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Harriet Creighton

Harriet Creighton
Harriet Creighton, from the 1929 yearbook of Wellesley College
Born(1909-06-27)June 27, 1909
Delavan, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJanuary 9, 2004(2004-01-09) (aged 94)
Needham, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationWellesley College, Cornell University (Ph.D. 1933)
Known forDescribing chromosomal crossover
Scientific career
FieldsBotany, genetics, education
InstitutionsCornell University, Connecticut College, Wellesley College
Doctoral advisorBarbara McClintock

Harriet Baldwin Creighton (June 27, 1909 – January 9, 2004) was an American botanist, geneticist and educator. She worked with Barbara McClintock on cytogenetics in the 1930s, and was elected president of the Botanical Society of America in 1956.

Early life and education

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Creighton was born in Delavan, Illinois, the daughter of Cyrus Murray Creighton and Bertha Baldwin Creighton. Her father was born in Canada.[1] She graduated from Wellesley College in 1929,[2] where she found botanist Margaret Clay Ferguson an encouraging faculty mentor.[3]

She completed her Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1933. At Cornell, she worked in the field of maize cytogenetics with Barbara McClintock. The pair published an influential paper in 1931,[4] in which they described chromosomal crossover for the first time.[5] This paper, part of her Ph.D. research, provided key evidence that chromosomes carried and exchanged genetic information and hence that genes for physical traits are carried on chromosomes.[6][7]

Career

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After completing her doctoral studies, Creighton taught at Cornell University and Connecticut College, and then returned to Wellesley College where she taught until her retirement in 1974. During World War II, she took leave from teaching to serve in the U.S. Navy.[3]

Creighton was elected in 1940 a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[8] In 1956 she was elected president of the Botanical Society of America.[9] She held two Fulbright lectureships, which took her to the University of Western Australia in 1952, and to the Cusco, Peru, in 1959.[10]

Publications

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  • "A Correlation of Cytological and Genetical Crossing-Over in Zea mays" (1931, with Barbara McClintock)[4]
  • "Three Cases of Deficiency in Chromosome 9 of Zea mays" (1934)[11]
  • "Production and Distribution of Growth Hormone in Shoots of Aesculus and Malus, and Its Probable Role in Stimulating Cambial Activity" (1937, with George S. Avery Jr. and Paul R. Burkholder)[12]
  • "Nutrient Deficiencies and Growth Hormone Concentration in Helianthus and Nicotiana" (1937, with George S. Avery Jr. and Paul R. Burkholder)[13]

Personal life and legacy

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Creighton's companion later in life was Gertrude Dever; they met in the WAVES and lived together for many years.[3] Creighton died in 2004, at the age of 94, in Needham, Massachusetts.[10][14] Wellesley College has a collection of her personal papers.[15] Creighton's close personal and professional relationship with Barbara McClintock was dramatized in a 2023 play by Carolyn Gage, In McClintock's Corn.[16]

References

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  1. ^ 1910 United States census, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ Wellesley College, Legenda (1929 yearbook).
  3. ^ a b c Kass, Lee B. "Harriet B. Creighton: Proud botanist" Archived 2025-06-16 at the Wayback Machine Plant Science Bulletin 51(4) (December 2005): 118–125.
  4. ^ a b Creighton, Harriet B.; McClintock, Barbara (August 1931). "A Correlation of Cytological and Genetical Crossing-Over in Zea Mays". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 17 (8): 492–497. doi:10.1073/pnas.17.8.492. PMC 1076098. PMID 16587654. Archived from the original on 2025-06-16. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  5. ^ Comfort, Nathaniel C. (2009). The Tangled Field: Barbara McClintock's search for the patterns of genetic control. Harvard University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-674-02982-8.
  6. ^ Reynolds, Moira Davison (2004). American Women Scientists: 23 Inspiring Biographies, 1900-2000. McFarland. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-7864-2161-9.
  7. ^ Buckingham, Susan (2005). Gender and Environment. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-134-70396-8.
  8. ^ "Historic Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from the original on 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  9. ^ Kass, Lee B. (2007). "Women Pioneers in Plant Biology" Archived 2017-03-15 at the Wayback Machine American Society of Plant Biologists website, Ann Hirsch editor.
  10. ^ a b Schoetz, David (May 19, 2004). "Harriet Creighton, botanist, Wellesley professor, at 94". The Boston Globe. p. 40. Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Creighton, Harriet B. (February 1934). "Three Cases of Deficiency in Chromosome 9 of Zea mays". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 20 (2): 111–115. doi:10.1073/pnas.20.2.111. PMC 1076352. PMID 16587851. Archived from the original on 2025-06-16. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  12. ^ Avery, George S.; Burkholder, Paul R.; Creighton, Harriet B. (1937). "Production and Distribution of Growth Hormone in Shoots of Aesculus and Malus, and Its Probable Role in Stimulating Cambial Activity". American Journal of Botany. 24 (1): 51–58. doi:10.2307/2436958. ISSN 0002-9122. Archived from the original on 2025-06-16. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  13. ^ Avery, George S.; Burkholder, Paul R.; Creighton, Harriet B. (1937). "Nutrient Deficiencies and Growth Hormone Concentration in Helianthus and Nicotiana". American Journal of Botany. 24 (8): 553–557. doi:10.2307/2437079. ISSN 0002-9122.
  14. ^ "Harriett Creighton Obituary". Boston Globe, via Legacy.com. January 18, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  15. ^ "Collection: Harriet B. Creighton papers". Wellesley College Archives. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  16. ^ Williams, Jeremy (February 23, 2023). "'In McClintock's Corn' makes its world debut in Tampa". Watermark Out News. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
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  • Kass, L. B. and Chomet, P. 2009. Barbara McClintock, Pgs. 17–52, in J. Bennetzen and S. Hake, Editors, Handbook of Maize: Genetics and Genomics. Springer
  • Macmillan Science Library: Plant Sciences – Bookrags: "Harriet Creighton: American Botanist"
  • Kalte, Pamela M. and Nemeh, Katherine H. (2005) "Creighton, Harriet Baldwin (1909–)" American Men & Women of Science: A biographical directory of today's leaders in physical, biological and related sciences (22nd ed.) Thomson Gale, Detroit
  • McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch (1998) Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries Carol Publishing Group, New Jersey