A recent two-part post (
here and
here) from the Biodiversity Library blog features the role of women in the "world of seeds." According to the site, "Unlike other businesses such as banking or manufacturing, the flower and
seed industry, with a strong connection to the home, was considered a
more suitable occupation for women in the nineteenth century." The heavily illustrated articles detail the careers of well-known "seed women" such as Ella Barnes and Carrie Lippincott. In addition to the information in the posts, the Library provides links to many catalogs and other materials, both in its own holdings and in those of other repositories. Those interested in this topic might also want to look at the
"Mail Order Gardens" on-line exhibit from Cornell University's Mann Library, featured in part two of the Biodiversity Library post.
The
Biodiversity Heritage Library
is a consortium of major natural history, botanical, and research libraries that cooperate to digitize and make accessible the literature of biodiversity held in their collections.
