For Black History Month, we honor the remarkable accomplishments of African American workers at the New York Botanical Garden during the 1930s-1950s. This display shines a light on those who maintained the grounds and pursued professional development opportunities, continuing their education to become qualified horticulture professionals.
No longer forgotten or overlooked, celebrate these “hidden figures” significant contributions inside and outside the Garden.
Born in Sioux City, Iowa, May 10, 1898, Malcolm Jerome Stubblefield attended Iowa Agricultural College and graduated in 1923. Post studies, he moved to New York City and became a Gardener at NYBG (1935-1939). He served a term of 4 years under the American New Deal agency, Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA program was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 during the Great Depression era.
At the Garden, Stubblefield cared for the plants, trees, shrubs and maintained the greenhouse. In the popular African American New York Newspaper, New York Age Stubblefield was highly complimented for maintaining the Garden (1938). NYBG’s Horticulturist T.H. Everett shared a similar sentiment in a letter to the New York State Civil Service Commission dubbing Stubblefield, “a willing worker and his services have been entirely satisfactory.”
By 1939, Stubblefield’s time at NYBG came to an end and using his experience working outdoors, he was appointed Assistant Gardener with the New York State Parks department. Subsequently, he moved to Washington D.C. where he established himself as a self-employed real estate and stock investor.
Image: Gloria J. Betcher, Ph.D. “Biographies of Black ISC Students: M-Z.” ArcGIS StoryMaps, Esri, 21 June 2022.
Document: Stubblefield Reference Letter, April 3,1939 - Archives of The New York Botanical Garden, T.H. Everett Horticulture Department: References.
Born July 17, 1918, in the Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Julius Hamington Holder immigrated to the United States in 1921. With a desire to learn garden design and gain horticulture experience, Holder sought a position at NYBG and secured a Gardener position in 1949. Prior to joining NYBG’s Horticulture team, Holder was an independent contractor in landscape design (constructing lawns) and worked for the New York City Housing Authority as Assistant Gardener.
Holder remained at the Garden for one year and following his NYBG departure, he held several roles in New York (New York City Board of Education: Assistant Landscape Architect, New York Bureau of Urban Affairs: Urban Planner) and California (San Diego State University: Lecturer, Kern County Economic Opportunity Corporation: Principal Planner).
Recognized for his work and commitment to serving and improving his community, Holder received a certificate from the Sunset Neighborhood Improvement District and was featured in Who’s Who in America (1985), a biographical directory of notable people in the United States.
Image: DeArmond, Pete. “KCEOC Planner Asks Pledge to Racial Equality.” The Bakersfield Californian, 17 Mar. 1977, p. 12.
Document: Acceptance Letter with Holder's signature, October 3,1949- Archives of The New York Botanical Garden, T.H. Everett Horticulture Department, Holder, Julius (1949-1950).
A prominent, well-respected physician and surgeon, Joel V. Bolden received an education at the City College of New York (1925) and New York and Bellevue Hospital Medical College (1929). Born and raised in New York, Bolden was a member of the oldest African American fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Inc., Alpha Gamma Lambda chapter and worked in Harlem Hospital’s surgical team (1931- 1954). Simultaneously, he completed NYBG’s continuing education program, Two Year Courses: Science and Practical Gardening (1949).
Taught by NYBG staff and outside instructors, Bolden gained an understanding of plant classification, cultivation, and correct handling of gardening tools. The knowledge acquired enabled him to operate Knollwood Nurseries in Elmsford N.Y.
Throughout his career, Bolden published clinical research in medical journals and remained a licensed physician employed by the Narcotic Addiction Control Commission where he observed and examined patients with substance use disorder (1967).
Image: W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, UMass Amherst Libraries.
Document: Graduation Exercise 1949 - Archives of The New York Botanical Garden, Continuing Education, Two Year Courses Practical Gardening.
Born July 27, 1926, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Vincent Edward Richards was appointed NYBG’s Student Gardener in 1950. After planting annual flowers for a tourist lodge in Vermont and caring for vegetables and strawberries, spraying, thinning and cleaning plants at the University of Vermont Farm, Richards applied for NYBG’s educational program. Doing so allowed him to enhance his skills and later create his own landscape business focused on maintaining and caring for plants in residential properties around New York.
Image: Archives of The New York Botanical Garden, T.H. Everett, Horticulture Department, Vincent Richards (1950).
Document: Acceptance Letter with Richards signature, April 19, 1950 -Archives of The New York Botanical Garden, T.H. Everett, Horticulture Department, Vincent Richards (1950).
The disciplinary overlaps between various scientific fields (ecology, chemistry, geology and plant science etc.) leaves some names known to many while others lack acknowledgement.
This image displays Black innovative pioneers within the botanical/ horticulture spaces who have accomplished so much, influenced many and changed the plant world.
(Left to Right)
1st Row:
O’Neil Ray Collins, Mycologist
Beebe Steven Lynk, Professor: Latin Botany and Materia Medica
Hazel M Johnson, Environmentalist
Arthur A. Turner, Superintendent of Agriculture
2nd Row:
Henry Kirklin, Farmer
Percy Lavon Julian, Chemist/ Botanical Researcher
George Washington Carver, Scientist
Thomas Monroe Campbell, Field Agent
3rd Row:
Booker T. Whatley, Horticulturist
Peyton M. Dewitt, Florist
Marie Clark Taylor, Botanist
Edward Bouchet, Inventor
4th Row:
Hattie Carhan, Activist
Thelma Perry, Pioneer
Marguerite Thomas Williams, Geologist
Marion Antoinette Richards Myles, Plant Pathologist
The image designs and Hidden Figures exhibit, created by Mertz Resource Sharing Librarian Rose Vincent.
Kelsey Miller worked to design and install the physical component of this display in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Thank you to Continuing Education staff Eric Lieberman and Nadeen Thomas and Senior Library Manager, Samantha D'Acunto for providing the gardening tools:
Library
libref@nybg.org
(718)-817-8827
Archives
archives@nybg.org
Plant Information
plantinfo@nybg.org
