True, Rodney H. (Rodney Howard), 1866-1940

Rodney Howard True was a botanist and physiologist.

The botanist Rodney Howard True (1866-1940) was born and raised in southern Wisconsin, the son of the transplanted New Englanders, John M. and Mary Annie (Beede) True. A farmer, occasional schoolmaster, and state legislator, John True instilled in each of his five children a strong interest in education, and provided them with the academic skills to match. Each of True children graduated from the University of Wisconsin -- Rodney in 1890, followed by Gordon (1894), Ernest (1896), Eunice M. (1905), and Katherine (1910) -- and four of them went on to careers in academia. In addition to Rodney, Gordon worked in animal husbandry at the University of California, while Katherine and Eunice taught at Berea College in Kentucky.

Rodney True's interest in botany was sparked during his high school years, and blossomed at university. After receiving his BS, he was encouraged to continue his studies through a University Fellowship, receiving his MS in 1892. After working as principal of the Wisconsin Academy for a year to shore up his finances, he went overseas to complete his training, studying botany and zoology at the University of Leipzig under Wilhelm Pfeffer, and receiving his doctorate in 1895.

For several years after his return to the states, True passed through academic vagabondage, teaching phamacognosy at the University of Wisconsin for three years, and serving as an assistant at Radcliffe (1899-1900) and as lecturer in botany at Harvard (1899-1901). From Harvard, however, he secured an important position overseeing the physiological research in the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During his years at the U.S.D.A., True's own research shifted away from the general botany that had previously occupied him to concentrate on ionic exchange and the absorption of calcium and other mineral nutrients by plants, but he also gained a measure of fame as a "trouble shooter" for the public. Sometimes known as the Sherlock Holmes of plant detectives, he was charged with identifying and combating destructive or invasive plants. His most famous "cases" were the discovery of the source of a mold infecting the cigar industry and the identification of jimson weed as the culprit in "locoing" livestock in the western states, both of which had a profound economic impact.

In 1920, True left the U.S.D.A. under unusual, and less than favorable circumstances. Facing a reduced appropriation for his unit, he resisted the temptation to eliminate staff or lower salaries by reducing his budget through his own resignation. Although he left without having another position in hand, he was soon landed as professor of botany at the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his career. Despite a heavy load teaching everything from elementary botany to advanced plant physiology, he remained active in professional organizations and continued to publish in plant physiology, pathology, and economic botany. After Lydia Morris donated the land and endowment to establish the University's Morris Arboretum in 1932, True became the Arboretum's first Director, serving from 1933 until 1939. He was granted emeritus status at the University in 1937.

Beginning with his article, "Thomas Jefferson in Relation to Botany" in 1916, True devoted increasing time to the history of the plant sciences. Particularly after his remove to Philadelphia in 1920, he worked intensively on Jefferson and André Michaux, the botany of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and more generally, on the history of agriculture. After his remove to Penn, the majority of his research was devoted to historical topics. True was a founding member of the Agricultural History Society in 1919, serving the first of his three terms as its first president, and he was active in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1923. True also developed a deep interest in the status of his profession, becoming a member of the Committee of One Hundred on Scientific Research of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. During his time at Penn, he helped write several reports on support for basic research in universities and the financial position of university professors, making the case for higher wages.

True was married twice, to Katherine McAssey (d. 1926) and Martha. A son by his first marriage, Rodney Philip (Philip), became a noted plant pathologist in his own right. After several years of illness and physical decline, Rodney True died in his home at the Arboretum on April 8, 1940.