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| | fields = Botany | | fields = Botany | ||
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| | alma_mater = ] (B.A. |
| alma_mater = ] (B.A.)<br/>] (M.S., Ph.D.) | ||
| | thesis_title = | | thesis_title = | ||
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| ==Early life and education== | ==Early life and education== | ||
| Harold David Harrington was born on March 14, 1903 in ]. He moved with his family from De Motte to ], in 1909 and then to ], in 1911. Harrington would remain in Graettinger for most of his childhood, growing up on a farm there with seven siblings.<ref name=Flora>{{cite book|title=Flora of Colorado|edition= |
Harold David Harrington was born on March 14, 1903 in ]. He moved with his family from De Motte to ], in 1909 and then to ], in 1911. Harrington would remain in Graettinger for most of his childhood, growing up on a farm there with seven siblings.<ref name=Flora>{{cite book|title=Flora of Colorado|edition=1st|first=Jennifer|last=Ackerfield|date=2015|page=4–5|isbn=9781889878898|publisher=BRIT Press}}</ref> | ||
| Due to financial strains spurred by the ], Harold and his older brother Elbert alternated years in college so that one could work while the other was in school. Harrington completed two years of college before returning to Graettinger a a high school teacher. He would also coach the school's basketball and football teams.<ref name=Flora/> | Due to financial strains spurred by the ], Harold and his older brother Elbert alternated years in college so that one could work while the other was in school. Harrington completed two years of college before returning to Graettinger a a high school teacher. He would also coach the school's basketball and football teams.<ref name=Flora/> | ||
| Harrington completed his ] in biology in 1927 at ]. At the ] | |||
| ==Career== | ==Career== | ||
| In 1954, Harrington's ''Manual of the Plants of Colorado'' was published after years of research.<ref name=CSU>{{cite web|url=https://www.biology.colostate.edu/cns-announcement/former-herbarium-curator-harringtons-legacy/|title=Harold Harrington's Legacy as Curator of the Colorado State University Herbarium|first=Jennifer|last=Ackerfield|website=biology.colostate.edu|publisher=]|access-date=December 9, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240624002702/https://www.biology.colostate.edu/cns-announcement/former-herbarium-curator-harringtons-legacy/|archive-date=June 24, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> | In 1954, Harrington's ''Manual of the Plants of Colorado'' was published after years of research.<ref name=CSU>{{cite web|url=https://www.biology.colostate.edu/cns-announcement/former-herbarium-curator-harringtons-legacy/|title=Harold Harrington's Legacy as Curator of the Colorado State University Herbarium|first=Jennifer|last=Ackerfield|date=January 28, 2022|website=biology.colostate.edu|publisher=]|access-date=December 9, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240624002702/https://www.biology.colostate.edu/cns-announcement/former-herbarium-curator-harringtons-legacy/|archive-date=June 24, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> This was the first comprehensive account of the state's flora of since the 1906 ''Flora of Colorado'' by Axel Rydberg.<ref name=Wilken/> Harrington's book remains an authoritative text on Colorado's flora and one in 30 of its entries were the first time a plant was recorded in the state. In order to make the text affordable to students, the book was self-published. Edith, who aided in collecting specimens and preparing her husband's publications, hand-typed the 1954 book and called it "her small way" of helping.<ref name=Flora/> | ||
| During trips to collect specimens with students, he would play the ] at the campfire after the day's work. He could also play the ] and ], the latter he had taught himself while in college and had played to supplement his income while in school.<ref name=Flora/> | During trips to collect specimens with students, he would play the ] at the campfire after the day's work. He could also play the ] and ], the latter he had taught himself while in college and had played to supplement his income while in school.<ref name=Flora/> | ||
Revision as of 20:23, 26 December 2024
American botanist (1903 - 1981)| Harold David Harrington | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 14, 1903 Graettinger, Iowa |
| Died | January 22, 1981(1981-01-22) (aged 77) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Iowa State Teachers College (B.A.) University of Northern Iowa (M.S., Ph.D.) |
| Spouse | Edith Jirsa |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Colorado State University |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | H.D.Harr. |
Harold David Harrington (1903 - 1981) was an American botanist who specialized in flora of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. He worked on the faculty of Colorado State University (CSU) and collected over 10,000 botanical specimens from across the state. His 1954 book, Manual of the Plants of Colorado, the first comprehensive coverage of Colorado's flora in nearly 50 years that remains an authoritative work. With his wife and fellow botanist Edith, he traveled around the United States, Europe, and Pacific, bringing back photographs for use in teaching. He published 17 books while at CSU, where the majority of his collection of specimen's are kept as part of the university's herbarium that he had previously curated.
