JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH TILDEN(1869-1957)

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• JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH TILDEN(1869-1957)
• born in Davenport,Iowa in 1869 and she was the
  youngest of five children and only girl in her
  family
• She lived in an era when it was rare for woman to
  obtain degrees and become university professors
  as she did at the university of Minnesota.
• In her first course in botany with Professor
  Conway Macmillan,she became interested in algae
• she began collecting and identifying the local
  species and as undergraduate,published five
  papers on the flora
• 1895 she received her B.S.degree
• then she asked to join the faculty at the
  Minnesota ,she was working on the algae of the
  pacific (became the first woman faculty member at
  the university of Minnesota

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JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH TILDEN(1869-1957)

• Primary Contributions of J.E.Tilden
• 1-wrote the first American textbook on
  phycology The algae and their Life
  Relations(1935
• 2-Established The Minnesota Seaside Station on
  Vacouver Island with C. MacMillan(1901)
• 3-Produced 2 algal exsiccate American Algae and
  South pacific Algae
• 4-Prepared and distributed a comprehensive
  bibliographic card index on algae Index Alagrum
  Universalis
• 5-Wrote the first American taxonomic guide to
  blugreen algae The Myxophyceae of North American
  and Adjacent Regions(1901)

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JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH TILDEN(1869-1957)

• In 1934-35 Tilden made her last trip to south
  pacific.With 10 graduate students for collecting
  and studying both algae and vascular plants each
  students 1000 and she paid 2000.
• They went east around the world to Europe,across
  the Mediterranean Sea,and through the Suez
  Canal,Red Sea,and Indian Ocean to Australia
• then their money began to run short,she wired the
  university and borrowed the several thousand
  dollars required to complete the trip (hoped that
  the sales of the new exsiccate would be more than
  reimburse the university for their loan).
• University were offended by Tildens wire for
  money ,on return she was asked to retire in years
  and told that after that time she would no longer
  have space at the university!!

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JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH TILDEN(1869-1957)

• Shocked by the decision quickly completed The
  algae and their Life Relations(1935),a text book
  she had begun before
• she retired in 1937,and in 1938 she moved to,Lake
  Wales, Florida where she founded the Golden Bough
  Community,a colony of retired professors that
  grew citrus communally.

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JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH TILDEN(1869-1957)

• Financial difficulties had been her downfall
  twice before ,and they afflicted her during
  retirement,desperately poor .Tilden died in
  1957.
• She was an amazing energetic and productive
  phycologist and well-loved teacher,
• she produced over 50 scientific articles,3
  books,2major exsiccates,and a bibliographic card
  index on the world literature in her field.6
  ph.D. and numerous M.S.Students completed their
  degrees with her.