While the formal establishment of a recognized herbarium was spearheaded by Dr. Manning in 1945, the teaching of botany and the collection and preparation of herbarium specimens has been a part of Bucknell's curricular mission since its earliest years. Among the collections currently held in the herbarium are specimens dating as far back as the mid-1800s. 

According to retired University Archivist Isabella O'Neill, the first mention of "botany" in a course title occurs in 1876/1877 as, "Structural Botany and Vegetable Physiology,"  listed under both the classical and scientific courses of study. Prior to 1876/1877, it is likely that the course, "Vegetable Physiology," represented botany studies which also appeared as a course in the classical and scientific courses of study. In the 1879/1880 university catalogue, a course titled "Botany with Plant Analysis" appears in the classical and scientific courses of study, using for the first time "botany" in a course title. In 1882/1883, a course titled, "Microscopic Botany," is listed in the classical and scientific courses of study. 

Interestingly, a course titled "biology" did not appear in the catalogues from 1850-1887. One might say that "botany" predates "biology" as a subject of study at Bucknell!  

A field and collecting component to the botany curriculum has been one of the most consistent elements of instruction throughout the history of the institution -- as evidenced by the upper photo from a 1912 class visit to the "Gundy's Farm" area along the Susquehanna River just downstream of campus. The Biology Department's Field Botany class now re-creates this photo every fall. Revisitation of a 1905 collection from the cliffs at this site by a student named Elsie Owens helped establish (more than 100 years later) the presence of white alumroot (Heuchera alba) in Pennsylvania. 

In the early years, before the Board of Trustees voted in 1886 to name the institution Bucknell University, there was the University at Lewisburg (est. 1846) and the Female Institute (est. 1852). 

In this 1868 photo of the faculty of the Female Institute, in the front row on the left, is Mary Hakes. Hakes taught quite a range of courses, from Geometry and U.S. Government to Mythology and Natural History. The latter course appears to have had a significant botany component, as evidenced by the presence of hundreds of specimens now lodged in our herbarium that were collected by her or her affiliates. Hakes' personal collection of specimens was donated to Bucknell in the 1930s by her family. 

Nathan Fithian Davis taught at Bucknell from 1896-1939 and was the primary curator of the natural history specimens housed in Bucknell Museum in the Old Main building. This building was completely gutted by a fire in 1931, destroying most of the items held in the museum - possibly including whatever sort of university herbarium collection had been amassed up until that time. Davis, to his credit, appears to have acquired multiple gifts of quality plant specimens throughout the 1930s as a means to at least rebuild a teaching collection. The Mary Hakes collection arrives during this time, for example, as does an impressive set of sheets collected by Virginia-based botanist Elizabeth S. Rawlinson. 

As significant as Wayne’s greenhouse and herbarium legacies are, more important is his gift of friendship and mentorship to generations of Bucknellians. Wayne and Peg opened their hearts to Bucknell’s students. As an enduring token of Wayne and Peg’s love for Bucknell and its students, they established the Wayne and Margaret Manning Internship in Botanical Sciences in 1992. This fund will nurture plant research at Bucknell University by generations of students yet to come.

Wayne was one of those pioneers whose example became Bucknell’s “Teacher-Scholar” model. A beloved teacher – Wayne’s love of botany and his remarkable ability to share it has inspired generations of students. An internationally recognized scholar – his research and over 40 publications on the walnut family remain as the seminal works for this plant group. Wayne’s contributions to our understanding of plants were honored when a walnut species was named for him – Alfarao manningii.

Wayne was born on April 12, 1899 in Toledo, Ohio. At the age of 8, he moved with his family to Ambridge, PA along the Ohio River, some 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Wayne loved nature – he raised Cecropia moths and spent many hours roaming the woods to study birds and mushrooms. A neighbor, Mr. Morrison, helped Wayne identify his morels and puffballs. As a 13-year-old boy scout, Wayne studied trees and learned to play chess. The following year, he and four other boys formed a “Nature Club.” Herbert Graham – specialized on wild flowers, Ed Graham – was particularly fond of trees, Kenneth Doratt – of mammals, and Wayne – loved birds. Wayne being the oldest of the four boys, served as Club President. Remarkably, all four of these boys went on to receive their Ph.D.s.

