Albert Francis Blakeslee
An American botanist who used the humble jimsonweed to unlock fundamental secrets of genetics and plant sexuality.
1874–1954 (age 80)·American botanist·Birthday: November 9·The Gilded Age
Biography
Albert Francis Blakeslee saw the extraordinary in ordinary plants. Working at the Carnegie Institution's Station for Experimental Evolution at Cold Spring Harbor, he turned the toxic jimsonweed (Datura) into a revolutionary genetic tool. By meticulously tracking its bizarre hereditary traits—like extra petals or seedpod shapes—he provided some of the clearest early evidence for chromosomal inheritance in plants, bridging Mendelian genetics with cellular biology. His curiosity then turned to the hidden world of fungi, where he and his colleagues made a startling discovery: what were thought to be separate species were actually male and female strains of the same fungus, proving sexual reproduction in a kingdom where it was unknown. Blakeslee was a builder as much as a discoverer; he later became the first director of the Smith College Genetics Experiment Station, fostering a new generation of scientists. His work, grounded in careful observation of seemingly odd phenomena, reshaped the understanding of how life passes its blueprints from one generation to the next.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Albert was born in 1874, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Albert Was Born
The biggest hits of 1874
Albert's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1874Born
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1879Started school
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1887Became a teenager
President: Grover Cleveland
1890Could drive
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1892Could vote
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Turned 21
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1904Turned 30
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1914Turned 40
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1924Turned 50
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1934Turned 60
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stars Fell on Alabama" — Jack TeagardenBest Picture: It Happened One Night
1944Turned 70
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1954Turned 80
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
Key Achievements
- Used the jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) to demonstrate chromosomal inheritance and mutation in plants.
- Discovered heterothallism in fungi, proving the existence of distinct sexual strains (mating types).
- Served as the founding director of the Genetics Experiment Station at Smith College.
- Was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1936.
Did You Know?
He discovered the sexual reproduction mechanism in the common bread mold, Rhizopus.
His brother, George Hubbard Blakeslee, was a prominent historian and expert on the Far East.
He received the prestigious Leidy Award from the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1930.
“Datura stramonium is a weedy plant, but its chromosomes tell a profound story.”
