Regina Olson Hughes facts for kids

Regina Olson Hughes (1895–1993) was an amazing American artist. She specialized in botanical art, which means she drew plants and flowers for science. Regina was born on February 1, 1895, in Herman, Nebraska. She loved plants and flowers from a young age.

When she was 10, Regina got scarlet fever. This illness slowly made her hearing worse. By age 14, she was completely deaf. To talk with others, she learned to lip-read and used written notes for work. Even though she couldn't hear, she kept her ability to speak clearly. Later, she learned American Sign Language when she went to Gallaudet University.

Regina loved her home in the countryside, which was full of plants and flowers. She also loved art as a child. Her parents even got her art lessons. Plants and flowers were always her favorite things to draw. In 1923, Regina married Frederick H. Hughes. They lived at Gallaudet University for 30 years. Frederick was a well-known Deaf economics professor, theater fan, and football coach. He passed away in 1956. Regina Hughes died on August 12, 1993, at 98 years old.

Regina's Education

Regina Hughes went to Gallaudet College. At that time, it was the only college for deaf students. She once said that in 1918, when she graduated, deaf people were often not treated equally. But Regina was always ready for a challenge.

At Gallaudet, she showed her talent for writing and poetry. She wrote many poems for the college newspaper, Buff and Blue. After graduating, she met with a senator from Nebraska. She asked him to help her find a job in government. He told her that "nice girls don’t work." He suggested she go home and find a husband. Regina was not happy with this advice! She earned her bachelor's degree in art in 1918. She then got her master's degree in 1920.

Working for the Government

After college, Regina worked for a short time at the Veterans Administration. Then she moved to the State Department. In 1930, she started working for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). She began as a research clerk. Later, she became a scientific illustrator and translator.

Regina became very respected as an artist and scholar during her government service. She could speak four languages fluently: French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. She used these skills to work as a translator for the State Department during World War I. She also translated for the departments of war and commerce. One of her most important jobs was translating during a big conference in Washington after the war. She was one of only two non-French women working as a translator for the US Department of State.

In 1936, she became the scientific illustrator for botany at the Agricultural Research Service. Regina did excellent illustration work for many years. In 1969, she "retired" from the USDA. But she didn't stop working! She continued her work for the Smithsonian Institution. She kept working until she was 95 years old. The Botany Department at the Smithsonian Institution even held a retirement party for her.

Other Important Work

Regina Hughes worked at the Smithsonian until 1990. She also did other jobs on the side. She taught at the Mississippi School for the Deaf. She painted beautiful orchids and bromeliads for Robert W. Read. He was a Curator in the Smithsonian's Botany Department. She also continued to work as an illustrator for scientists at both the USDA and the Smithsonian. Robert Read was very impressed by her art. They worked together for 17 years.

Regina's love for art and languages filled many sketchbooks. Most of her paintings came from sketches she made while traveling around the world. In 1979, the Smithsonian Institution honored her. They named a new type of Bromeliad after her: Billbergia reginae. She is the only deaf person to have both a plant group (genus) and a specific plant (species) named after her. In 1981, two scientists named a plant from the Asteraceae family after her too: "Hughesia reginae."

Amazing Illustrations

Regina Hughes was a botanical artist. She focused on drawing plants, especially orchids. Her illustrations showed many skills. She used watercolor, oils, gouache, and pencil. To be a good botanical illustrator, you need to be smart, patient, and artistic. You also need to know a lot about plants.

Art history books often don't include scientific illustrations. This is because they are seen as more technical than artistic. But Regina's work was both precise and beautiful. She was known for her detailed drawings of weeds, orchids, and exotic plants. Her passion brought together art and science. Much of her work was so detailed that she used a microscope to draw it.

Regina taught herself a lot about botany. She worked closely with scientists who study plants. She drew the flowers, weeds, plants, and seeds they collected from all over the world. For all her drawings, she also wrote descriptions of the plants. Her illustrations had no backgrounds. This helped scientists focus on the plant itself. She used minimal colors to avoid distracting from the subject. Sometimes, she would show different parts of a plant with different levels of detail. She might even slightly change the shape to show important parts clearly. All plant parts in her drawings showed exact proportions.

Published Art and Shows

Regina Hughes was the first deaf artist to have her own art show at the Smithsonian. In 1982, 40 of her detailed watercolor paintings of orchids were shown. The exhibit was called "Artist and Botanist-A Collaboration." Her art was also shown at other places. These included the National League of American Pen Women and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.

Her work is in a book called "Common Weeds of the US." This book has 224 full-page drawings by her. Another book, "Economically Important Foreign Weeds," has over 6,000 of her drawings of seeds and plants. Her orchid paintings are always on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Here is a partial list of places her work was shown or published:

• Famous International Exhibition of Fine and Applied Arts by Deaf Artist 1934 (New York City)
• Journal of the Bromeliad Society; Grassland Seeds (1957)
• Sketches of the United States- Native, Naturalized, and Cultivated (1960)
• Identification of Crop and Weed Seeds (1963)
• National Arboretum 1968
• Selected Weeds of the United States (1970)
• Commons Weeds of the United States (1971)
• The Agave Family in Sonora (1972)
• Aquatic and Wetland Plants of the Southwestern United States (1972)
• National Agricultural Library 1972
• Economically Important Foreign Weeds (1977)
• Selby Botanical Garden 1986 (Sarasota, Florida)
• Eastern Orchid Congress 1986 (Alexandria, Virginia)
• Gallaudet University 1986 (Washington DC)
• The Genera of the Eupatorieae (Asteraceae) (1987)
• Caryopsis Morphology and Classification in the Triticeae (Pooideae: Poaceae) (1993)
• National Orchid Collection
• Washington Water Color Association
• Brookside Gardens (Maryland)

Honors and Awards

Regina Hughes received many awards for her amazing work:

• Superior Service Award from the Department of Agriculture, 1962
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Human Letters from Gallaudet College, 1967
• Woman of the Year by Gallaudet Sorority Phi Kappa Zeta, 1979
• “Artist of the Year” by the Chevy Chase Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, 1980
• A new plant group and species of Asteraceae named after her, "Hughesia reginae," 1981
• Amos Kendall Award, 1981
• Member of The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators