Native Plants and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae in 1904

Stockton Record 17-Feb-1904

 One hundred and 17 years ago, the Association of Collegiate Alumnae encouraged people to use native trees and plants instead of foreign species. 

I posted this on the California Native Plant Society Facebook group and there was a mixed reaction of pride, surprise, and discouragement that we are still fighting this battle. The post was shared 25 times!

Why did we find this? We were looking for our dear Millie (Millicent Shinn) and her membership with the Association of Collegiate Alumnae (the forerunner of the AAUW). We had heard that Millie was a founding member and were trying to confirm this. And she was an early member of the national association and founding member of the Pacific branch, the third branch in 1885. See The history of the American Association of University Women, 1881-1931. Milicent was editor of the Overland Monthly at the time and she hosted the first meeting at her offices of the Overland Monthly. The organization was formed in October 1885. The University of California was accepted in 1886. (see updated wikipedia article).

The following was from the SF Call 3/26/1911. And we love it because we've never seen Dr. Milicent Shinn in a hat this big! Dr. Sarah I. Shuey was at UC Berkeley and graduated in 1876. She later became a doctor and worked in Public Health for the city of Oakland. More about her later.