![Hicoria minima (Bitternut Hickory) Arnold Arboretum [Title from recto of slide.] 8.5 x 10.5 cm. Slide A-68. Emulsion on glass.](https://arboretum.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/jack_hickories_winter_1900.jpg)
Alternate Title:
Hickory (Carya) Collection with a Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis) in the foreground and Valley Road in the background
Photograph by John George Jack (1861-1949), American, Canadian
Valley Road, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, United States
ca. 1900
A larger version of this image is available in HOLLIS Images.
In April 1886, John George Jack visited the director of the Arboretum, Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927) at his Brookline, Massachusetts estate, Holm Lea. Promised only manual labor at small compensation, he began working at the Arnold Arboretum, but within a short time his botanical knowledge became apparent, earning Sargent’s confidence and an increase in his pay to a dollar a day.
Jack continued his education at Harvard and became Assistant Professor of Dendrology at the Arnold Arboretum. Already experienced in plant exploration, he embarked on a year-long trip to Eastern Asia in 1905. Jack became the first staff member after Sargent to visit Asia.
You can read more about Jack’s life, expeditions, and value as an educator in Lisa Pearson’s profile, “John George Jack: Dendrologist, Educator, Plant Explorer” in Arnoldia 71(4), 2014 [pdf].
The Archive Collection of the Arnold Arboretum also holds the John George Jack (1861-1949) papers, 1887-1990 [pdf].
Jonathan Damery, Associate Editor of Arnoldia, also wrote about our Carya Collection in the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Silva.
Copyright © 2003, President and Fellows of Harvard College; all rights reserved.
From “free” to “friend”…
Established in 1911 as the Bulletin of Popular Information, Arnoldia has long been a definitive forum for conversations about temperate woody plants and their landscapes. In 2022, we rolled out a new vision for the magazine as a vigorous forum for tales of plant exploration, behind-the-scenes glimpses of botanical research, and deep dives into the history of gardens, landscapes, and science. The new Arnoldia includes poetry, visual art, and literary essays, following the human imagination wherever it entangles with trees.
It takes resources to gather and nurture these new voices, and we depend on the support of our member-subscribers to make it possible. But membership means more: by becoming a member of the Arnold Arboretum, you help to keep our collection vibrant and our research and educational mission active. Through the pages of Arnoldia, you can take part in the life of this free-to-all landscape whether you live next door or an ocean away.