A New Type of Celebrity: Alice Eastwood, Pioneer Botanist

Ever since I was a child, I’ve been obsessed with TV and film. I could watch the same movie one hundred times and then watch all of the behind-the-scenes information that DVDs provided. I knew all about the actors and their methods, what had gone into each performance. These movie stars were my idols. 

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been wondering if I’ve been focusing my energy and attention on the wrong things.

I think that celebrities are celebrities for a reason. There’s something wonderful (though destructive and unproductive) about having a population of movie stars. Hollywood is a staple and I doubt our fascination with these people will end. 

However, what if I started thinking of other people who are doing or have done feats that have changed our everyday lives?

I remember many, many Halloweens ago, a friend who is now a lawyer dressed up as Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Of course, now she’s a hero for many of us, but at the time, I wasn’t totally sure who she was or what she had done. I didn’t really know much about any of the Supreme Court Justices. They just hadn’t been on my radar.

But why not? How could I name all of the obscure stars in Hallmark Channel Original Christmas movies and not a single Supreme Court Justice??

I suppose it’s because it’s a lot easier to watch a blockbuster film than it is to read a book. After all, I’d argue (without any real proof 😳 ) that the On the Basis of Sex made R.B.G. a household name. It’s certainly when I started seeing birthday cards and novelty items with her face on them in stores across San Francisco. 

Still, I realize that just because it takes a little more effort, it’s important to start seeking out a new type of celebrity. Celebrities that we admire for reasons other than their beauty and entertainment value. 

I’ve been reading a book called The Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas, which consists of unique maps of the Bay Area. These maps cover unique topics from butterflies to the conservative side of this locale. One of the maps is one of “Green Women.”

I hadn’t heard of any of them…

So I decided to do a deeper dive one: Alice Eastwood. 

Who is Alice Eastwood: Pioneering Botanist?

I found this amazing blog post that provided me with the following information as well as an article on the California Academy of Sciences website here. I am now planning to search for a biography so that I can learn more and more about this incredible woman. 

Alice Eastwood served as the co-curator at the San Francisco California Academy of Sciences for over fifty years. She is responsible for saving 1,000+ plants after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. She collected 340,000 specimens for the Academy’s Herbarium and provided opportunities to other women in the field of botany including Ynes Mexia. An example of a eudaimonia lifestyle.

What is perhaps even more impressive is Alice Eastwood’s early life which consisted of the early death of her mother, working to support her family as a young girl, working to pay for her own education, then making smart property investments so that she could “retire” to pursue her interest in botany. 

I recently listened to an episode of the Tim Ferris Podcast with Mr. Money Mustache. In it, they discuss the novel idea of investing a set amount of money and retiring at age 30 to live a life that brings one happiness. Well, though it is still a novel one now, Alice Eastwood beat everyone to the punch, doing exactly that at age 31 back in the 1800s! 

This is a woman who I’d like to revere as a celebrity, someone who is worthy of my admiration (though no human should ever truly be an idol. That’s why it’s important to never meet your heroes. Everyone is highly flawed). 

BUT if I am to look up to anyone, it’s someone like Alice Eastwood. I think most of all, because of her innate curiosity that kept her young and alive even in her old age. In the amazing blog post that I referenced above, the author references a quote from the book, American Women Afield: Writings by Pioneering Women Naturalists by Marcia Myers Bonta: “young at ninety-four because all her life she was studying, inquiring, learning, exploring.”

What better goal in life is there except to be filled with an inquisitive spirit until we pass?