Henrietta Hooker facts for kids

Henrietta Edgecomb Hooker (December 12, 1851 – May 13, 1929) was an American botanist and educator. She was one of the first women to earn a Ph.D. in botany from an American university. She was born in Gardiner, Maine and died in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Early life

Hooker was born to Eliza Annie Hooker and George Washington Hooker in 1851, and was orphaned at the age of seven. At sixteen years of age she began her working life in a New England cotton factory. After a week in the factory, she sought help in finding a different job. Hooker taught in Vermont public schools (1869-1870) and at the Academy of West Charleston (1870-1871).

Academic career

Hooker entered Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1871, and graduated in 1873. She did graduate work at MIT, and the universities of Syracuse, Berlin, and Chicago. She earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in 1889. Hooker was among the first women to earn a Ph.D. in botany in the United States. In 1899, she was one of two teachers with a Ph.D. at Mount Holyoke.

Hooker's research focused on the morphology and embryology of Cuscuta, a genus of parasitic plants.

Hooker was a teacher at Mount Holyoke for thirty-five years. As the chair of the botany department, she advocated for expansion of the curriculum into newer branches of the field and for improvements to laboratory space and equipment. Hooker's commitment to Mount Holyoke extended beyond her retirement in 1908. She bred prize-winning Buff Orpington chickens and donated the winnings to Mount Holyoke. Mount Holyoke awarded her an honorary Sc.D. in 1923.

Hooker's papers are held by the Mount Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections.

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