The wind around the mountains comes in contact with the clouds there, and more rain falls," she said.
When Alma talks about weather, I always wonder if she's remembering her father, Papa Charles, the government weather observer.
3.
"Ceylon was the most profitable part of my trip. I didn't do as much mountain climbing there as I have before, though," she commented. She visited the island in 1931, and again in 1939.
I checked, and found no immediate evidence that Alma was in Ceylon in 1939, so I think probably it was supposed to be 1937.
4.
When pressed to name any events that occurred on her last trip, Miss Stokey said, "Oh, well, yes, something did happen in Damascus, as a matter of fact. We had to be evacuated by car into Beirut, Syria." She went on to explain that while she was staying with the American ambassador and his family, a bomb went off in the French embassy around the corner, and the ambassador suggested that they continue to Beirut. They later found out that they'd been evacuated, and had witnessed a part of the recent flare-ups in the Middle East.
Beirut is now the capital of Lebanon, not Syria, but it was once part of Syria. Lebanon got its independence in 1943, so by this time it was not part of Syria, but I guess old habits die hard.
The recent flare-ups in the Middle East was probably a reference to the Suez Crisis.
5.
"Oh, nothing really happened on this trip. Well, one other thing -- we landed in San Francisco in March about 10 days before the earthquake. But we left before that, too."
Wikipedia says:
The 1957 San Francisco earthquake (also known as the Daly City earthquake of 1957) occurred on March 22 at 11:44:22 local time with a moment magnitude of 5.7 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (Very strong).
6.
Miss Stokey's connection with that college extends back 26 years, when she was asked to find a competent teacher to organize a department of botany there. She became so interested in the project that she took a two year leave of absence and taught there herself, as visiting professor of botany, from 1929-31. Five years later, she returned to teach for another year, and her interest in the college has continued until the present day.
A nice, helpful summary of how Alma ended up in India.
7.
"The Chinese women are wonderful. They're trying to start a school all on their own. Single-handed. Most of them are graduates of Ginling college."
Wikipedia says:
Ginling College (simplified Chinese: 金陵女子大学; traditional Chinese: 金陵女子大學), also known by its pinyin romanization as Jinling College or Jinling Women's College, is a women's college of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China.
and:
Ginling College traces its roots to the Christian college of the same name founded in 1913, which started operations in 1915 and was the first institution to grant bachelor's degrees to female students in China. The school was closed from 1951 to 1987, when it was reestablished on its previous site.
No wonder Alma was impressed.
8.
Miss Stokey began her career with a B. A. from Oberlin college in 1904, and a Ph. D. in botany from the University of Chicago in 1908. She served as an assistant in botany at Oberlin for 3 years prior to her appointment as an instructor at Mount Holyoke, where she was named to full professorship in 1916.
Some more helpful information. Previously I only had Lenette Atkinson's word that Alma got tenure in 1916, but it sound as though this information came from Alma. Of course, the bit about being an assistant in botany at Oberlin for three years got sort of garbled; Alma was never a teacher at Oberlin, and this must be a reference to her part-time lab job at Oberlin, which enabled her to avoid having to go back home for a year to save up more money.
9.
"Of course," she said, "The best place for ferns is really New Zealand..."
I don't see a writer here for the article, which is a pity, because clearly she (or he) liked Alma.
2.
"The wind around the mountains comes in contact with the clouds there, and more rain falls," she said.
When Alma talks about weather, I always wonder if she's remembering her father, Papa Charles, the government weather observer.
3.
"Ceylon was the most profitable part of my trip. I didn't do as much mountain climbing there as I have before, though," she commented. She visited the island in 1931, and again in 1939.
I checked, and found no immediate evidence that Alma was in Ceylon in 1939, so I think probably it was supposed to be 1937.
4.
When pressed to name any events that occurred on her last trip, Miss Stokey said, "Oh, well, yes, something did happen in Damascus, as a matter of fact. We had to be evacuated by car into Beirut, Syria." She went on to explain that while she was staying with the American ambassador and his family, a bomb went off in the French embassy around the corner, and the ambassador suggested that they continue to Beirut. They later found out that they'd been evacuated, and had witnessed a part of the recent flare-ups in the Middle East.
Beirut is now the capital of Lebanon, not Syria, but it was once part of Syria. Lebanon got its independence in 1943, so by this time it was not part of Syria, but I guess old habits die hard.
The recent flare-ups in the Middle East was probably a reference to the Suez Crisis.
5.
"Oh, nothing really happened on this trip. Well, one other thing -- we landed in San Francisco in March about 10 days before the earthquake. But we left before that, too."
Wikipedia says:
The 1957 San Francisco earthquake (also known as the Daly City earthquake of 1957) occurred on March 22 at 11:44:22 local time with a moment magnitude of 5.7 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (Very strong).
6.
Miss Stokey's connection with that college extends back 26 years, when she was asked to find a competent teacher to organize a department of botany there. She became so interested in the project that she took a two year leave of absence and taught there herself, as visiting professor of botany, from 1929-31. Five years later, she returned to teach for another year, and her interest in the college has continued until the present day.
A nice, helpful summary of how Alma ended up in India.
7.
"The Chinese women are wonderful. They're trying to start a school all on their own. Single-handed. Most of them are graduates of Ginling college."
Wikipedia says:
Ginling College (simplified Chinese: 金陵女子大学; traditional Chinese: 金陵女子大學), also known by its pinyin romanization as Jinling College or Jinling Women's College, is a women's college of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China.
and:
Ginling College traces its roots to the Christian college of the same name founded in 1913, which started operations in 1915 and was the first institution to grant bachelor's degrees to female students in China. The school was closed from 1951 to 1987, when it was reestablished on its previous site.
No wonder Alma was impressed.
8.
Miss Stokey began her career with a B. A. from Oberlin college in 1904, and a Ph. D. in botany from the University of Chicago in 1908. She served as an assistant in botany at Oberlin for 3 years prior to her appointment as an instructor at Mount Holyoke, where she was named to full professorship in 1916.
Some more helpful information. Previously I only had Lenette Atkinson's word that Alma got tenure in 1916, but it sound as though this information came from Alma. Of course, the bit about being an assistant in botany at Oberlin for three years got sort of garbled; Alma was never a teacher at Oberlin, and this must be a reference to her part-time lab job at Oberlin, which enabled her to avoid having to go back home for a year to save up more money.
9.
"Of course," she said, "The best place for ferns is really New Zealand..."
I don't see a writer here for the article, which is a pity, because clearly she (or he) liked Alma.
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