Georgia Botanical Society

The Georgia Botanical Society was founded in 1926 by Eugene Scofield Heath (d. 1973), who served as the organization's president until 1962. Heath formed the Society with fourteen "hand-picked" members. It remained an invitation-only organization with an Atlanta constituency until the early 1970s. Then during the 1970-71 presidential term of Marie B. Mellinger (1914-2006), the Society opened its membership to all those interested in learning about the state's flora no matter what their level of knowledge or experience. Mellinger also campaigned to make the Georgia Botanical Society a statewide organization. Since its creation, the Society has worked to promote the understanding and appreciation of plants and their relationship to the environment, promote the study of the botanical sciences, support or undertake the setting apart of appropriate areas in Georgia for the preservation of native and cultivated flora for the enjoyment of the public, promote the conservation of all natural resources, and teach and encourage the practice of out-of-doors ethics. Field trips have been and remain one of the most popular activities offered to the Society's membership to support its objectives. In 1970, the Society traveled to Yonah Mountain to begin a biological survey of the Chattahoochee National Forest. This effort served as the beginning of the range record project, a systematic recording of the natural distribution of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers in Georgia's counties. The project culminated in 1984 with the publication of the seminal volume Atlas of the Vascular Flora of Georgia, which was compiled by Marie B. Mellinger. Additional significant activities of the Georgia Botanical Society have included the development of the Heritage Garden at the Georgia Executive Mansion in the late 1960s and early 1970s and the publication of a scholarly journal, Tipularia, which documents the interesting plants, places, and people in Georgia botany. The Society has also actively participated in the conservation movement in Georgia. It has fought against the extension of the Blue Ridge Parkways and the construction of roads over Brasstown Bald and Pine Mountain. It has also battled to preserve natural areas like Pine Log Mountain and the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.

From the description of Georgia Botanical Society Records, 1900-2007. (Atlanta History Center). WorldCat record id: 183892994

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