The Botanist Who Fell for Her Doctor: Florence Meier Chase’s Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
May 22, 1902
It was on this day that the remarkable botanist Florence Meier Chase graced our world with her arrival—a woman whose life would prove as fascinating as the botanical specimens she would one day study.
Our dear Florence was no ordinary plant enthusiast, oh no! She dedicated her scientific pursuits to the most intimate relationship between sunlight and algae at the Radiation Biology Laboratory (RBL), a department of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). One might say she illuminated the secret affairs between light and plant life with the persistence of a determined matchmaker.
Meier and her fellow botanical investigators were relegated to the curious quarters of the Smithsonian Castle's tower and basement—a most peculiar arrangement for scientific endeavors, wouldn't you agree? The conditions were positively medieval!
"In the early days, scientists traveled between floors of the tower by climbing up and down a ladder through a trapdoor, often carrying trays of specimens or scientific equipment. In 1929, a very small elevator was installed in the tower to make the trip safer and easier."
And now, dear readers, prepare yourselves for a Valentine's Day tale that would make even the most hardened gardener's heart flutter with both shock and romance!
On February 14, 1937—a day supposedly dedicated to cautious affairs of the heart—our intrepid Florence was conducting a tour of the Smithsonian Castle. With the confidence of one accustomed to the building's peculiar navigation system, she demonstrated how she and her colleagues utilized the ladders and trapdoors in their daily scientific pilgrimages.
As the tour concluded, our generous Florence, finding the elevator too crowded, graciously allowed her guests to descend without her. With a cheerful wave goodbye as the elevator doors closed, she took a fateful step backward—forgetting entirely about the gaping trapdoor left open behind her!
Down she plummeted to the floor below, breaking her back in what must have been the most dramatic exit from a tour in Smithsonian history!
Yet fate, dear readers, works in mysterious ways.
While recovering at Garfield Memorial Hospital, Florence found herself under the care of one Dr. William Wiley Chase, the distinguished head of the surgery department. What began as doctor and patient blossomed into something far more tender, and they were married in 1939.
One cannot help but wonder if Florence ever reflected on that Valentine's Day fall with a certain fondness—for though she broke her back, she certainly found her heart. A cautionary tale, perhaps, for all gardeners who become too absorbed in their botanical pursuits: sometimes looking up from one's specimens reveals the most unexpected of life's offerings.
And so we bid farewell to Florence Meier Chase, a woman who literally fell into love and spent her days deciphering the language between sunlight and the greenest of life. May we all tend to our gardens—both botanical and romantic—with such dedicated fervor!
