Botanist

On October 17, 2007, Emma Jane Cole was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame for her achievements in the field of science and technology. She was known for her scientific achievements in botany at a time when there were very few women in the field. Her book, published in 1901, Grand Rapids Flora: A Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns growing without cultivation in the vicinity of Grand Rapids, Mi, is still, in 2026, the most comprehensive botanical inventory of the Greater Grand Rapids area.

The rest of the story is that this remarkable woman grew up in Vergennes Township, on land at the southwest corner of Bailey Drive and Parnell Avenue, attending local schools before attending high school in Grand Rapids. Following high school, she taught in Lowell district schools. She then attended Cornell University, just six years after the University began admitting women. After two years she returned home because of the death of her mother. She taught at Central High School in Grand Rapids for 26 years, retiring in 1907.

Emma loved botany. She began cataloging the native flora in Kent County, including nine sections in Vergennes Township, in the area where she grew up. Her published book was the result of years of research.

While teaching at Central High School, Emma also worked for the Kent Scientific Institute that was housed in the same building as Central High School. The Kent Scientific Institute is now the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Her work at the Kent Scientific Institute was to mount and arrange plant specimens. She was one of the first women to be paid for such work. Emma was elected as the Kent Scientific Institute’s vice president in 1900. She was well respected and highly esteemed by her peers.

Emma enjoyed traveling and cataloging specimens. Her travels took her to Europe, Florida, Cuba, Mexico and California. It was in Mexico that Emma got sick, dying in Texas. In death Emma returned to her childhood home and is buried in the Bailey Cemetery. Her grave is near the church she attended as a youth, the schoolhouse in which she first taught, Cole Lake, and the woods where she first gathered the flowers she studied. Her gravestone is a very large rock that she had chosen as her gravestone.

Emma’s accomplishments didn’t end with her death. She was a visionary and ensured that her work would continue. She left three trust funds. The first was for a fellowship in botany at University of Michigan. The second was with the Board of Education at Grand Rapids Public Schools, to be used to purchase botany equipment for Central High School. The third was the Emma Jane Cole Flower Fund, designated to eight downtown churches who used the money for a special flower service held in June and October.

Botany students at the University of Michigan continue with summer research projects today thanks to Emma’s trust. The over 2,600 plant specimens that she spent her life collecting are catalogued and saved in her Herbarium. This is on long-term loan from The Grand Rapids Public Museum to the University of Michigan. It is used for research and educational purposes. In 1916 a greenhouse was built at Central High School for the students with funds from Emma’s trust fund. At that time, it was said that there were twenty-three garden clubs with nineteen demonstrating gardens and a total of 581 individual gardens cared for by the school children of the city. The downtown churches continued honoring Emma’s memory through the flower services until 1968.

Emma’s work of identifying Kent County botanical specimens continues today through the “Emma Cole Project” through Calvin University. This is a multi-year botanical research initiative dedicated to documenting plant diversity within the natural areas around Grand Rapids. The goal is to identify and gain access to as many of the specific locations described by Cole as possible, evaluating their present-day status compared with her descriptions from 1901. The focus for 2024 was assessing local parks. Calvin University worked with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks to create a botanical inventory of Grand Rapids Parks.

Between her trust funds, published book, her Herbarium, and the work done in her name through Calvin University, this Vergennes Township girl and Lowell School teacher has certainly left a legacy here for her hometown and beyond.

Images:

Emma Cole

Emma's book: Grand Rapids Flora

Women's Hall of Fame award

Emma Coles' gravestone