Prior to the 1900s, American women interested in botany were often self-taught and rarely professionally trained. In the early to mid-1900s, the botanical community saw more women attain a formal science education and become professionals. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve highlighted four Arkansans who paved the way for later generations and recognize them for their contributions to education, research, and conservation.
Dr. Flora Anderson Haas (1885-1984)
Flora Anderson Haas grew up in Indiana and attended Indiana University, where she earned a doctorate in botany in 1917. She taught at Indiana University and Wellesley College in Massachusetts before moving to Arkansas. She was a professor and head of the biology department at Arkansas State Teachers College [now University of Central Arkansas (UCA)] from 1930 -1945. During the Great Depression, Haas helped students find financial assistance and even provided some with free boarding in her own home.
During her time in Arkansas, Haas collected nearly 1,000 plant specimens, including specimens of rare and endemic species. The majority were collected from the central Arkansas region, including some from or near what is now Cove Creek Natural Area. Her collection is now part of the UCA Herbarium.
Elsie Mistie Sterling (1907-1960)
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Elsie Mistie Sterling was a professional artist trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Vogue Commercial Art School. In 1942, she and her family settled in Rogers, Arkansas, where she continued to work as an artist. She observed plants through the seasons, drawing both flowers and fruits, and noting dates, locations, and scientific names. Over 400 of her botanical illustrations are now part of the permanent collection of the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas (ASC) in Pine Bluff.
Many of these illustrations are so detailed they have become valuable as scientific records of Arkansas flora. Theo Witsell, ANHC chief of research, writes of Sterling’s work: “While many of her subjects are common and widespread species, a review of her work shows that she also got off the beaten path and into some interesting (and today rare) habitats. … Her illustrations are like a time machine, allowing us to go back and see what these areas were like nearly 75 years ago.” Read Witsell’s complete essay, “A Valuable Contribution to the Scientific Record” and view Sterling’s work in an ASC online exhibition, “Pencil and Persistence,” available at https://www.asc701.org/sterling-pencil-and-persistence.
Aileen McWilliam (1908-1982)
Aileen McWilliam was a lifelong resident of Polk County, Arkansas. She taught biology at Mena High School and was named Arkansas’s Outstanding Biology Teacher in 1965. In addition to teaching, she worked as a research ecologist and plant taxonomist, receiving funding through National Science Foundation grants for high school teachers. She extensively studied native beardtongues (Penstemon spp.) and toothworts (Cardamine spp.) and authored scientific papers on these genera in the late 1960s. The majority of her plant specimens are in now in the University of Arkansas Herbarium.
After her retirement from teaching, McWilliam was active in environmental conservation in Arkansas. She was a charter member of the Arkansas Native Plant Society (ANPS), which established the Aileen McWilliam Scholarship, “in remembrance of her devotion to the study of the Arkansas flora.” The award is given yearly to assist undergraduate and graduate botany students. For more on this award, visit the ANPS website, https://anps.org/about-2/grants-and-awards/grants-and-scholarships/ .
Dr. Jewel Elizabeth Moore (1918-2022)
A native Arkansan, Dr. Jewel Elizabeth Moore was a highly accomplished professor, researcher, and conservationist. She graduated from Henderson State Teacher’s College (now Henderson State University) and the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She earned her doctorate in plant ecology at the University of Tennessee. In 1947, she joined the biology department at Arkansas State Teachers College [now the University of Central Arkansas (UCA)], where she taught until 1983.
Moore was instrumental in establishing an outdoor classroom and nature reserve on the UCA campus, named the Jewel E. Moore Nature Reserve in 1980 in her honor. In 1971, she wrote, “I consider it a part of my job as a biology teacher in Arkansas to share the out-of-doors with my students and to encourage them to learn from nature as they enjoy it and preserve it for others.”
Moore was a member of numerous science organizations, including the American Fern Society and the American Bryological Society. She was interested in researching ferns and bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), and her bryophyte collection is now in the UCA Herbarium. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, of which she was state president from 1969-1971. To encourage the upcoming generation of women, she wrote a speech for high school students in 1972, concluding, “Get all the training you can to do what you like to do because you may be spending a good portion of your life at it. If you pick a field in which there are few women, don’t let others discourage you. You will be helping to eliminate the barriers and discrimination which have limited women in the past and you will be making it easier for the women who follow you in that field.”
Sources
Photos:
Photo 1 — Dr. Flora Haas, photo from Indiana University, used under the "Fair Use" provision of U.S. Copyright Law, accessed at https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/awards/honoree/8804.html
Photo 2 — Elsie Mistie Sterling, photo courtesy of the Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, Arkansas, https://www.rogershistoricalmuseum.org/ .
Photo 3 — "Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)" by Elsie Mistie Sterling, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, 1942, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas collection ASC86.001.327, accessed https://www.asc701.org/a-valuable-contribution .
Photo 4 — Arkansas beardtongue (Penstemon arkansanus) collected by Aileen McWilliam from Conway County, 1966. Digitized specimen accessed from the Southeast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections at sernecportal.org, used under the "Fair Use" provision of the U.S. Copyright Law.
Photo 5 and Main Photo — Dr. Jewel E. Moore at the nature reserve named in her honor, 1983. Photograph by Sonny Rhodes, from the University of Central Arkansas Archives, Dr. Jewel E. Moore Collection.
