Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton records

Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton (1858–1934) was a bryologist, educator, and one of the founding leaders of the New York Botanical Garden. Born Elizabeth Gertrude Knight in New York City on January 9, 1858, she was the first of five daughters of James and Sophie Anne (Compton) Knight. She spent part of her early childhood on her grandfather's sugar plantation in Matanzas, Cuba, where she learned Spanish. She graduated from the Normal School (now Hunter College) in 1875 and taught there until 1885.

In 1879, Elizabeth Knight joined the Torrey Botanical Club, published her first paper in the club's bulletin in 1883, served as Curator of Mosses (1884–85), and as editor of the bulletin (1886–88). She was also affiliated with Columbia College as an unofficial curator of its moss herbarium, where she mentored doctoral students and played a key role in acquiring the collection of Swiss bryologist August Jaeger.

On August 27, 1885, Knight married Nathaniel Lord Britton, and together they went on numerous botanical expeditions to tropical islands, collecting plants in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Cuba, Jamaica, and Trinidad. In 1888, the Brittons traveled to England to examine Henry Hurd Rusby’s Bolivian collection at the Kew Botanic Garden. During this trip, Elizabeth Britton is credited with suggesting that New York should have its own botanical garden. Upon their return, she and her husband worked with the Torrey Botanical Club to establish one in the city. Mrs. Britton was instrumental in fundraising efforts during the 1890s, which led to the creation of the New York Botanical Garden.

In 1906, when the NYBG acquired the William Mitten Moss Herbarium, Britton dedicated years to reorganizing and integrating it into the collection, and in 1912, she became Honorary Curator of Mosses. By the early 20th century, her work increasingly focused on wildflower conservation, leading public awareness campaigns and co-founding The Wild Flower Preservation Society of America in 1902. Over the course of her career, she wrote 346 papers – 170 of which focused on mosses, with many more on ferns and wildflower preservation. Her research significantly expanded knowledge of Antillean mosses, establishing her as a foremost authority in bryology.

Elizabeth Britton died on February 25, 1934, leaving a lasting impact through her contributions to botanical literature, the establishment of a leading botanical institution, and her efforts in native plant conservation in the United States.