Fifty Years of Southern Appalachian Botany -
A Profile of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club
by Michael J. Baranski
originally published in Castanea 51(4): 247-258 (December 1986).
HISTORICAL COMMENTS
The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club has a rich history that has been only partially documented over the years (Core 1936, 1945,1953a, 1967, 1982). I believe that much of the historical information about the Club, its activities and the personalities that shaped it remains to be studied and presented. This information is in the form of voluminous records and correspondence relating to the Club that is stored in the Herbarium at West Virginia University. A few years ago I started to sort through this material, spending up to a day at a time on visits to my home state of West Virginia. I soon realized that it was a hopeless task to accomplish using only occasional short trips to Morgantown. I felt like a thief in history as I discovered glimpses of personalities and fascinating bits of historical data. Because the same individuals were involved in several capacities, the history of the SABC and its people is so thoroughly intertwined with correspondence and records of the West Virginia Academy of Science, the botanical fraternity at WVU, and the WVU Biology Department that it is virtually impossible to separate material exclusive to SABC. I determined that I should best leave the files and records alone, with hope that they will be safeguarded and eventually studied by someone with greater skill at archival research. There is a wealth of information stored at the Herbarium that is important, not only to the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club, but also to other groups.
Besides Earl Core's historical accounts of the Club, there have been many announcements, tributes and biographies published in Castanea that provide some perspective about the organization and its important people (Anonymous 1972, 1975, 1985a; Core 1981; Fairey 1983, 1985a, 1985b; Martin 1985; McNeil 1985). Numerous other obituaries and announcements not cited here provide insights about other people influential in the Club's development. Boone's (1965) definitive book on the history of West Virginia botany provides an excellent documentation of botanical work, including the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club and many of its people.
There appears to be disagreement about who first suggested the name Castanea for the journal. Core (1982) attributes the name to A.B. Brooks, while Boone (1965) says that John Sheldon suggested the name. In any case, Castanea was selected as a memorial to the dying chestnut, and the name was first applied to the Journal in April, 1937, A.B. Brooks published an article about Castanea dentata in the journal, and it is here reprinted as a reminder of the nearly lost species for which the Club's journal named.
A complete list of Club officers for the entire fifty-year period as accurately as can now be determined, is presented in Appendix I.
Numerous botanical forays, often in cooperation with other botanical groups, were conducted in the early years. These forays served to further botanical knowledge. Trips were taken to many diverse places such as the Blackwater Falls and Spruce Knob areas of West Virginia, the new Jersey pine barrens, the Highlands area in North Carolina, and the Mountain Lake are in Virginia. Accounts of at least some of these forays were published (Ammons 1940, Bartholomew 1939, Bell 1941, Blomquist 1940, Cain 1937, Core 1937, Gilbert 1939, Kappen 1936, Massey 1939, Small 1937). These foray accounts are worth consulting to gain some of the flavor for the important role that the SABC served and the excitement of botanical discovery. There were at least two forays as late as 1953, a joint trip with the Association of Southeastern Biologist to the North Carolina Coastal Plain (Well 1953) and to Nuttallburg, West Virginia (Core 1953b). In 1986, during the Association of Southeastern Biologist annual meeting, the field trips commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the SABC but were also co-sponsored by two other groups (the Southeastern Section of the Botanical Society of America and the Southeastern Chapter of the Ecological Society of America).
Bartholomew (1953) provides an account of the SABC program that distributed and exchanged herbarium specimens of southeastern plants.
Probably the most significant and important developments in the history of the Club since its founding occurred during the period from 1980-1982. Changing times and circumstances dictated the need for new key people and new approaches to managing the Club and publishing its journal. The Constitution of the Club was rewritten. A new position of Secretary-Treasurer was created, combining the formerly two separate positions. President-Elect and Past-President positions were established to provide continuity in the oversight of Club affairs. The position of managing Editor and an Editorial Committee were created. The journal was streamlined for cost-effective production. For the first time in 45 years, SABC's home was no longer in West Virginia. Its leaders were spread throughout the Southeast, with primary offices in North Carolina. The credit for recognizing the need for many of the changes and for spearheading these changes should go to James F. Matthews of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who was President during 1981-1985. The next President, John Fairey III of Clemson University, helped immensely in solidifying many of the changes and thus ushering in a new era for the Club. (It is most fitting that Fairey was one of Earl Core's last doctoral students.) The internal communications, the minutes of meetings, and the correspondences issued to members in the years since 1980 document the details of recent Club activity, and organized archival materials are now maintained in the Secretary-Treasurer's office.
