Susanna Bixby Bryant

Susanna Bixby Bryant (April 11, 1880 – October 2, 1946) was an American horticulturalist, rancher, botanical collector and the founder of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, California, the largest botanic garden in the state that housed the California native plants.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Born on April 11, 1880, in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California, United States, Susanna Bixby Bryant was the daughter of John William Bixby and Susan Patterson Hathaway.[4][5] During her childhood, she resided at her family home in the Rancho Los Alamitos.[6][5] After graduating from the Miss Hersey's School in Boston, she traveled extensively.[5]

Rancho Santa Ana

In 1875, John Bixby purchased 5,000 acres of land in eastern Yorba Linda, California from the widow of Bernardo Yorba, a prominent Californio landowner, after whom Yorba Linda is named.[7][1][2] Bixby later named his property, Rancho Santa Ana, after the Santa Ana River that flowed adjacent to his land.[2][3] He raised cattle and sheep.[2]

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

Following the death of her father in 1891, Bryant inherited the ranch.[3] She recognized the need for protecting 6000 native plants.[8] In 1927, Bryant established, in memory of her father, a native garden on family's Cañon de Santa Ana ranch in Orange County, California to preserve California's native plants and habitats.[9][10][5] In 1926, Bryant wrote to Charles Sprague Sargent, professor of Aboriculture, Harvard University outlining her vision for developing a botanic garden.[6][2] In 1929, she hired the Olmsted Brothers, a landscape architectural firm, to help in designing a 200 acres of land for gardening.[3] In 1930, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. proposed a detailed plan which included plantings of different native plants, and creating pools and pathways, with original trails and roads.[2]

California Botanic Garden

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden was renamed as the California Botanic Garden and relocated to North College Avenue of Claremont Colleges in 1951 after Bryant's death in 1946.[9][6][11][1][2][3]

Membership

Bryant was the member of the California Historical Society and the Garden Club of America.[5][2]

Personal life

Bryant married Dr. Ernest A. Bryant, born in Canada, who was the personal physician of American railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington and lived in Los Angeles.[5] They had two children.[5][2]

Death

Bryant died on October 2, 1946, in Santa Barbara, California.[6][5][2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 McCormick, Kathleen (2005). Orange County. Jefferson, North Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-738-53054-3. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "A House With a History: The Susanna Bixby Bryant Museum". fullertonobserver.com. fullertonobserver.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Susanna Bixby Bryant Ranch History". yorbalindahistoricalsociety.org. yorbalindahistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  4. ↑ Smith, Sarah Bixby (January 1, 1987). Adobe Days. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-803-29178-2. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chickering, Allen L. (1946). "Susanna Bixby Bryant" (PDF). California Historical Society Quarterly. 25 (4): 375. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 McCormick, Kathleen (2000). The Garden Lover's Guide to the West. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-568-98166-6. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  7. ↑ Smith 1987, p. 57.
  8. ↑ Walker, Doris I. (2009). Orange County: A Natural History. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-738-56908-6. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Russo, Stacy Shotsberger (March 14, 2008). The Library as Place in California. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-786-43194-6. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  10. ↑ Rakow, Donald; Lee, Sharon (June 2, 2011). Public Garden Management: A Complete Guide to the Planning and Administration of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. NA. ISBN 978-0-470-90459-6. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  11. ↑ Peterson, Peter Victor (1975). Native Trees of the Sierra Nevada. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-520-02736-7. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
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