{"id":825,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:32:18","latitude":40.2533956663502294759382493793964385986328125,"longitude":-111.6470468044281005859375,"title":"The S. L. Welsh Herbarium","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/21fcf6beb8d44646e2e2c531332bf08d.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Cristal A. DeSantiago, Northern Arizona University"],"description":"The S.L. Welsh Herbarium is at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. The story of its establishment begins in 1874 when  Orson W. Howard created the first herbarium in Utah. Then, in 1923, the university hired Walter P. Cottam, a former master's student and one of the first two individuals to receive a master's degree from BYU, as a botany professor. Upon joining the staff, Cottam received a portion of Howard's herbarium collection to form the Brigham Young University herbarium. However, before adding additional specimens, Cottam had to register the existing collection to choose a permanent acronym, and he selected BRY for Brigham Young. He served as the curator for seven years before passing the role to Dr. Bertrand Harrison in 1930, another BYU former student and Professor of Botany, who held the curator position for the next thirty years. During Harrison's tenure, the herbarium collection grew to 26,000 samples.

In 1960, Harrison passed the job down to Dr. Stanley L. Welsh. Welsh taught biology at the school and became a well-known curator due to his work developing a program to exchange specimens with numerous universities. By 1971, the herbarium had established connections with Iowa State, North Carolina, Alaska, and international university herbariums. That same year, the collection reached a milestone of 96,000 specimens sourced from Western America, Northern Europe, and the Middle East. The oldest specimen in the archives dates to 1850 and came from Europe, while the oldest native Utah specimen collected was a gift from the University of Utah that dates to the 1880s. Over forty years, Welsh added 150 sheets of pressed and preserved specimens annually, expanding the collection from 25,000 to 450,000. In 1980, the university renamed the herbarium to honor Welsh's contributions. As the collection grew, the herbarium changed locations, moving from the university's Brimhall Building to the Grant Building, then to the Biolab, and finally to its current location under the Bean Museum when it opened in 1978. The school named the museum after Monte Lafayette Bean, a naturalist who funded its construction. The herbarium collection continues to sit under the Bean Museum and currently holds specimens collected globally but emphasizing the Great Basin and Intermountain West.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"Walter P. Cottam, one of the first to receive a master's degree from Brigham Young University, established the S.L. Welsh in 1923. In 1980, the school named the herbarium after Stanley L. Welsh, who served as a curator in the 1960s. The S.L. Welsh Herbarium's collection size is ranked 20th out of 646 nationwide and 65th out of 3,001 herbariums worldwide.","website":"","related_resources":["

“Brigham Young University, S.L. Welsh Herbarium ( BRY-V).” Intermountain Region Herbarium Network. Accessed November 17, 2023.  Consortium of Intermountain Herbaria Brigham Young University, S. L. Welsh Herbarium (intermountainbiota.org).

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“Dr. Walter Pace Cottam : Ecologist, professor of botany.” Washington County Historical Society. Accessed December 2, 2023. Dr. Walter P. Cottam (wchsutah.org)

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“Flora of Utah: studied, saved.” Daily Herald ( Provo, UT), Jan. 19, 1987. Accessed November 20, 2023. Article clipped from The Daily Herald - Newspapers.com™

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“Former Poea Man Directs Herbarium at BYU.” Summit Country Bee ( Coalville, UT), Sep. 9, 1971. Accessed November 20, 2023. Article clipped from Summit County Bee - Newspapers.com™

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Hale, Val. “200,000 Plants at BYU Museum” Daily Herald (Provo , UT), Nov. 27, 1981. Accessed November 17, 2023.Article clipped from The Daily Herald - Newspapers.com™

","“Harrison, Bertrand Fereday, 1908-2002.” BYU Library- Special Collections. Accessed December 2, 20223. Harrison, Bertrand Fereday, 1908-2002 | BYU Library - Special Collections","

“Harrison, Bertrand Fereday ( 1908-2002).” JSTOR. ITHAKA. Last revised April 19, 2013. Accessed December 1, 2023. Edit History: Harrison, Bertrand Fereday (1908-2002) on JSTOR 

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Mecham, Amelia. “BYU’s Herbarium.” BYU Life Sciences. Accessed November 17, 2023.  BYU's Herbarium - BYU Life Sciences

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“M.L. Bean Museum.” BYU Harold B. Lee Library. Brigham Young University. Accessed December 1, 2023. M.L. Bean Museum - Byuorg

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“Orem scientist develops Utah’s largest herbarium.” Orem-Geneva Times ( Orem, UT), Jan. 28, 1987. Accessed November 20, 2023. Article clipped from Orem-Geneva Times - Newspapers.com™

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“Peoa Man is a BYU Herbalist.” Summit Country Bee ( Coalville, UT), Feb. 6, 1987. Accessed November 17, 2023.  Article clipped from Summit County Bee - Newspapers.com™

"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/21fcf6beb8d44646e2e2c531332bf08d.jpg":{"id":3640,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Dr. Stanley L. Welsh, in the archives of the Stanley L. Welsh herbarium","description":"Dr. Stanley L. Welsh, in the archives of the Stanley L. Welsh herbarium. He was classifying new specimens to add to the collection in 1971.
\r\n | Newspapers.com, The Salt Lake Tribute May 17, 1976, Page 17. Available at Article clipped from Summit County Bee - Newspapers.com™","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/21fcf6beb8d44646e2e2c531332bf08d.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/aff3c55216c54279727f1462f452ec14.jpg":{"id":3641,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Stanley L. Welsh herbarium archive","description":"The Stanley L. Welsh herbarium archives are stored under the Bean Museum at Brigham Young University. Each cabinet holds folders filled with pressed plant samples, making up their collection of 600,000 plant specimens.
\r\n | Bean Blog, Behind the Scenes- Stanley L Welsh Herbarium. Available at Bean Blog: November 2014 (beanmuseum.org)","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/aff3c55216c54279727f1462f452ec14.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/7cb507c7f570d51bbbb23f1e96354ecd.jpg":{"id":3642,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Amsonia Latifolia","description":"Amsonia Latifolia, from the Stanley L. Welsh Herbarium collection, collected by Marcus E. Jones in 1899. Discovered in Utah, Sevier, Monroe. Catalog # BRYV0000051 This image was used with the permission of Stanley L. Welsh Herbarium. No changes were made. | Intermountain network, Brigham Young University, S. L. Welsh Herbarium (BRY: V). Available at Consortium of Intermountain Herbaria Detailed Collection Record Information (intermountainbiota.org)","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/7cb507c7f570d51bbbb23f1e96354ecd.jpg"}}}