Hooker, Henrietta Edgecomb, 1851-1929

Henrietta Edgecomb Hooker was born on December 12, 1851 in Gardiner, Maine to George Washington Hooker and Eliza Annis Ballentine Hooker. She entered Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1869 and graduated in 1873. Following her graduation, she worked at Mount Holyoke teaching algebra and botany. In 1888 she received her doctorate from the University of Syracuse. In 1889 she went to Königliche Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin University) to continue her studies. She returned to Mount Holyoke as a professor of botany and was department chair until her retirement in 1908. After retiring she raised Buff Orpington chickens, entering them in contests and donating the prize money to Mount Holyoke College. In 1922 the College awarded her an honorary Bachelor of Science degree. She died at age seventy-seven on May 13, 1929 in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

From the guide to the Hooker papers MS 0725., 1873-1942, 1884-1927, (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)