I have not tried to give detailed recounting of the known and available historical information. I elected to seek additional new insights by inviting several people to author some comments about the early days of the Club. Certainly it seemed appropriate at the conclusion of the first fifty years of the SABC to gather some historical commentary from some of the original botanists active in the Club. I studied the list of Club officers and the first published list of SABC members (Appendix II), and I looked for authors who published in the first few volumes of the journal and original members who were still members of the Club. From these sources and through judicious inquiry, I developed a pool of names of known surviving botanists who I thought might be able to provide some written reflections about the earliest years of the Club. A process involving letter-writing and phone-calling eventually resulted in five people, who were able and willing to submit comments. I asked the contributors to write whatever they thought was appropriate about the botanical climate, the people, their motivations, and the early activities and interest of the botanists before and during the formative years of the SABC. Hopefully, I would get some historical perspective and flavor and some new insights not previously recorded about the people who where originally active in the Club.
The comments of the five charter members are presented in a separate article (Brooks et al 1986). All of the authors except Aaron Sharp lived and primarily worked in West Virginia. Their backgrounds reflect the varied interests and training of early SABC members, ranging from professionally active botanists (Sharp and Frank Gilbert) to amateur (Weldon Boone and H.A. Davis) and eminent professional naturalist (Maurice Books). All have made outstanding botanical contributions.
A PROFILE OF THE MEMBERSHIP
The membership of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club has steadily grown in size over the years. The Club was conceived and organized in 1935, and there were apparently less than 100 members in the original group in 1936, the first year of publication of the Journal (statement in An Invitation to Membership, updated). When a list of members of the Club was published in February, 1937, there were 188 names included (Appendix II). Over one-half of the members were from West Virginia addresses (52%=97 members). There were members from seventeen other states and one foreign country, but no state approached West Virginia's share of the membership. North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia collectively had nearly 28% of the membership (12 to 14 members each). The District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, and Ohio comprised nearly 13% of the membership (four to seven members each). The influence of Earl Core, P.D. Strausburgh and Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew in West Virginia is readily apparent, because the SABC, in 1937, was truly a club of West Virginians, largely comprised of West Virginia amateur and professional botanists. Only four of the charter members of the Club (Nelle Ammons, Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew, Aaron J. Sharp, Ward M. Sharp) were still members in the 50th anniversary year, 1985. Earl Core had passed away in December, 1984. Ward Sharp died in February 1985 and Betty Bartholomew in March 1985. A handful of other charter members are known to be still surviving, but they are no longer members of the Club.
By 1959, the membership was over 300 (statement in An Invitation to Membership, undated). In 1967, Core reported 379 individual members and 165 subscribing institutions. At the end of 1985, the official paid membership stood at 537 members, and there were 224 subscribing institutions. (In mid-1986, there are 558 members, 227 subscribing institutions, six institutions receiving complimentary copies, and 85 exchanges being handled through the West Virginia University library).
Several years ago, as I began to work into my new duties as Secretary-Treasurer of the SABC, I decided that it would be useful to collect and maintain statistical profile information about Club members and their interests. Such information would aid in setting editorial policy and determining the appropriated content f or the Club's journal, Castanea. The dues notice for 1983 solicited information from the then current membership. Also, all new members joining in 1983 or later have completed a membership application form that asks for information about the member. The information is kept in a computer data base.
The statistics presented in the following tables derive from an analysis of membership data current during the mid-1985, the 50th year of the Club's existence. The data included some members who were subsequently dropped from the final 1985 membership roll, but they were maintained for the analyses because profile information had already been obtained for them. There are 562 individual and 230 subscribing institutions represented in the data base.
Of the members for whom data were available, 66% were affiliated with a college or university, 14% were affiliated with some other educational or research institution, 20% reported that they were not affiliated with any organization (Table 1). It is likely that among those for whom no data are available, most are also unaffiliated, because persons usually list an institutional address that can be ascertained. It is probably safe to say that around 60% of SABC members are affiliated with a college or university.
