Starting in the 1890s botany was becoming more popular, not just professionally and academically, but also as an amateur pursuit. The New England Botanical Club was founded in 1895 and soon began keeping a club herbarium, which is a systematically arranged collection of dried plants. Amateur botanists also began their own plant collecting, starting herbaria of their own with the aid of reference books and botany manuals for plant identification. This more systematic and scientific approach began what botanist Stuart Harris termed the “Golden Age of plant collecting,” and it aided in more specific identification of plant species in the decades that followed. 

While there were several botany manuals that may have been used for reference in the late 1800s, a book of note in the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives that may have been used by these amateur botanists is How to Know the Wild Flowers by Mrs. William Starr Dana, first published in 1893. Frances Starr Dana (later Frances Theodora Parsons) was a New York botanist and author living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who amassed an extensive knowledge of wildflowers while on her nature walks. The resulting book is a mix of scientific information along with poetry, illustrations, and her own personal reminiscences. How to Know the Wild Flowers was considered the first field guide to North American wildflowers and was a best-seller, going through several reprints. 

In 1891, a Cape Ann resident named Ethel Maddocks created an herbarium of a variety of flowering plants from around the Gloucester area that is now housed in the CAM Library & Archives. Many, if not most, of these pressed plants are still recognizable to plant enthusiasts even now. Some plants, like yellow adder’s tongue, common violet, and Solomon’s seal are wildflowers that are native to the area and still grow here. Other plants in her collection are originally from Europe or Asia, like red clover and irises, and can also still be found in the area. ■

For more examples of wildflowers from Maddocks’ Herbarium, along with illustrations from reference books in the CAM Library & Archives for comparison, continue reading here.

Cape Ann is blessed, and has been blessed for generations, with a wealth of talented artists working in all sorts of media and exploring seemingly unending themes. There are very few, however, who viewed Cape Ann in the way that artist Elizabeth de Vicq did.

A one-time botany and mycology student at Wheaton College, Elizabeth de Vicq (1905-1985) spent years collecting mushroom, puff ball, and fungus specimens from around Cape Ann and using them to create delicate yet detailed watercolor paintings. The collection of the Cape Ann Museum includes eight “mushroom plates” created by de Vicq from the late 1960s into the ‘70s. They were generously gifted to the Museum by David de Vicq, the artist’s son. Each plate depicts between 8 and 13 different specimens. The artist’s original thought was to use the plates in a small book focusing on mushrooms that she hoped to publish with friends at the Boston Society of Mycologists. Unfortunately, the book was never realized.

One of artist Elizabeth de Vicq’s favorite places to scour for specimens was in Ravenswood Park, a 600-acre oasis located here in Gloucester that is managed by The Trustees of Reservations. If you would like to collect mushrooms like Elizabeth deVicq did, plan a visit to the park. ■

CAM Connects readers may recognize the work of Herman W. Spooner (1870-1941) from past issues and as a member of the Cape Ann Camera Club. While he photographed a variety of subjects throughout the region, with spring's arrival we wanted to share some of his photographs from our collection of gardens, flowers, and greenery. Each of these images was taken on glass plates c. 1900 and the 1930s and are primarily of garden settings with ornamental flowers like irises, chrysanthemums, and lilies, as well as wildflowers such as the Magnolia virginiana “glauca” for which Magnolia is named. 

The glass plates dated c. 1900 are black and white and made using the wet plate collodion process, some having been hand tinted with oil or watercolor paints. These are commonly known as lantern slides. Those from the 1930s appear to have been made using an additive color screen process called Autochrome, which is one of the first successful color photographic processes. Photographs made with the Autochrome process are sometimes confused with lantern slides, but the evidence left behind from each process differs and can be a useful clue in distinguishing the two types. ■

To see more of these photographs and to learn of Spooner's process, continue reading here. 

April 26, 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the master designer of public parks and a founder of the field of landscape architecture. On May 14th, historian and filmmaker Laurence Cotton, consulting producer to the PBS special “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America,” will present a CAMTalk on the remarkable life and career of the Renaissance-man Olmsted at the Cape Ann Museum. A writer, philosopher, social reformer, and advocate for the preservation of natural scenery, Olmsted created some of the most beautiful public and private parks and gardens in all of North America, including several in Essex County.

One such example is the landscape of the Crane Estate at Castle Hill. Lawrence Cotton had the following to say about the property: 

Castle Hill is the centerpiece of the sprawling 2,100-acre Crane Estate, which is owned and managed by The Trustees of Reservations. The Great House, a 59-room Stuart-style mansion, presides over Castle Hill’s 165 acres of designed and natural landscapes with commanding panoramic views of the ocean. Its famous, rolling lawn – the Grand Alleé – stretches half a mile from the portico of the Great House to the bluffs which overlook Crane Beach.

In 1910 industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr. purchased the original 165-acre estate to serve as a summer retreat. He commissioned Charles Coolidge of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge to design the Italianate mansion. Crane also hired the Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, to design the landscaping. By 1912, they had fashioned a series of ornate terraced gardens. Two main gardens, the "Italian Garden" and the "Rose Garden," once contained ornate plantings, landscaped walkways and Italianesque fountains. 

Between 1913 and 1915 Arthur Shurcliff, who began his career with the Olmsted Bros. firm, designed the Grand Allée. Inspired by the Cypress Allée at the Boboli Gardens in Florence, Shurcliff’s design is an undulating strip of lawn, 160 feet wide, lined with Norway spruce, white pines and red cedar and edged by classically styled statuary. It crosses three hills on carefully graded land, which in combination with the evergreen edge focuses the view to the ocean. ■

To learn more about this landscape and many others designed by Olmsted in our region, join Cotton in his presentation on May 14th at 1pm. 

For more information and to register, click here.