Helen Ashurst Choate

Helen Ashurst Choate
Helen Ashurst Choate, from the 1904 yearbook of Smith College
Born(1882-08-29)August 29, 1882
Irvington, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 12, 1957(1957-12-12) (aged 75)
Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Other namesHelen Ashhurst Choate
OccupationsBotanist, plant physiologist, college professor
RelativesJames Morris Whiton (uncle)

Helen Ashurst Choate (August 29, 1882 – December 12, 1957) was an American plant physiologist and historian of science who taught botany at Smith College from 1909 to 1947. (Her middle name is spelled "Ashhurst" in many records, but Smith College Archives uses the one-h spelling.)

Early life and education

Choate was born in Irvington, New York, the daughter of Washington Choate and Grace Richards Whiton Choate.[1] Her father was an ordained Presbyterian minister.[2] Linguist and educator James Morris Whiton was her uncle.[3]

She graduated from Smith College in 1904, and earned a master's degree there in 1909, working with William Francis Ganong. She completed a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1920,[4] with a dissertation titled "Chemical Changes in Wheat During Germination" (1921).[5][6] She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[1]

Career

Choate taught at Greenwich Academy after college. She taught botany at Smith College from 1909[7] until she retired in 1947, and was department head for several years.[1] She was a member of Sigma Xi, Sigma Delta Epsilon, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the History of Science Society, and the Botanical Society of America.[4]

Publications

Choate's work was published in scholarly journals including The Plant World, School Science and Mathematics, Torreya, Botanical Gazette, American Journal of Botany, and Science.

  • "The Origin and Development of the Binomial System of Nomenclature" (1912)[8]
  • "A Standardization of Floral Diagrams for Educational Use" (1914)[9]
  • "An Unpublished Letter by Gronovius" (1916)[10]
  • "The Earliest Glossary of Botanical Terms: Fuchs 1542" (1917)[11]
  • "Chemical Changes in Wheat During Germination" (1921)[12]
  • "Dormancy and Germination in Seeds of Echinocystis lobata" (1940)[13]
  • "William Francis Ganong 1864-1941" (1941, with Frances Grace Smith)[14]

Personal life

Choate lived with her older sister Miriam Choate Hobart in their later years. Choate died in 1957, at the age of 75, at a hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts.[15] Smith College Archives holds a box of her papers.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Helen Ashurst Choate Papers, Smith College Archives.
  2. ^ "Mrs. Newton B. Hobart". The Morning Union. 1962-09-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Whiton, Augustus Sherrill (1932). The Whiton family in America, the genealogy of the descendents [sic] of Thomas Whiton (1635). Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. [New London, Conn.] Whiton family Association. p. 188.
  4. ^ a b "Misses Billings and Choate of Smith Faculty to Retire; Veteran Physics and Botany Savants". The Republican. 1947-06-14. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Hull, Callie (1920). "Doctorates Conferred in the Sciences by American Universities in 1920". Science. 52 (1351): 478–483. ISSN 0036-8075.
  6. ^ Choate, Helen Ashhurst (1921). Chemical Changes in Wheat During Germination. University of Chicago.
  7. ^ "Closing Exercises at Smith". Boston Evening Transcript. 1909-06-16. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Choate, Helen A. (1912). "The Origin and Development of the Binomial System of Nomenclature". The Plant World. 15 (11): 257–263. ISSN 0096-8307.
  9. ^ Choate, Helen A. "A Standardization of Floral Diagrams for Educational Use" School Science and Mathematics 14, no. 2 (1914): 135-142.
  10. ^ Choate, Helen A. (1916). "An Unpublished Letter by Gronovius". Torreya. 16 (5): 116–120. ISSN 0096-3844.
  11. ^ Choate, Helen A. (1917). "The Earliest Glossary of Botanical Terms; Fuchs 1542". Torreya. 17 (11): 186–201. ISSN 0096-3844.
  12. ^ Choate, Helen A. (June 1921). "Chemical Changes in Wheat During Germination". Botanical Gazette. 71 (6): 409–425. doi:10.1086/332863. ISSN 0006-8071.
  13. ^ Choate, Helen A. (1940). "Dormancy and Germination in Seeds of Echinocystis lobata". American Journal of Botany. 27 (3): 156–160. doi:10.2307/2436478. ISSN 0002-9122.
  14. ^ Smith, Frances Grace; Choate, Helen A. (1941-10-03). "William Francis Ganong 1864-1941". Science. 94 (2440): 317–318. doi:10.1126/science.94.2440.317. ISSN 0036-8075.
  15. ^ "Retired Professor at Smith is Dead". The Republican. 1957-12-13. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
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