Helen Morgenthau Fox (1884–1974)

Helen Morgenthau Fox was born in New York City, a daughter of Henry Morgenthau, Sr., a lawyer and diplomat who served as the USA's Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), and his wife Josephine Sykes Morgenthau. Her family encouraged her to become involved in a serious life work, and she decided her vocation was botany. She attended Vassar College and, after graduating in 1905, continued her studies at the New York Botanical Garden and Columbia University. In 1906, she married Mortimer J. Fox, an architect, banker, and landscape artist with whom she had three children. They lived in Bedford, New York on a 20-acre property named High Low Farm. Helen published a variety of popular books on plants and gardening over nearly 50 years, beginning with Garden Cinderellas (1928), on lilies. In 1934, she helped design and guide the herb garden at The Met Cloisters museum in northern Manhattan. She also lectured widely on gardening around the world, including talks on behalf of the US Department of Agriculture, and wrote articles for The New York Times. In 1949, she translated the journals of French naturalist and missionary Abbé David from his trip to China in 1866. She also appeared frequently on radio and television programs.