Meet Nellie Adelesa Brown, Michigan, a woman fascinated with plants from an early age. At a time when few women were welcomed into the field of botany, she would become a noted authority in plant pathology, traveling the country to further her research.
A Michigan native, Nellie was the daughter of a freighter captain on the Great Lakes. She followed her older sister Gertrude to the University of Michigan, where the two were early members of Tri Delta’s Iota Chapter. Despite pressure from male peers, Nellie pursued her degree in botany, graduating in 1901. Her gift for scientific research was recognized while conducting post-graduate work at the University of California when she was selected for membership in the prestigious Torrey Botanical Club.
Career Journey
Nellie went to Washington, D.C., in 1905, working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Bureau of Plant Industry. She remained with them as a plant pathologist, conducting numerous plant experiments with a team of talented women scientists for the next 35 years. Her work took her all over the U.S. and even to Japan, resulting in pioneering research into plant diseases. She, along with E.F. Smith and C.O. Townsend, are credited with discovering the organism that causes crown gall.
Left photo: Flyer and nametag from the Panhellenic luncheon with a keynote address by Eleanor Roosevelt, from the chapter history scrapbook Nellie created in 1936.
Middle Photo: Nellie, standing, and fellow scientists conducting experiments on plant parasites. National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress)
Right photo: Standing second from the left is Nellie, with female colleagues at the USDA. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Tri Delta Connections
Despite the demands of her career, Nellie remained involved with Tri Delta. She joined the Washington, D.C., Alliance shortly after it was formed in 1910 and served as its historian and later as its president. When Tri Delta’s Executive Office requested a history of the alumnae chapter in 1936, the first member appointed to draft the history “politely declined” the assignment due to the amount of work required to track down 16 years of the chapter’s past. Nellie stepped up to take over the task, producing the report for Executive Office and a detailed handwritten history scrapbook for the chapter’s records. When the chapter hosted a regional Tri Delta conference in Washington, D.C., Nellie was one of the featured speakers, entertaining attendees with the ups and downs of her career as a scientist and the future for women seeking careers in science. She remained an active member, attending events with her Tri Delta sisters, such as the local Panhellenic luncheon, which featured Eleanor Roosevelt as a guest speaker.
Nellie died in Washington, D.C., in 1956.
The Stars and Crescent badge of Nellie Adelesa Brown and the Washington Alliance history scrapbook she created can be found in Tri Delta’s digital archives.