Alice Albertson Shurrocks

Alice Albertson Shurrocks (née Alice Owen Albertson February 10, 1880 – January 13, 1967) was an American botanist.

Alice Albertson Shurrocks
Born
Alice Owen Albertson

(1880-02-10)February 10, 1880
DiedJanuary 13, 1967(1967-01-13) (aged 86)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBotanist

Background

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Shurrocks was a cousin of Maria Mitchell, a professional astronomer and naturalist, and she spent several decades collecting and contributing local Native American artefacts to the Natural Science Department of the Maria Mitchell Association.[1] Shurrocks married the architect Alfred F. Shurrocks in 1929. Shurrocks and her husband collected roughly 1,000 Native Wampanoag arrowheads, spear points, pottery sherds, and other items in the 1930s and donated these to Nantucket Historical Association in 1940.[2] Shurrocks kept journals to detail where and when the item was found, its condition and the type of artefact. This collection is particularly important as it shows the range of indigenous activity on Nantucket prior to English settlement.

Shurrocks also collected botanical samples, particularly lichens, many of which are now held in the Harvard University Herbaria.[3]

Shurrocks wrote a memoir titled "Two Steps Down" published in 1953,[4] followed by "A Grain of Mustard Seed" in 1958, which documents the flora of Nantucket.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "VESTAL STREET NEIGHBORHOOD" (PDF). Nantucket Preservation Trust. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Nantucket Historical Association - Record details". nantuckethistory.org. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  3. ^ Shurrocks, Alice Albertson. "Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries". kiki.huh.harvard.edu. Harvard University. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  4. ^ Shurrocks, Alice Albertson (1953). Two steps down: A grown-up takes two steps down to her Quaker childhood in the famous house, birthplace of Maria Mitchell (1 ed.). Inquirer and Mirror Press. p. 75.
  5. ^ Shurrocks, Alice Albertson (1958). A Grain of Mustard Seed. New Bedford, MA, Reynolds-Dewal. p. 245.