Mary Agnes Chase

Mary Agnes Chase (1869–1963) was an American botanist who specialized in agrostology, the study of grasses. Although lacking formal education past elementary school, Chase was able to rise through the ranks as a botanist at the United States Department of Agriculture, beginning as an illustrator under the tutelage of Albert Spear Hitchcock, and eventually becoming a senior botanist, overseeing the USDA's Systematic Agrostology department. Chase conducted fieldwork abroad in Europe and South America and published several books, including the First Book of Grasses: The Structure of Grasses Explained for Beginners, which was later translated into Spanish and Portuguese. Additionally, Chase was recognized for her work as an agrostologist with numerous awards, including a Certificate of Merit issued by the Botanical Society of America in 1956. Chase was also an active suffragist and took part in demonstrations organized by the Silent Sentinels, a group established by members of the National Woman's Party. Although Chase's participation in this movement was not always well received by her peers in the scientific community, she nevertheless remained committed to the cause of women's suffrage. Life and early career Mary Agnes Meara was born in 1869, in rural Iroquois County, Illinois but moved to Chicago several years later following the lynching of her father (an Irish railway worker named Martin John Meara), at which point the family changed their last name to Merrill. Mary Agnes was the third of six children and, upon moving to Chicago, was raised by her mother, Mary Brannick Meara, and maternal grandmother. Although Chase attended school as a child, her formal education ended after she completed elementary school. On January 21, 1888, she married William Ingraham Chase. He was the grandson of Bishop Philander Chase, who became the guardian of his brother’s son, Salmon P. Chase, former Governor of Ohio, US Senator, US Secretary of the Treasury and 6th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Her husband died a year after their marriage. She was working as a proofreader for Inter-Ocean Newspaper and taking botany courses offered by the University of Chicago when she was hired by E.J. Hill to do illustrations for his publications. Through her collaboration with Hill, Chase's illustrations became visible to a wider audience, including Charles Frederick Millspaugh, who hired her to do illustrations for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.