\r\nRemembering Elsie Quarterman\r\n
\r\nby Paul Somers, Ph.D.\r\n
\r\nRetired State Botanist, Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program \r\n
\r\nand former botanist, Tennessee Natural Heritage Program\r\n
\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nShe was also\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nI recall Elsie laughing at herself after returning\r\nfrom one of her outings to a sampling site with the Delcourts.\r\n\r\n \r\nPerhaps the time that I needed Elsie the most was when a proposed\r\nroute for Interstate 840 was slated by the Tennessee Department of\r\nTransportation to go directly through a very significant cedar glade\r\nknown as\r\n\r\nSunnybell Glade<\/a>, named as such because of its dense stands\r\nof a yellow-flowered member of the lily family commonly known as\r\n\r\nsunnybells. My initial meeting or two with officials at the\r\nDepartment of Transportation were cordial\r\n\r\n![](\"http:\/\/www.esasuccess.org\/images\/graphs\/5510.png\")
<\/a>\r\nNot wanting to miss a chance to pay tribute to my friend, the 103+\r\nyear old Dr. Elsie Quarterman, I’m sitting down to reflect on my\r\nremembrances of this wonderful woman who befriended me and many\r\nother botanical and conservation colleagues. It was the summer of\r\n1976 when I moved to Nashville to join the young staff of the\r\n\r\nTennessee Heritage Program<\/a> as its first botanist. The program, now\r\nwell established with the State Department of Environment and\r\nConservation, benefited greatly from the prior work of Dr.\r\nQuarterman (Elsie) and many of her graduate students at Vanderbilt\r\nUniversity who had done vegetation and rare plant studies in the\r\nCentral Basin of Tennessee.\r\n![](\"http:\/\/www2.ca.uky.edu\/agcomm\/magazine\/2008\/SUMMER-2008\/Graphics\/SEEDs-Baskins.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\nFor help with understanding and\r\nconserving the best examples of cedar glades and their many endemic,\r\nnearly endemic, or otherwise rare Tennessee plant species, I and\r\nother colleagues frequently turned to Elsie and her \r\n\r\nformer graduate\r\nstudents like\r\n\r\n\r\nDrs. Jerry and Carol Baskin<\/a>, now faculty members at\r\nthe University of Kentucky, for advice and assistance, and it was\r\nalways generously given. Her work for the National Park Service\r\n\r\nidentifying Middle Tennessee sites worthy of recognition as National\r\nNatural Landmarks<\/a> and her many years of volunteer service for the\r\n\r\n![](\"http:\/\/www.nature.org\/cs\/groups\/webcontent\/@web\/@tennessee\/documents\/media\/prd_016542.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\n\r\nTennessee chapter<\/a> of\r\n\r\nThe Nature Conservancy<\/a> were also valuable\r\ncontributions to the conservation efforts in the region. More than\r\nan excellent ecologist, she was committed to putting her expertise\r\nand credibility to use in pursuit of conserving the natural\r\nlandscapes that she and her students had studied, appreciated and\r\nrecognized as threatened ecosystems and species.\r\n<\/p>\r\n![](\"https:\/\/connect.natureserve.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Tom_thumbnail.png?1320285447\")
<\/a>\r\nWhatever was needed, Elsie was there to help. I recall her helping\r\nme and\r\n\r\nLarry Smith<\/a>, the programs first plant ecologist and natural\r\nareas administrator, identify some of the\r\n\r\ncedar glades in the Nashville Basin<\/a>\r\nin need of protection. She was a participant in the\r\nstatewide multi-agency Protection Planning meetings where actions\r\nwere devised to further natural area protection and management. She\r\nwas there when I needed advice while drafting the\r\n\r\nRecovery Plan<\/a> for\r\nthe\r\n\r\nonce Federally Endangered Tennessee Coneflower<\/a>, a species\r\n\r\nrecently delisted<\/a> after 30 years of recovery efforts.\r\n![](\"https:\/\/fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net\/hprofile-ak-xfa1\/t1.0-1\/c33.0.200.200\/p200x200\/1798818_549392575160040_1644122161_n.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\nthere when Drs. Paul and\r\n\r\nHazel Delcourt<\/a> asked for Elsie’s help in\r\nlocating wetlands in the Highland Rim and Central Basin regions\r\nwhere they could extract core samples for pollen analysis that would\r\nreveal the regions past vegetation. She provided some good\r\nrecommendations and the rest is history—\r\n\r\npaleo-history of the Highland Rim<\/a>.\r\n<\/a>\r\nApparently there was a wire fence to cross and while straddling it,\r\nElsie was tossed to the ground, learning the hard way that it was\r\nelectrified.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.nature.org\/cs\/groups\/webcontent\/@web\/@tennessee\/documents\/media\/prd_011188.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\n but resulted in no change\r\nto their plans, so I turned to friends in the media and within 24\r\nhours Elsie was being interviewed by Nashville TV networks about the\r\nsignificance of the glade and its resources. Within another 24\r\nhours, we learned that\r\n\r\n\r\nan alternative route would be considered<\/a>, and\r\nsoon, after some further planning and public hearings, the glade was\r\nspared. It is now\r\n\r\na state-owned and managed natural area<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.tnps.org\/img-legends\/Elsie-Quarterman.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\nAside from her many contributions to ecology and conservation, I\r\nhave to remark on Elsie as a person. She was obviously a woman ahead\r\nof her time—a person with great energy who worked harder than\r\nmost. A tall woman, she stayed fit. I recall being in a Yoga class\r\nwith Elsie when she was about 70. She was also a great fan of Vandy\r\nbasketball. She is the kind of person who, when she speaks, commands\r\ntrust and respect. She simultaneously displays intelligence, wisdom\r\nand charm. She could be hard-nosed, sticking to her guns, or\r\ncompassionate. She was a southern lady who was not prejudicial\r\ntoward anyone—a flower gardener, a lover of beauty, art,\r\nmusic, new recipes, and the company of good friends—many so\r\nmuch younger than herself. I’ll never forget the enjoyment of a\r\ncouple of wonderfully informal yet elegant dinner parties hosted by\r\nElsie at her home on Belmont Park Court in Nashville. Elsie’s\r\nfriendship is one to cherish and something I will always remember.\r\nThank you Elsie!\r\n<\/p>\r\n