Florence Louise Barrows was born in Providence in 1888 to Ella Corbin and Arthur Barrows, a high school teacher. She spent most of her childhood with her maternal grandparents in Union, Connecticut. After graduating from Stafford Springs High School, she entered Smith College, graduating in 1911. Barrows worked as a high school teacher in New Jersey and Connecticut before joining the Connecticut College for Women's Botany department. Between 1919-1932, she collaborated on several projects including the development of the college's famous Arboretum. She earned her Master of Botany at the Connecticut Agricultural College in 1927 before completing her PhD at Columbia University in plant genetics. Barrows went on to work for various labs doing work in genetics, including the Carnegie Institute in Cold Springs Harbor, Long Island, the Boyce Thompson Institute, and Wheaton College. In 1953, Barrows joined Smith College as a research associate in genetics. During her career, she published several articles, including Cellulose Membranes from Various Parts of the Plant Kingdom (1939), Propagation of Lycopodium (1935-1936), and Seed Production by Trailing Arbutus (1941). After retiring from Smith is 1956, she returned to Union, Connecticut. She died in 1980 at the age of 92.
From the guide to the Florence Louise Barrows Papers RG 42., 1888 - 1980, 1907 - 2006, (Smith College Archives)