Photo 6 — Dr. Jewel E. Moore with biology students at the outdoor classroom area of the Jewel E. Moore Nature Reserve, 1979, photograph from the University of Central Arkansas Archives, Dr. Donald E. Culwell Collection.
Dr. Flora Anderson Haas (1885-1984)Flora Anderson Haas grew up in Indiana and attended Indiana University, where she earned a doctorate in botany in 1917. She taught at Indiana University and Wellesley College in Massachusetts before moving to Arkansas. She was a professor and head of the biology department at Arkansas State Teachers College [now University of Central Arkansas (UCA)] from 1930 -1945. During the Great Depression, Haas helped students find financial assistance and even provided some with free boarding in her own home.
During her time in Arkansas, Haas collected nearly 1,000 plant specimens, including specimens of rare and endemic species. The majority were collected from the central Arkansas region, including some from or near what is now Cove Creek Natural Area. Her collection is now part of the UCA Herbarium.
Elsie Mistie Sterling (1907-1960)Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Elsie Mistie Sterling was a professional artist trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Vogue Commercial Art School. In 1942, she and her family settled in Rogers, Arkansas, where she continued to work as an artist. She observed plants through the seasons, drawing both flowers and fruits, and noting dates, locations, and scientific names. Over 400 of her botanical illustrations are now part of the permanent collection of the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas (ASC) in Pine Bluff.
Many of these illustrations are so detailed they have become valuable as scientific records of Arkansas flora. Theo Witsell, ANHC chief of research, writes of Sterling’s work: “While many of her subjects are common and widespread species, a review of her work shows that she also got off the beaten path and into some interesting (and today rare) habitats. … Her illustrations are like a time machine, allowing us to go back and see what these areas were like nearly 75 years ago.” Read Witsell’s complete essay, “A Valuable Contribution to the Scientific Record” and view Sterling’s work in an ASC online exhibition, “Pencil and Persistence,” available at https://www.asc701.org/sterling-pencil-and-persistence.
Aileen McWilliam (1908-1982) Aileen McWilliam was a lifelong resident of Polk County, Arkansas. She taught biology at Mena High School and was named Arkansas’s Outstanding Biology Teacher in 1965. In addition to teaching, she worked as a research ecologist and plant taxonomist, receiving funding through National Science Foundation grants for high school teachers. She extensively studied native beardtongues (Penstemon spp.) and toothworts (Cardamine spp.) and authored scientific papers on these genera in the late 1960s. The majority of her plant specimens are in now in the University of Arkansas Herbarium.
After her retirement from teaching, McWilliam was active in environmental conservation in Arkansas. She was a charter member of the Arkansas Native Plant Society (ANPS), which established the Aileen McWilliam Scholarship, “in remembrance of her devotion to the study of the Arkansas flora.” The award is given yearly to assist undergraduate and graduate botany students. For more on this award, visit the ANPS website, https://anps.org/about-2/grants-and-awards/grants-and-scholarships/ .
Dr. Jewel Elizabeth Moore (1918-2022) A native Arkansan, Dr. Jewel Elizabeth Moore was a highly accomplished professor, researcher, and conservationist. She graduated from Henderson State Teacher’s College (now Henderson State University) and the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She earned her doctorate in plant ecology at the University of Tennessee. In 1947, she joined the biology department at Arkansas State Teachers College [now the University of Central Arkansas (UCA)], where she taught until 1983.
Moore was instrumental in establishing an outdoor classroom and nature reserve on the UCA campus, named the Jewel E. Moore Nature Reserve in 1980 in her honor. In 1971, she wrote, “I consider it a part of my job as a biology teacher in Arkansas to share the out-of-doors with my students and to encourage them to learn from nature as they enjoy it and preserve it for others.”
Moore was a member of numerous science organizations, including the American Fern Society and the American Bryological Society. She was interested in researching ferns and bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), and her bryophyte collection is now in the UCA Herbarium. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, of which she was state president from 1969-1971. To encourage the upcoming generation of women, she wrote a speech for high school students in 1972, concluding, “Get all the training you can to do what you like to do because you may be spending a good portion of your life at it. If you pick a field in which there are few women, don’t let others discourage you. You will be helping to eliminate the barriers and discrimination which have limited women in the past and you will be making it easier for the women who follow you in that field.”Sources
Photos:
Photo 1 — Dr. Flora Haas, photo from Indiana University, used under the "Fair Use" provision of U.S. Copyright Law, accessed at https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/awards/honoree/8804.html
Photo 2 — Elsie Mistie Sterling, photo courtesy of the Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, Arkansas, https://www.rogershistoricalmuseum.org/ .
Photo 3 — "Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)" by Elsie Mistie Sterling, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, 1942, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas collection ASC86.001.327, accessed https://www.asc701.org/a-valuable-contribution .
Photo 4 — Arkansas beardtongue (Penstemon arkansanus) collected by Aileen McWilliam from Conway County, 1966. Digitized specimen accessed from the Southeast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections at sernecportal.org, used under the "Fair Use" provision of the U.S. Copyright Law.
Photo 5 and Main Photo — Dr. Jewel E. Moore at the nature reserve named in her honor, 1983. Photograph by Sonny Rhodes, from the University of Central Arkansas Archives, Dr. Jewel E. Moore Collection.
Photo 6 — Dr. Jewel E. Moore with biology students at the outdoor classroom area of the Jewel E. Moore Nature Reserve, 1979, photograph from the University of Central Arkansas Archives, Dr. Donald E. Culwell Collection.