Members of the SABC are located in 37 states and five foreign countries (Table 2). Most are concentrated in the Southeast, but the proportional distribution among the states has changed considerably since 1937. Only 6.5% of the current members are from West Virginia, compared to 52% in 1937. North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee now have the most members (29% of the total membership). There have been other shifts in distribution patterns among the membership since 1937, but the concentration of members is still in the typically Appalachian southeastern states. Only a relatively few members reside outside the Appalachian region.
I determined the number of years that individuals have been members (Table 3). Only 2.1% of current members date from the first decade, 1936-1945. The percentage of members from each decade steadily increases through time, such that nearly 62% of the current members have joined after 1975, the last decade. These date indicate the obvious fact that survivorship decreases with age. But, I think they also indicate either or both of two other factors: a high turnover rate in the membership (compare 21.5% from 1966 to 1975 to 61.6% from 1976 to 1985) and growth in the botanical sciences with increased interest in the kind of botany that the SABC represents (previously cited data show that total membership has constantly increased).
I used the 1985 data base to determine the interest areas of Club members. The summary statistics for 420 respondents who provided their preferential interests are given in Table 4. The largest number of current members are interested in floristics and distribution (39%), followed closely by vascular plant systematics (25%) and community ecology (23%). Members interested in physiological ecology, non-vascular plant systematics and other areas comprise but 14% of the total interests expressed. Topics frequently mentioned in the other category include the following: botanical history, paleobotany, plant conservation, natural heritage, reproductive and species biology, population ecology and genetics, anatomy, pathology, economic botany, and environmental impact studies. Other areas, too numerous to list here, were also mentioned by the members.
The data were examined to determine whether the affiliation of members had any bearing on their interests (Table 5). Among members affiliated with colleges and universities, most (33%) were primarily interested in vascular plant systematics, followed by floristics and distribution and community ecology (27%each). However, nearly one-half (47%) of those affiliated with colleges and universities indicated floristics and distribution as their secondary interest area. The most revealing aspect of these data is the reversal of the interest areas expressed by members unaffiliated with a college or university. Fully 58% of members affiliated with other educational or research institutions and 56% unaffiliated members (assumed to be mostly the amateur segment of the Club) indicated floristics and distribution as the primary interest area. Among the latter two groups, primary interest in vascular plant systematics was expressed by only 15% and 16%, respectively, and interest in community ecology was 22% and 17%, respectively. Community ecology was also the area of greatest secondary interest to those unaffiliated with a college or university. The greatest interest in non-vascular plant systematics was among college and university members.
An examination of Table 6 reveals several trends. First, there has been apparent decline of interest in floristics and distribution, from 53% of the membership in the first decade to 38% in the fifth decade. Second, interest in vascular plant systematics has declined from 35% to 22 % over the same period. Third, interest in community ecology has risen from 6% to 25% over the fifty-year period. Lastly, only the more recently joined members are interested in physiological ecology. These data do not greatly impact the current character of the Club because there are simply more members alive who have joined in recent years than in earlier years.
When changes in affiliation through time are examined (Table 7), there is no clear indication of trends signaling significant changes in affiliation status in the membership ranks.
There were 230 subscribing institutions included in the 1985 data base. Of these, nine were charter institutions. The growth in the number of subscribing institutions is demonstrated by the number at the end of each of the five decades as follows: 1945-23 subscribers, 1955-43 subscribers, 1965-77 subscribers, 1975-163 subscribers, and 1985-230 subscribers. In other words, 29% of the institutions have subscribed only during the decade since 1975, and 34% only during the preceding decade of 1966-1975. Of the total, there are 21 subscribing institutions in seven foreign countries. The domestic distribution of subscribing institutions parallels that of the individual members (Table 8).
The census of the membership in 1983 asked members to indicate whether they found Book Reviews and Notes, regular features of Castanea, to be useful or important. Of 304 members who responded regarding Book Reviews, 82% said they were useful and 18% said they were not. Of 259 members who responded regarding the Notes section of Castanea, 95% said they were useful or important and only 5% said they were not. These data support the continued publication of Book Reviews and short Scientific Notes in Castanea.
