Mary Agnes Chase - Correspondence from Brazil Trip, 1929

In 1929 and 1930, while the United States was going through a dramatic change in its economy, botanist Mary Agnes Chase was working in Brazil. Corresponding with Albert Spear Hitchcock, Chase's letters discuss her collecting efforts and the circumstances surrounding her work at various sites, from the specimens she sent to the USDA to the everyday details of living in a foreign country. She details two major collecting trips in the country: Serra da Mar, Caparaó and the vicinity of Campo Grande plus collecting at other sites. Join us in transcribing this correspondence and learn more about her work in the late 1920's. Mary Agnes Chase (1869-1963) began working for the USDA as a botanical artist in 1903 and eventually retired as a senior botanist in 1939. She was a leading grass specialist of the time, as well as an active participant in social and political causes including the woman’s suffrage movement – involvement that nearly cost Chase her job. As a female scientist, she overcame many barriers through her work.