Women of Science : Working Women of CMNH's Botany Hall

Dorothy E.L. Pearth, Associate Curator of Botany

       Dorothy Evelyn Long Pearth, Associate Curator of Botany Hall from 1940s to 1978, spent her childhood in Coles Summit, Pennsylvania. According to her obituary, Pearth was described as artistic, musical, and detail oriented. She attended Felix Mahoney School of Fine and Applied Arts in Washington D.C. then later received her Bachelor degree in Botany. During this period, Pearth also attended art classes at Carnegie Mellon University.
       Dorothy Pearth began at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History during the 1940s as the assistant to Dr. Maurice Graham Netting, the director of the Natural History Museum during this period. Shortly after, Pearth transferred to the department of Botany as Associate Curator of Botany until her retirement in 1978.
       During her time at the National History Museum, Dorothy Pearth contributed several articles to the Carnegie Magazine, like “A Christmas Rose” (1958), “Carnegiea Gigantea” (1965), and “Dawn Redwood- A Living Fossil” (1970). Pearth takes a more scientific approach to botanical publications compared to those published by others in her department, predominantly focusing on the ways in which botany interacts with human life with articles like “Benjamin Franklin: Money and Flowers” written by George H.M. Lawrence. Her piece “Christmas Rose” explains plant characteristics and family as well as the 

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