Henry A. Gleason papers

Henry Allan Gleason (1882-1975) was associated with the New York Botanical Garden for 32 years from 1918-1950. During this time he served as curator, head curator, assistant director and acting director of the New York Botanical Garden for 19 months between 1936 and 1938. He was editor of the Garden Journal, Addisonia, and the Bulletin. In 1933 he began and co-edited Phytologia with Henry Moldenke. He edited revised and expanded editions of North American Flora and Plants in the Vicinity of New York.

A taxonomist and ecologist, Dr. Gleason was responsible for the development of the South American collections at the New York Botanical Garden. His specialty was the Melastomacea.

Gleason was born in Dalton City, IL on Jan. 2, 1882. He began his studies in botany at the age of 13 and published his first contribution in "The American Naturalist" while still in high school. He received his BS and MA from the University of Illinois. After a year as a fellow at the University of Ohio and a summer as the invertebrate zoologist on a survey of Isle Royale sponsored by the University of Michigan, Gleason began his studies in taxonomy under Nathaniel Lord Britton at Columbia University, graduating with a PhD. in 1906.

After teaching at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan, Dr. Gleason studied tropical vegetation for one year , travelling to the Philippines, Java and Ceylon.

In 1918 he delivered a lecture on his findings to the Torrey Botanical Club. Following that talk, Nathaniel Lord Britton offered Gleason a permanent position at the New York Botanical Garden.

Dr. Gleason was responsible for over 235 contributions to the field of vascular botany. One of the first ecologists, he considered his idea that the "combination of morphological and geographical evidence can be of greatest service in developing the phylogeny and history of a group of plants" to be his primary theoretical contribution. He is identified with the individualistic concept of plant association which has been a strong influence on both ecological and geographical studies of vegetation.

When the American Museum of Natural History sent the first expedition to explore Mt. Duida in Venezuela, the zoologist G.H.H. Tate collected botanical material for Gleason which resulted in hundreds of species descriptions.

He married one of his students at the University of Michigan, the former Eleanor Theodolinda (Thea) Mattei in 1915. They had three children, Henry Allan, Jr., a linguist at the University of Ontario, Anne and Andrew Mattei.

Gleason retired from the NYBG in December, 1950. During his retirement, Dr. Gleason wrote an autobiography, "The Short and Simple Annals of Henry A. Gleason" and a volume of "Thumbnail Sketches of Botanists", a reference copy of which is shelved in the Library. He died on April 12, 1975.