At the age of 17, Wayne joined his older sister Helen on a 6-week-long Oberlin College sponsored ecology trip to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Helen specialized on plants and Wayne on birds. Camping on the ocean shore and traveling by dugout canoe with two Native Americans, Wayne learned to love the evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest. However, not all of Wayne’s experiences on this trip were pleasant. Early one morning, Wayne and Helen decided to follow a trail that led from the beach into the dense coastal rainforest. The longer they walked, the more faint the trail became. When they turned around to retrace their steps, they realized that they were lost. Wayne and Helen had little food between them and they really weren't dressed to be out for an extended period of time, especially after it started to rain and night fell. After spending the night without shelter, Professor Jones located them and pronounced them “Two Babes in the Woods.” The trail that they had followed was one used by the Native Americans to find logs for their canoes. That’s why it led out into the woods and faded away. That fall, Wayne entered Oberlin College starting out in Chemistry but ultimately changing to Ecology.

By 1920, Wayne was lacking but a few credits to graduate. Consequently, Wayne embarked on a second Oberlin-sponsored trip with 15 other students that crossed the USA in four Model T Fords and one truck. The group camped along the roadsides and traveled without the advantage of GIS and Google Maps. Wayne recounted the following about his trip – “In those days there were no numbers on the highways – you had maps.” There were three parallel roads going across Kansas but the group didn’t know which one was best. Consequently, they stopped at a garage to ask which one was better. And the answer was, “no matter which one you take, you’ll wish you’d taken the others.” It may have been on this trip that Wayne’s deep love developed for his future wife Margaret Sheldon.

Peg and Wayne enjoyed sharing their exploration of the West. After visiting Pikes Peak, the Great Salt Lake, Moab, and many other scenic western landscapes, the Oberlin group visited Bryce Canyon – the group was much impressed with the wonderful erosional geology. On his web page, Wayne recounts their Bryce Canyon visit with the following story. “Most of the people decided to go down into the canyon.” And Wayne and Peg were no exception. Wayne offered “I took Peg’s hand and we went down into the canyon but it’s loose gravel – just a little bit scary – our conversation, our total conversation, was this “I don’t like it, Wayne. Wayne, I don’t like it. I don’t like it, Wayne. Wayne, I don’t like it. And this conversation continued all the way down.”

After submitting his written account of the trip, Wayne earned enough credits to graduate from Oberlin College with an AB degree in 1920. Curiously though, Wayne hadn’t taken any Botany courses while an undergraduate. However, the experiences of this trip and the influences of Professor Jones and his botanist brother led Wayne to decide to study Botany.

In 1921, Wayne began his graduate work in Botany at Cornell University. The Cornell years were punctuated by Wayne and Peg’s marriage on June 11, 1924. Wayne completed his Ph.D. on the floral anatomy of the Juglandaceae (the Walnut family) in 1926. After his graduate school focus on plant anatomy, Wayne turned his research more to taxonomic questions. After serving as an Instructor in Botany at Cornell, Wayne joined the faculty of the University of Illinois, Urbana for the 1927-1928 academic year.

Their son, Alan Sheldon Manning was born on August 12, 1928 as they moved to Smith College in Northampton, MA. Wayne was promoted to Associate Professor of Botany in 1936 and completed 14 years at Smith College before Wayne’s Smith College career was terminated along with those of fourteen other members of the faculty. During World War II, Wayne worked in a Defense Plant teaching women machinists basic mathematics. He also worked himself as a machine operator, then as a materials order person.

In 1944, Wayne wrote to the Presidents of some 125 colleges seeking a faculty position in Botany. He received but one positive reply, thankfully for us that reply came from Bucknell University.

Warren Abrahamson, known to all who know him as Abe, was a member of the Biology faculty from 1973-2012, including more than 20 years as the inaugural David Burpee Professor. During that time he established himself as one of the world's foremost experts on the tri-trophic level interactions of goldenrods, gall insects, and natural enemies of gall insects. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,  Abe has been involved for his entire career in Florida-based research on the role of fire in Florida ecosystems, patterns of mast (fruit) production by woody plants of Florida scrub, and interactions of oaks, cynipid gall wasps, and fire. He was named a Research Associate of Archbold Biological Station in 1976; and more than 50 Bucknell students studied with him there and many did research projects and some completed theses based on Florida research. 

In the early 1990s Abe was instrumental in designing plant collections spaces for the new Rooke Biology Building, including a new conservatory greenhouse and a modern herbarium. He and his students moved the herbarium collection two times: from the Taylor Hall attic to the top floor of the Botany Building (1977), and then to Rooke Biology upon its completion. He and his team of herbarium assistants began the task of digitizing Manning Herbarium specimens in about 1990 and that effort continued until his retirement in 2012. This was a huge task and made more difficult by changing software; they began with dBase IV and later moved to Access. Abe then worked with Mike Weaver to create the former BUPL website and to provide online access -- another sizable undertaking. BUPL's records were migrated to a new Symbiota platform in 2025. 

Abe taught Plant Systematics in alternate autumn semesters and Plant-Animal Interactions for many years, which introduced many Bucknell students to plants.