Effie A. Southworth facts for kids

Effie Almira Southworth Spalding (1860–1947) was an American scientist. She studied plants (a botanist) and fungi (a mycologist). She was the first woman plant pathologist hired by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Her most important discovery happened in 1887. She found that a fungus called Colletotrichum gossypii caused a disease in cotton plants. This disease, known as cotton cankers, destroyed many cotton farms. It was a big problem for the economy. Effie also taught botany at different schools. She worked with her husband, Volney Morgan Spalding, at the Desert Botanical Laboratory. Later, she started the Botany Department Herbarium at the University of Southern California.

Effie's Early Life and Education

Effie Southworth was born in North Collins, New York. Her birthday was October 29, 1860. Her parents were Chloe and Nathaniel Southworth.

Effie received a very good education. During her college years, she studied many subjects. These included foreign languages, math, and science like zoology and chemistry. She also studied astronomy, physics, geology, botany, and physiology.

She first attended Allegheny College for one year. Then, she moved to the University of Michigan. She earned her bachelor's degree there in 1885. In 1895, she married Volney Morgan Spalding, who was also a botanist and a professor.

Later, her husband became ill. They moved from Arizona to California for his health. He passed away in 1918. In 1922, when Effie was 65 years old, she earned her master's degree in botany. She received it from the University of Southern California. Effie Southworth died in April 1947 in Los Angeles. She was 87 years old.

Effie's Amazing Career

In 1885, Effie Southworth began teaching botany at Bryn Mawr College. For two years, she also worked in the college's botanical lab. She studied the structure of plants. She also learned how the fungus Asteroma grew and developed.

Working for the USDA

In 1887, Effie made history. She became the first female researcher hired by the Section of Mycology at the USDA. Mycology is the study of fungi. At the USDA, she worked as an assistant mycologist. She helped study fungal pathogens, which are fungi that cause diseases.

Her job included writing publications about plant diseases. These diseases were causing big problems for the economy. In 1888, she began studying a disease that was destroying cotton farms. By 1891, she made a huge discovery. She found that the fungus Colletotrichum gossypii was causing the cotton plants to die. This discovery helped save many cotton farms.

Later Work and Legacy

Effie left the USDA in 1892. She became an assistant botany professor at Barnard College in New York. From 1905 to 1911, she worked with her husband. She was his assistant at the Desert Botanical Laboratory. This lab was part of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Tucson, Arizona. Here, Effie focused on studying desert plants instead of plant diseases.

After her husband passed away, she joined the botany team at the University of Southern California. In 1922, she started the Herbarium of the Department of Botany there. A herbarium is like a library for dried plant specimens. Her herbarium mainly focused on California spermatophytes, which are seed plants.

Effie's work was so important that a genus of fungi was named after her. It is called Southworthia Ellis & Galloway.