Jeanne R. Janish papers

Jeanne R. Janish was born on October 20th 1902, in Iowa. As a youngster she spent summers with her grandparents in Minnehaha above Manitou, Colorado where she became acquainted with Dr. Frederick and Edith Clements who were working in the "Alpine Laboratory" of the University of Minnesota's Botany Department. There she learned the scientific names of many plants of the Rocky Mt. Region.

She attended Vassar College as a Latin major and graduated in 1924. She took a masters degree in Geology at Stanford where she was asked by her Paleontology professor, Dr. James Perrin Smith, to illustrate his monograph on Permian Ammonites of Timor. This was the catalyst for her career in botanical illustration.

In early 1929 she went to China with her cousin, to become a rug designer with a rug company in Peking. There she met her husband Carl, who after serving in the marines stayed on in Peking to work at the New York Times. They married and stayed there until 1934. Upon their return to the States, they chose to move to Nevada, where Carl, an expert engineer, found building opportunities and Jeanne could continue her drawing.

From 1927-1974 Janish prepared illustrations for thirty-two major books plus many short papers, articles and booklets.