Archives West Finding Aid

Carl William Sharsmith was born in New York, New York in 1903. He studied botany at the University of California in the 1930s and received the Ph.D. in 1940. He held a position combining duties as herbarium curator and botany instructor at Washington State University from 1937 to 1939. From 1940 to 1946 he was with the University of Minnesota, and from 1950 onward at San Jose State College. His principal interest was in alpine vegetation.

Sharsmith's years at Washington State proved to be a frustrating time. He found himself required to teach many classes, while also attempting to complete a doctoral dissertation and administer a herbarium with a large backlog of work. He inadvertently became involved in a quarrel with the university administration when the University President cancelled planned field trips. He also felt a sense of isolation at Pullman, where he was far from the alpine vegetation which held his major interest. Moreover, the lack of cultural opportunities, especially performances of serious music, added to this feeling of isolation. After two years he left this position. Ironically, many of the problems which had vexed him, and which had also prompted his immediate predecessors to leave Washington State, were then alleviated by changes in the policies regarding research, teaching, and administration of the herbarium.