PROFILE OF THE JOURNAL
When Earl Core (1945) summarized the botanical work published in Castanea during its first decade, he reported that 211 papers had been published by 95 botanists to total 1,292 pages, an average of slightly over six pages per paper. By comparison, in just the last five years from 1981 to 1985, there were 207 papers 9excluding News and Book Reviews) published in the journal, totaling 1,545 pages and averaging seven and one-half pages per paper. The difference between average paper length would be even greater if not for the restyling of the journal in 1983, to include a smaller typeface, thus decreasing the relative length of individual papers. S, in fifty years, there has been more than a doubling of the number of pages published in Castanea, though the average length of each paper has increased only moderately.
I sought another measure of the changing interests, if any, of SABC members by categorizing the types of papers published in Castanea over the years. For this analysis, I counted and classified all research-type articles three or more pages in length that were published in the journal during each decade. Titles I indexes and table of contents were surveyed and in only a few cases were the full papers examined. Biographies, tributes, foray accounts, book reviews, and similar articles were not included. To adjust for the steady increase in numbers of pages published through time, I calculated the percentage of papers published in each category. Because there are no clear lines of distinction between categories and classification of many papers was often arbitrary, the data provide an admittedly crude estimate of interests. It could also be argued that since short articles and numerous notes were not counted, much of the character of the journal was not included in the survey.
The data are presented in Table 9. Only two definite trends appear to be evident in the data: a steady increase in community ecology papers, from 4.9 % of papers published in 1939-1945 to 20.6% in 1976-1985, and a decline in papers dealing with non-vascular plants, from 13.0% to 4.8%. All other areas seem to have fluctuated up and down but have remained nearly constant in proportion of papers published: floristics and distribution -41%, vascular plant systematics -25%, physiological ecology-5%, other areas-8%. The other category included such areas as botanical history, anatomy and morphology, and development. The proportion of papers published during the period 1976-1985 parallels almost exactly the data reported in Table 4 that show interest areas polled from current membership. The conclusion is that papers are published in Castanea in high positive correlation with the expressed interests of the members.
THE CLUB-FIFTY YEARS LATER
I believe that the data presented in the preceding tables (Tables 4, 5, 6, and 9 on page 256) clearly indicate that the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club and Castanea serve a modern audience mostly in floristics and distribution, much as they did in the earlier years of the Club's existence. Castanea is one of only a very few outlets for publishing research and news about floristics and distribution of plants, particularly in the Southeast. This role of Castanea should not be discounted, but, rather, emphasized. The number of potential new members in the non-college/university pool is vastly greater than the number of potential new members who might be drawn in "academic" systematics than in floristics. If SABC is to continue to grow, the new members will probably have to come from without the colleges and universities. The Club should accommodate the changing secondary interests of its members, but the journal's primary focus should remain in floristics and distribution. Attempts to remake Castanea into a journal emphasizing other primary content, for which several journals already exist, should be resisted. The leaders of SABC must capitalize on the identity of the Club and the role that Castanea fills, selling the attributes and qualities that have been and still are important, without apology to anyone.
The profile of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club presented here portrays and evolving organization but also one that has a distinctive niche in the botanical community. Castanea has become a recognized and respected journal and its importance as a major publishing outlet on the botany and ecology of the Southern Appalachian region and the southeastern United States is increasing. The single unfortunate aspect in this portrayal is the fact that SABC now exists almost exclusively for the purpose of publishing Castanea. Whereas, the early years of the Club saw much peripheral botanical activity involving forays, trips, meetings, specimen exchanges, and other activities that promoted botanical cooperation and understanding, except for the single annual meeting of members, there are no similar activities fifty years later. I believe there should be a modern resurrection of some of the earlier activities, particularly foray-type; but, even more importantly, I think the Club should begin to involve itself in conservation and plant protection projects and other public-service activities that will increase awareness of our botanical heritage and promote preservation efforts. The membership of the SABC, with its special expertise, is in a unique position to perform these services. As the Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary this past year under the able leadership of Past-president William H. Martin III, there were stirrings of interest being expressed in having the Club move in some of these new directions. I am confident that the future of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club will combine the best of the old traditions with new approaches and endeavors to meet the challenges of the second fifty years.
