Ruth BANCROFT, (b. 1908), The Ruth Bancroft
Garden in Walnut Creek, California: Creation in 1971, and Conservation.
1993, 149 pp.
Interviews with the owner-designer of a four-acre dry garden in Walnut Creek,
California, the Ruth Bancroft Garden, the first garden designated under The
Garden Conservancy.
N. Floy BRACELIN, The Ynes Mexia Botanical
Collections. 1982, 25 pp.
An interview with N. Floy Bracelin on the Mexia botanical collection and
on Mrs. Mexia's Mexican and South American expeditions. Interview conducted
by botanist Annetta Carter.
Lincoln CONSTANCE, (b. 1909), Versatile
Berkeley Botanist: Plant Taxonomy and University Governance.
1987, 362 pp.
Dean and botanist discusses research in the biosystematics of umbelliferae;
recollections of colleagues and graduate students.
Toichi DOMOTO, (b. 1902), A Japanese-American
Nurseryman's Life in California: Floriculture and Family, 1883-1992.
1993, 360 pp.
Life story of eminent nurseryman, tree, shrub, and flower breeder, bonsai
practitioner; family, education, experience of racial discrimination; membership
in California nursery and horticultural groups.
John W. GREGG, (1880-1969), Landscape Architect.
1965, 182 pp.
First head of the Department of Landscape Architecture at UC Berkeley, professor
from 1913-1946, talks about the relationship of landscape design to architecture
in the early days of the profession.
Gerda ISENBERG, (b. 1901), California Native
Plants Nurseywoman, Civil Rights Activist, and Humanitarian.
1991, 150 pp.
History, through interviews with owner-founder, of Yerba Buena Nursery, a
California native plant and exotic fern nursery in Woodside, California.
Adele LAWYER, (b. 1918) and Lewis (b. 1907), Lawyers,
Inc: Partners in Plant Pathology, Horticulture, and Marriage.
1990, 273 pp.
Husband and wife plant pathologists discuss research work for Del Monte Corp.;
developments in fruit and vegetable varieties; breeding Pacific Coast native
iris.
Watson "Mac" LAETSCH, Botanist, UC Berkeley Administrator and Fundraiser, Partner in
International Development. 2012, 331 pp.
June McCASKILL, (b. 1930), Herbarium Scientist,
University of California, Davis. 1989, 83 pp.
Discussion of curatorial functions, and public service role, of the UC Davis
Herbarium, 1935-1988.
F. Owen PEARCE, (1897-1994), California
Garden Societies and Horticultural Publications, 1947-1990.
1990, 86 pp.
Founding of Strybing Arboretum Society; editing California Horticultural
Journal ; membership in garden organizations, and memoirs of plantsmen.
Interviews conducted by Adele and Lewis Lawyer.
Wayne RODERICK, (b. 1920), California Native
Plantsman: UC Botanical Garden, Tilden Botanic Garden.
1991, 166 pp.
Family history and career of lifelong gardener, nurseryman; head of California
section, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, 1960-1976; head, East Bay Regional
Parks Botanic Garden, 1976-1983.
Lurline Matson ROTH, (1890-1985), Matson
and Roth Family History; A Love of Ships, Horses, and Gardens.
1982, 271 pp.
History through interviews of landmark estate, "Filoli," house and gardens
in Woodside California; Matson family history. Includes interview with horticulturist
Toichi Domoto.
Geraldine Knight SCOTT, (1904-1989), A Woman
in Landscape Architecture in California, 1926-1989. 1990,
235 pp.
Distinguished practitioner's personal statement of her education and career
choices; private practice for over thirty years, clients and convictions;
lecturing in UC Berkeley's Department of Landscape Architecture.
George W. WATERS, English garden history, western gardening, and creating and editing Pacific horticulture. 2000, 228pp.
A. E. Wieslander (1890-1992), California Forester: Mapper of Wildland Vegetation and Soils. 1985, 316 pp. Forestry management, education; soil and vegetation studies, mapping; native
plants, and manzanita specimen plantings; history of East Bay Regional Parks
Botanic Garden.
Wieslander Vegetation Type Maps and Photographs in the Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library
Multi-interview Volumes
BLAKE ESTATE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT. 1988, 582 pp.
Interviews with family members, architects and landscape architects, gardeners,
staff, and two presidents of the University of California to document the
history of Blake House, since 1967 the University's presidential residence,
and the Blake Garden, a ten-acre horticultural mecca utilized as a teaching
facility. Interviews with Mai Arbegast, Igor Blake, Ron and Myra Brocchini, Toichi
Domoto, Elliot and Elizabeth Evans, Anthony Hail, Linda Haymaker, Charles
Hitch, Florence Holmes, Clark and Catherine Kerr, Janice Kittredge, Geraldine
Knight Scott, Louis Stein, George and Helena Thacher, Walter Vodden, and
Norma Willer.
