Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript: The Legacy of America's First Woman Botanist

Join us for a Lunch at the Library presentation from Fenella Heckscher who will be discussing Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript: The Legacy of America's First Woman Botanist.

Jane Colden (1724-1760) has been called America's first woman botanist, yet her contributions to early description of American botany remain little known, and her writing mostly unpublished. This account drawn from the letters of her father, Dr. Cadwallader Colden, chronicles her life on his then-remote farm, his introduction to her botanic studies, and her gathering over 300 plant descriptions that comprise her work, known now as the Botanic Manuscript. Her entries, offered here by a seasonal view, March through October, gives her own voice through detailed plant descriptions and comments that include outspoken correction of the great botanist Linnaeus. A full list of her plants adds the current botanical names. The book—Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript (APS Press, 2026)—is richly illustrated with Jane’s own handwriting and leaf sketches, with color given by current flower photographs, plus further historical images. Though no plant has yet been named for her, this book recognizes her legacy as one of America's great early botanists. 

This event will take place on Thursday, June 18, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. ET in Benjamin Franklin Hall and will also be livestreamed. This event is free to attend but registration is required.

Fenella Heckscher has a long interest in natural history, from a country childhood in England to gardening now in the Hudson Valley.  Her studies progressed from zoology at Oxford University (B.A; D.Phil.) to medicine. She graduated from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York (MD) and worked there as a pediatric endocrinologist.  Fenella and her husband retired to Orange County, New York, close to where Jane Colden had lived. Through local Garden Club lore Fenella learned of Jane Colden and her Botanic Manuscript which then took her back to London to study its details. The early description of American flora by Jane Colden became a fascination - to share in discovery of plants, also new for Fenella, and to wonder how Jane Colden achieved these scientific contributions to the American botanical Enlightenment.