LITERATURE CITED
Ammons, Nelle. 1940. Spring foray of 1940. Castanea 5:107-109.
Anonymous. 1972. A new editor for Castanea. Castanea 37:1.
Anonymous. 1975. Dr. Earl Lemley Core-Botanist. Castanea 40(2):prefix.
Anonymous. 1985a. Earl Lemley Core-1902-1984. Castanea 50:1-6.
Anonymous. 1985b. Elizabeth Ann Batholomew-1912-1985. Castanea 50:125-127.
Bartholomew, Elizabeth Ann. 1939. Spring foray in the Alleghenies of West Virginia. Castanea 4:131-132.
Bartholomew, Elizabeth Ann. 1953. The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club in 1953. II. Distribution of herbarium specimens
of southeastern plants. Asa Gray Bull., n.s. 2:200-201.
Bartholomew, Elizabeth Ann. 1985. Earl L. Core, a remembrance. Castanea 50:64-66.
Bell, Frank H. 1941. Joint foray in the Alleghenies. Castanea 6:142-144.
Blauch, Doyle S., Violet S. Phillips, William Gillespie, and John R, Gibson. 1985. "Betty". Castanea 50:130-132.
Blomquist, H.L. 1940. Foray of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club at Highlands, N.C. Castanea 5:110.
Boone, Weldon. 1965. History of botany in West Virginia. McCain Printing Co., Parsons, West Virginia. 196 p.
Brooks, A.B. 1937. Castanea dentata. Castanea 2:61-67.
Brooks, Maurice G., Weldon Boone, Frank Gilbert, H.A. Davis, and Aaron J. Sharp. 1986. Southern Appalachian Botany-Some
Historical Reflection. Castanea 51:233-238.
Brown, Melvin L. 1985. Recollections and reflections of the man, Earl L. Core. Castanea 50:70.
Cain, Stanley A. 1937. Botanical trips in connection with the Appalachian Trail Conference. Castanea 2:93-97.
Cooperrider, Tom S. 1985. Earl L. Core: a recollection and note of appreciation. Castanea 50:67-68.
Core, Earl L. 1936. Forward. The Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club 1:1-2.
Core, Earl L. 1937. Spring foray to Blackwater Falls and Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Castanea 2:87-88.
Core, Earl L. 1945. The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club, past and future. Castanea 10:119-120.
Core, Earl L. 1953a. The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club in 1953. I. History of the Club and its journal, Castanea.
Asa Gray Bull., n.s. 2:199.
Core, Earl L. 1953b. The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club in 1953. IV. The spring Foray at Nuttallburg, West Virginia.
Asa Gray Bull., n.s. 2:207-208.
Core, Earl L. 1967. The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club: a history. Castanea index to Vols. 1-30: prefix.
Core, Earl L. 1982. Southern Appalachian Botanical Club: a history. Castanea Index to Vols. 31-45:3-6
Fairey, John E., III. 1983. Jesse F. Clovis-a tribute. Castanea 48:59-61.
Fairey, John E., III. 1985a. Earl L. Core, reflections on the man. Castanea 50:61-63.
Fairey, John E., III. 1985b. Reflections on my associations with Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew. Castanea 50:128-129.
Gilbert, Frank A. 1939. Spring foray in Kentucky. Castanea. 4:132-133.
Knappen, Nellie Cross. 1936. Foray of the Southern Appalachian and Torrey Botanical Clubs. Castanea. 1:85-88.
Martin, William H., III. 1985. Our 50th anniversary...a message from the president. Castanea. 50:205.
Massey, A. B. 1939. Botanical conference and foray at Mountain Lake and vicinity. Castanea. 4:136-137.
McNeil, E. Meade. 1985. Earl L. Core. Castanea 50:69.
Small, John A. 1937. Joint trip of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club and the Torrey Botanical Club in southern
New Jersey. Castanea 2:88-93.
Wells, B.W. 1953. The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club in 1953. III. Foray into the North Carolina Coastal Plain,
April 18-19, 1953. Asa Gray Bull., n.s. 2:201-207.
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