Louise Wylie Boisen: Representing the Female Voice in Horticulture at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In 1893, the world turned its attention to Chicago, Illinois, host of the World’s Columbian Exposition. A woman from Bloomington, Indiana, Louise Wylie Boisen, was the first female judge appointed to the exposition’s jury as a judge for horticulture. Although an amateur, Louise’s lifelong passion for plants made her a prominent figure in the local and state horticulture community, leading to her foray into horticulture on the national level at the World’s Columbian Exposition.