Passionate About Plants

In the early years of the college, the study of biology was folded into courses on the Natural Sciences (which included physics, chemistry, geology, and biology). For example, here is how it was listed in the 1910 catalog.

By the 1915 catalog we see that a Professor was named specifically for Biology: Professor Earle Ray Casto. But from 1915 until 1929, there was very little stability in this area as can be seen by the seven people who held that post during those years.  Click here to see a list of all of those teaching Biology at Wesleyan through the years. There have been (and are) many amazing people on this list, but three in particular have shared a Passion for Plants.

In 1929, James Edward Judson arrived at the college. A specialist in Botany, he taught at Wesleyan for twenty years.  Thomas W. Haught had this to say about the early years and the impact made by Dr. Judson.

The development of the department of Biology began in a small way about the year 1913. We say, “in a small way,” because the equipment was not made adequate to do first-class work until six years later. There followed then a period of ten years, 1919-1929, during which five teachers, with an average tenure of two years, were called to the department. All the five were well trained for the work, and in each of the five periods of service some equipment was secured for the department. But these five tenures, each so short, could add little to its strength and prestige.

Dr. Judson came to the department in 1929. His period of service at the end of this year (1940) will be just equal to the sum of the last five preceding. This must result, has resulted, in giving to the work of the department an individuality, a type of character, and a standing in educational circles, impossible under former conditions when teachers came and went like characters across a stage.”

In fact, Dr. Judson was to stay from 1929 through 1949. He was followed by another long-term faculty member, Dr. George Bowyer Rossbach, who taught from 1949 through 1976. Dr. Rossbach was succeeded by Dr. Katharine Gregg in 1976, and she taught until 2013. All three of these strong faculty members specialized in Botany — the study of plants. Thus there were 84 consecutive years where students were able to study under these three strong faculty members.

James Judson led the first study trip, taking a group of students and alumni to study the plants of Florida over Christmas break 1938. Yes, over Christmas break! The group left Buckhannon on December 19 and returned on December 30th. That is dedication! It must have gone well, because they did it again in future years. Christmas Day 1940 was spent at the Bok Singing Tower Gardens.

But all of that was just the beginning.

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Herbarium

When George Rossbach was a boy, he began collecting samples of plants.

That collection has grown to an estimated 25,000 specimens which are housed in the George B. Rossbach Herbarium on the second floor of the Christopher Hall of Science.

The Herbarium, which is a collection of preserved plant specimens and the associated data used for scientific study, is well known and appreciated by scientists across the country.

In addition, since her retirement in 2013, Dr. Katharine Gregg,
the current curator, has been digitizing, imaging, and sharing this collection through a grant from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Division of Science and Research. As databasing and imaging continue, images and data will be uploaded to the site for viewing. She has served as the Curator of the collection since 1985, when Dr. Rossbach stepped down from that position. Her attention to the collection and the painstaking work of digitizing and documenting it has resulted, as of March 2019, in 22,386 items being available on Pages In Time.

The links to this Digital Herbarium have been viewed 5,096 times in the past year alone.

She also shares with current students about the Herbarium itself and the process of digitizing and documenting it. Last week I took my WVWC History Class to visit, and this is what one of the students had to say about the experience:

Even being a Biology major I never realized the magnitude of the herbarium here and how much of an impact it can make socially. It surprised me just how big it was and how much information can actually fit into a small room I pass every day without thinking twice about. The biological impact is more obvious but learning more about the impact this herbarium can make by having them all archived online makes me appreciate it even more. It not only helps put a name to Wesleyan but it also opens up the world of learning beyond just our college walls. Having the herbarium archived like this means that anyone can access it, learn from it, and collaborate which I believe is the most important part of a college education.

The world has, indeed, opened up beyond our college walls. Field trips as far away as the Amazon have taken students on life-changing journeys. The George B. Rossbach Herbarium is celebrated in such places as the University of North Carolina Herbarium and at the Botanical Society of America meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in July of 2015.

From 1929 until the present day, these three people have shared their passion for plants with students. If you consider that four years constitutes a generation of students, they have combined to teach and inspire more than twenty generations of West Virginia Wesleyan scientific scholars! They have taught them on campus, taken them on field trips near and far. They have contributed mightily to the wider scientific community. They have shared their Passion for Plants.