Fermen Layton Pickett Papers, circa 1912-1938

Fermen Layton Pickett (1881-1940) was a professor of botany at Washington State University from 1914 until his death. He came from Indiana, his native state, shortly after receiving his Ph.D. at Indiana University. His major botanical interests were mosses and in plant physiology. He served as Chairman of the Botany Department and as Dean of the Graduate School for many years. Although his colleagues criticized him for his shortcomings as a botanist, his department educated several significant botanical scientists and sponsored many important research projects. His most important achievement may have been securing the herbarium of Wilhelm N. Suksdorf for the University (see Northwest Botanical Manuscripts: An Indexed Register, Pullman, 1976). He was also a skilled photographer and one of the few in the 1920s who photographed a large number of natural features (geological formations, vegetations, rivers, lakes, and mountains).