Shirley Gale Cross Explained

Birth Name:Shirley Gale
Birth Date:27 August 1915
Birth Place:Oklahoma, US
Death Place:East Sandwich, Massachusetts, US
Fields:Botany
Education:Massachusetts State College
Alma Mater:Radcliffe College
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Doctoral Advisor:Merritt Lyndon Fernald
Known For:Founding member of the Thornton W. Burgess Society
Author Abbrev Bot:Gale
Spouse:Chet Cross
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Shirley Gale Cross (August 27, 1915, Oklahoma – July 14, 2008, East Sandwich, Massachusetts) was an American botanist, botanical illustrator, and conservationist.[1]

Biography

Shirley Gale grew up in Gloucester and Marblehead and graduated from Massachusetts State College (renamed in 1947 the University of Massachusetts Amherst). At Radcliffe College, she received her Ph.D. in 1939[2] with M. L. Fernald as her thesis supervisor.[1]

In 1941, she married Chester "Chet" E. Cross (1913–1988), her classmate who received a Ph.D. in paleobotany from Harvard. The couple moved to the Spring Hill Historic District of Sandwich, Massachusetts, where they owned and cultivated three cranberry bogs to supply cranberries for the fresh fruit market. They continued growing cranberries until shortly before Chet Cross's death.[1] She and Gordon Dillon drew the illustrations for Edith Scamman's[3] 1947 book Ferns and Fern Allies of New Hampshire.[4] Shirley Gale Cross drew the Rhynchospora illustrations[1] and many of the fern illustrations for the 8th edition of Gray's Manual of Botany.[5]

Cross was a founding member of the Thornton W. Burgess Society and conceived, designed, cultivated, and organized the Society's wildflower garden named in her honor.[6]

Upon her death, she was survived by three sons, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.[7]

References

  1. News: Obituary. Dr Shirley G. Cross, 92. Cape Cod Times (capecodtimes.com). July 23, 2008.
  2. Web site: Gale, Shirley — Index of Botanists. Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries.
  3. 1546270. Edith Scamman (1882-1967). Tryon. Rolla M.. Tryon. Alice F.. American Fern Journal. 1968. 58. 1. 1–4.
  4. Book: Edith Scamman. Ferns and Fern Allies of New Hampshire. 1947. 6. New Hampshire Academy of Science.
    96 pages
    .
  5. Bean, Ralph C.. Review of The Eighth Edition of Gray's Manual of Botany, edited by Merritt Lyndon Fernald. Rhodora. 52. 621. September 1950. 226–228. 23304085.
  6. Web site: Shirley Cross Wildflower Garden. Thornton W. Burgess Society.
  7. News: Obituary. Dr. Shirley G. Cross. The Boston Globe (legacy.com). July 23, 2008.