150
Item
-
Title
-
150
-
Transcription
-
CHARLES EDWIN BESSEY
PROFESSOR OF BOTANY AND DEAN OF THE INDUSTRIAL
COLLEGE 1884-1915.
Professor Bessey was notified in June, 1884, that he had been elected professor of botany in the University of Nebraska. He was then at Ames College, Iowa. The selection had been made by the regents of the University without his knowledge, but he was sufficiently interested in the incident to come to Lincoln "to look the place over." During that first visit to the University he found that nothing had been done along botanical lines and he was quite naturally reluctant to have the accumulation of his fifteen years' labor at Ames to go to a new state to build up a new department from the very beginning. So he told the regents that they were not ready for him and declined the offer of the professorship. A second offer, extended in August of the same year, included the deanship of the industrial faculty or college as well as the professorship of botany. After another trip to Lincoln and a consultation with the board of regents Professor Bessey accepted the second call and his inaugural address was delivered at the University in September, 1884. He began his active class work at the University in January, 1885. His first thought was always with the work of his classes in lecture room and laboratory and except for a few brief interruptions he continued that work to the beginning of his final illness.
Much of Dr. Bessey's energy was devoted during the earlier years of his work in Nebraska to the collection of the grasses and other economic plants of the state. He made many talks on grasses, weeds, plant diseases, the methods of improving plants and the possibilities of a better agriculture. He soon became acquainted with Governor Furnas and with him organized the first series of Farmers' Institutes which were thereafter periodically enlivened by his presence. His first address to the Farmers' Alliance was in December, 1884, and to the State Historical Society in January, 1885. Then followed years of pleasant and
-
Rights
-
To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