CALIFORNIA WOMEN IN BOTANY. 1987, 177 pp.
Interviews with botanist Annetta Carter on the UC Berkeley Herbarium, 1930s
to 1980s; Mary DeDecker, botanist and conservationist, on the desert flora
of the Owens Valley region; Elizabeth McClintock, botanist, on the California
Academy of Sciences Herbarium, collecting and interpretation, and conservation
of rare native species of the San Francisco Bay Area.
THOMAS D. CHURCH, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. Two volumes, 1978, 800
pp.
A study of Thomas Dolliver Church (1902-1978), landscape architect, through
interviews with colleagues in architecture and landscape architecture, staff,
clients and friends, landscape contractors and nurserymen, and with Elizabeth
Roberts Church.
Volume I: Interviews with Theodore Bernardi, Lucy
Butler, June Meehan Campbell, Louis DeMonte, Walter Doty, Donn Emmons, Floyd
Gerow, Harriet Henderson, Joseph Howland, Ruth Jaffe, Burton Litton, Germano
Milono, Miriam Pierce, George Rockrise, Robert Royston, Geraldine Knight
Scott, Roger Sturtevant, Francis Violich, and Harold Watkin.
Volume II: Interviews with Maggie Baylis, Elizabeth Roberts Church,
Robert Glasner, Grace Hall, Lawrence Halprin, Proctor Mellquist,
Everitt Miller, Harry Sanders, Lou Schenone, Jack Stafford, Goodwin
Steinberg, and Jack Wagstaff.
LESTER ROWNTREE, CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT WOMAN. 1979, 344 pp.
Memoir about Lester Rowntree (1878-1979), horticulturist, naturalist, and
seed collector. Interviews with horticulturists, botanists, and family members:
Margaret Campbell, Skee Hamann, Heidi Rowntree Melas, Robert Ornduff, James
Roof, Cedric Rowntree, Harriette Rowntree, Lester Rowntree, Lester Bradford
Rowntree, Nancy Rowntree, Rowan Rowntree, and Jo Stallard.
Volunteer Interviews
Interviews conducted by volunteer oral historian Mary Mead with
the following five individuals relating to various periods and issues
in the history of the California Native Plant Society are available
for study in The Bancroft Library:
Joyce E. BURR, (b. 1912), Memories of Years
Preceding and During the Formation of the California Native Plant
Society, 1947-1966, 1992, x, 120 pp. Botanic Garden site
controversy, James Roof, William Penn Mott, Jr.; CNPS founding;
G. Ledyard Stebbins, Alice Howard, Susan Frug‚, Mary Wohlers;
Huckleberry Trail, Citizens of Urban Wilderness Areas.
Jenny FLEMING, (b. 1924), Memories of the
California Native Plant Society During and After Its Formation,
1955-Present, 1993, x, 108 pp. Personal interest in conservation,
landscaping with native plants; CNPS plant sale, fund-raising;
Bay Chapter since 1976; Tilden Botanic Garden Volunteers, Rare
Plant Project; Sierra Club, US Forest Service.
G. Ledyard STEBBINS, (b. 1906), The Life
and Work of George Ledyard Stebbins, Jr., 1993, vi, 145 pp. Developmental genetics, research in perennial grasses, Davis
herbarium; CNPS Sacramento Chapter, and state presidency: Rare
Plant Project, field trips, coordinating council, members; endangered
species, North Coast-Central Valley Bio-Diversity Transect; Botanical
Society, Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum, Botanical Congresses.
Leonora H. STROHMAIER, (b. 1911), Memories
of Years Preceding and During the Formation of the California
Native Plant Society, 1955-1973, 1992, ix, 83 pp. Ph.D.
in plant physiology, work in food technology; marriage to Erwin
Strohmaier; role of Berkeley Garden Club and Regional Parks Association
in creation of CNPS, and CNPS early years.
Myrtle R. WOLF, (b. 1904), Memories of
Early Years and Development of the California Native Plant Society,
1966-1991, 1991, x, 92 pp. CNPS founding, and crises of
fires, freezes; East Bay Regional Parks District; Tilden Botanic
Garden; UC Berkeley Department of Botany, and Botanic Garden;
James Roof, Wayne Roderick, other CNPS members.