He is the namesake of two species of flowering plants endemic to Colorado: Oenothera harringtonii and Penstemon harringtonii. In the case of P. harringtonii, Harrington was credited with the first collection of the species when it was first described.
Early life and education
Harold David Harrington was born on March 14, 1903 in De Motte, Indiana. He moved with his family from De Motte to Mitchell, South Dakota, in 1909 and then to Graettinger, Iowa, in 1911. Harrington would remain in Graettinger for most of his childhood, growing up on a farm there with seven siblings.
Due to financial strains spurred by the Great Depression, Harold and his older brother Elbert alternated years in college so that one could work while the other was in school. Harrington completed two years of college before returning to Graettinger a a high school teacher. He would also coach the school's basketball and football teams.
Harrington completed his B.A. in biology in 1927 at Iowa State Teachers College. At the University of Northern Iowa
Career
In 1954, Harrington's Manual of the Plants of Colorado was published after years of research. This was the first comprehensive account of the state's flora of since the 1906 Flora of Colorado by Axel Rydberg. Harrington's book remains an authoritative text on Colorado's flora and one in 30 of its entries were the first time a plant was recorded in the state. In order to make the text affordable to students, the book was self-published. Edith, who aided in collecting specimens and preparing her husband's publications, hand-typed the 1954 book and called it "her small way" of helping.
During trips to collect specimens with students, he would play the ukulele at the campfire after the day's work. He could also play the Spanish guitar and violin, the latter he had taught himself while in college and had played to supplement his income while in school.
Later life and death
In 1968, Harrington retired as professor emeritus. He continued writing on botany and included a work of his poetry in the introduction of his book How to Identify Grasses and Grasslike Plants in 1977.
He and his wife performed a final round trip through the Colorado Rockies during the summer of 1980. Harold Harrington died on January 22, 1981.
Legacy
Two species of flowering plants endemic to Colorado are named for Harrington: Oenothera harringtonii and Penstemon harringtonii. In the case of P. harringtonii, Harrington was credited with the first collection of the species when it was first described by C. William T. Penland in 1958. Penland pointed to a specimen Harrington collected in Routt County, Colorado, on June 7, 1951, as the first of two collections of the species that month.
In 1991, botanist James L. Reveal identified Harrington as part of a tradition of botanists collecting specimens in the Colorado Rockies from Thomas Say and Edwin James on Long's Expedition of 1820 through to William Alfred Weber that saw the region's close as a "botanical frontier".
Selected bibliography
References
- ^ Ackerfield, Jennifer (2015). Flora of Colorado (1st ed.). BRIT Press. p. 4–5. ISBN 9781889878898.
- ^ Ackerfield, Jennifer (January 28, 2022). "Harold Harrington's Legacy as Curator of the Colorado State University Herbarium". biology.colostate.edu. Colorado State University. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
- ^ Wilken, Dieter H. (1982). "In Memoriam: Harold D. Harrington (1903-1981)". Brittonia. 34 (1): 11. JSTOR 2806392.
- "Deaths". Taxon. 31 (3): 613. August 1982. JSTOR 1220711.
- Ladyman, Jaunita A. R. (February 1, 2005). "Oenothera harringtonii Wagner, Stockhouse & Klein (Colorado Springs evening-primrose): A Technical Conservation Assessment" (PDF). Species Conservation Project. Centennial, CO: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Center for Plant Conservation. pp. 11–12.
- Penland, C. William T. (January 1958). "Two new species of Penstemon in Colorado". Madroño. 14 (5): 154. JSTOR 41422929.
- Reveal, James L. "Botanical Explorations in the American West-1889-1989: An Essay on the Last Century of a Floristic Frontier". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 78 (1): 71. doi:10.2307/2399591. JSTOR 2399591.
Category:1903 births Category:1981 deaths Category:People from Palo Alto County, Iowa Category:Colorado State University faculty