CORRESPONDENCE OF MINE IN HONOR OF MY BELOVED BIOLOGICAL MOTHER, MRS. PHYLLIS DELORES (GARDNER) McMILLAN, A UNIVERSITY OF IOWA ALUMNUS WHO IN 1947 EARNED A MASTER's DEGREE IN BOTANY AT THAT PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN IOWA CITY, IOWA, AND WAS THE 63RD WOMAN IN IOWA HISTORY TO ACHIEVE THAT DISTINCTION AT THAT UNIVERSITY

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Slusarski, Diane C
To: John McMillan
Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 04:21:52 PM CDT
Subject: RE: [External] Re: question re: a former Botany Master's Degree student at U of Iowa

Hi John,

Yes, we should start a special fund for the celebration. At present, we have a link on our departmental website for giving (https://biology.uiowa.edu/), Diane

From: John McMillan
Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2019 2:24 AM
To: Slusarski, Diane C
Subject: Fw: [External] Re: question re: a former Botany Master's Degree student at U of Iowa

Thank you, Diane, for very kindly sharing this information with me.
Congratulations on your planned celebration for your department in 2020.

A few friendly follow-up questions:

Have you established a special foundation or organization that accepts donations toward that event? Otherwise, does your department accept financial donations specifically earmarked for your academic department or for operating expenses relating to your greenhouse?

I am low-income myself, but I would like to donate $10 toward your department. I would be very pleased to befriend Mother's alma mater in that way.

With Friendly Best Wishes from a native Nebraskan who during my childhood enjoyed visiting Johnson County, Iowa, during the summertime in order to stay with my grandparents at their farm near West Branch, Iowa. One of my favorite pleasures from being on the farm of Grandfather Russell Gardner and Grandmother Helen Siegling Gardner was to eat the delicious blackberries I picked from an apparently wild (?) blackberry plant located near my grandparents' farmhouse.

Sincerely,
John Kevin McMillan.

P.S. You can also find me on Facebook, as I recently registered with it using my brand-new cell phone number. I purchased my first-ever cell phone in August of this year through AT&T. My cell phone number is: (512) 993-7305.
My landline home phone number: (512) 342-2295.
My current home address: 8805 North Plaza Drive, Apt. 2418, Austin, TX 78753.
My Blog: John Kevin McMillan: A 21st Century Conservative Left-Wing Agenda
John Kevin McMillan: A 21st Century Conservative Left-Wing Agenda
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----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Slusarski, Diane C <diane-slusarski@uiowa.edu>
To: John McMillan <mcmillanj@att.net>
Cc: Kehoe, Steve G <steve-kehoe@uiowa.edu>; Ecklund, Phillip S <phil-ecklund@uiowa.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019, 02:21:13 PM CDT
Subject: RE: [External] Re: question re: a former Botany Master's Degree student at U of Iowa

Dear John,

I really like your idea of honoring Harriet Cameron. The department will be celebrating 165 years in 2020, so we could feature something about Harriet when we put together our celebration details. Our greenhouse is currently unnamed, so maybe that would be a way to honor the Women of Botany…..

Diane

From: John McMillan <mcmillanj@att.net>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 1:50 PM
To: Slusarski, Diane C <diane-slusarski@uiowa.edu>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: question re: a former Botany Master's Degree student at U of Iowa

Dear Diane,

Thank you and your University of Iowa colleagues for this factual information. It is good to learn today that Harriet Cameron and 61 other former female University of Iowa students earned a Botany Degree before Mother did.

This suggests that possibly your university might want to consider honoring Harriet Cameron for the great accomplishment she had in 1904. It would be interesting to find out if any other woman in all of Iowa had earned a Master's Degree in Botany in your state at any time before Ms. Cameron did. If not, that would be all the more impressive.

It might also be interesting for your campus if someone could find out (and I am not requesting this, just a tentative thought) which female student at the University of Iowa was the first to earn a Master's Degree or PhD in an academic field, regardless of the field.

Thank you again for the very helpful information.

Best Wishes,
John Kevin McMillan of Austin, Texas.


On Friday, October 11, 2019, 12:55:41 PM CDT, Slusarski, Diane C <diane-slusarski@uiowa.edu> wrote:

Dear John,

More information below, Diane

From: Ecklund, Phillip S <phil-ecklund@uiowa.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 11:36 AM
To: Slusarski, Diane C <diane-slusarski@uiowa.edu>
Cc: Kehoe, Steve G <steve-kehoe@uiowa.edu>; Foster Hartley, Erin L <erin-foster@uiowa.edu>
Subject: RE: [External] Re: question re: a former Botany Master's Degree student at U of Iowa

Hi Diane,

For you to relay to Mr. John McMillan regarding his mother, Phyllis Gardner McMillan:

Shannon Patrick at the University of Iowa Center for Advancement was able to provide the following:

“Ms. Gardner was not the first woman to receive a Master of Science degree in Botany from the University of Iowa. That distinction belongs to Harriet Cameron, who received her M.S. in 1904. By 1947, it looks like we had a tradition of female botanists, so Ms. Gardner and one of her classmates tied for 63rd/64th place.”

Steve Kehoe, Department of Biology, found she had “received her Master’s degree in Botany on 6/1/1947 from the UI, and her BA degree in general science on 4/1/1943”.

Sincerely,

Phil