Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation is a world-class botanical archiving institute, located on the top floor of Carnegie Mellon’s Hunt Library. Luxurious wood and polished metal adorn the Institute’s walls, alongside intricate, hand-drawn illustrations of a variety of plants and flowers. The Hunt Institute exists today as a research division of Carnegie Mellon University. The Institute was born out of Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt’s immense personal collection of rare botanical drawings and books, along with letters, portraits, and journals associated with prominent figures in the botanical sciences. McMasters Miller Hunt was born to a well-off family and was given a top-notch education. The gifting of a copy of Mrs. William Starr Dana’s How to Know the Wild Flowers to a young Rachel sparked a lifelong passion for the botanical sciences as well as rare books. The materials from her collection were donated by the Hunt family in 1961, along with the Hunt Library that houses them. The Hunts wanted to keep the materials together permanently, and in the Pittsburgh area.

Since 1961, the collection, which was already renowned in botanical circles, has continued to grow. Per their website, “The current collections include approximately 24,000+ portraits; 200+ archival collections; 30,957 watercolors, drawings and prints; 243,000+ data files; and 30,665 book and serial titles.” Today, the Institute stands as a giant in the botanical sciences and botanical archives communities worldwide. The Hunt Institute continues to host exhibitions, publish and co-publish literature, and build upon their already immense collection. The depth and quality of the services provided by the Hunt Institute to those interested in botany quite literally span the globe. This impressive institution still remains a relative secret in the city of Pittsburgh as it sits atop a Carnegie Mellon library, but its influence will be felt for generations. The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation is certainly a crucial piece of the cultural and intellectual tradition of both the city and for botanists everywhere.

Works Cited

 “About." The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, www.HuntBotanical.org/about/. Accessed 3 December 2018.