In 1909, Ethel Nicholson Browne, a graduate student in zoology at Columbia University,
published a paper in The Journal of Experimental Zoology entitled “The Production of
New Hydranths in Hydra by the Insertion of Small Grafts.” In 1991, Howard Lenhoff
published a paper in The Biological Bulletin in which he discussed the relationship
between Browne’s paper and the work of Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold
demonstrating the organizing capacity of the dorsal lip of the amphibian embryo, work
that led to Spemann being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935.
Based on the finding of a reprint of Browne’s paper in Spemann’s reprint collection,
Lenhoff suggests the possibility that Spemann and Mangold were influenced by
Browne’s work but failed to cite it. Furthermore, Lenhoff argues that Browne should
have been awarded a Nobel Prize together with Spemann. Through the extraordinary
generosity of Howard Lenhoff’s widow, Sylvia G. Lenhoff, we have recently been given
access to unpublished documents pertaining to Howard’s research regarding Ethel
Browne’s discovery of the head organizer in Hydra. Sylvia has given us permission to
make these documents publicly available, which will allow others to assess the history
of Browne’s discovery. Here we provide links to these documents and other material
relevant to Browne’s legacy. We encourage readers to review these documents and draw their own conclusions.
Rob Steele (University of California, Irvine) and Rafael Yuste (Columbia University)
PERSONAL LIFE
Ethel Browne Harvey (December 14, 1885 in Baltimore, Maryland – September 2, 1965 in Falmouth, Massachusetts). This photo was taken at the Marine Biological Laboratory and is in the MBL archives.
This photo of Ethel Browne Harvey’s husband, Edmund Newton Harvey, was taken at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. The photo is currently in the MBL Archives.
“http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/07/Engagement-of-Miss-Ethel-Nicholson-Browne-to-Dr.-Edmund-Newton-Harvey.pdf”]
Engagement of Miss-Ethel-Nicholson-Browne to Dr. Edmund-Newton-Harvey
This article from the February 18, 1916 issue of The Baltimore Sun announced the engagement of Ethel Browne to Edmund Newton Harvey.
The old mess hall at the MBL
According to Ethel Browne Harvey’s “In Memoriam” in The Biological Bulletin, she and her husband “held court” in a corner table here. One wonders if she crossed paths with Hans Spemann here.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Mess.pdf”]Mess
The current cottage at 159 Penzance Point in Woods Hole. This was the site of the original Browne Harvey cottage that burned down. Sadly, all of Ethel’s papers were destroyed in the fire. It is likely that a lot of interesting information was lost.
Back of the current cottage.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/BrowneEthel-AlFedCardBox16.pdf”]BrowneEthel-AlFedCardBox16
Harvey-edmund
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/07/Edmund_Harvey_Jr_Passport_Application.jpg.pdf”]Edmund_Harvey_Jr_Passport_Application
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/07/Obituary-for-E.-N.-Harvey-Aged-71.pdf”]Obituary-for-E.-N.-Harvey-Aged-71
Marine Biological Laboratory 2018 Neural Systems and Behaviour Course students and Hydra lab members at Browne Harvey’s grave at the Woods Hole Village Cemetery. The cemetery is located adjacent to the Church of the Messiah.
Interactive map of Woods Hole Cemetery with location of tomb: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1fUMkIyOOY7OBJc01MaRBcb0BsOlvXYBZ&usp=sharing
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Woods_Hole_Tombstone_Guide_HydraLab-2018-copy.pdf”]Woods_Hole_Tombstone_Guide
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Ethel_Browne_Memorial.pdf”]Ethel_Browne_Memorial
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/MBL_Biography.pdf”]MBL Biography
ACADEMIC CAREER
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/BrowneEthel-Transcript.pdf”]BrowneEthel-Transcript
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/07/Browne_UAThesis_1907_COAF07v.16.pdf”]Browne_UAThesis_1907_COA
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/low_res_order_form_combined.pdf”]Low_res_order_form_combined
Browne Thesis 1907
The genus Spirochaeta
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/browne.phd_.pdf“] [gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Commencement_1902_Ethel-Browne.pdf”]Commencement_1902
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/nnc1-cu50528238-5-1718659373.pdf”]Browne PhD Dissertation 1913
A Study of the Male Germ Cells Cells in Motonecta
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Pure Science , Columbia University
Reprinted from The Journal of Experimental Zoology Vol.14 No.1 January, 1913
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/loomis-alfred.pdf”]Loomis alfred’s memoir mentioning Ehtel Browne
With E. Newton Harvey and Ethel Browne Harvey. Further observations on the effect of high frequency sound waves on living matter. Biol. Bull., 55:459-69.
TRANSPLANTATION EXPERIMENTS
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/browne.hydratransplants.pdf”]The production of new hydrants in hura by the insertion of small grafts
Ethel Nichokson Browne
Journal of Experimental Zoology, 1909
SPEMANN
Hans Spemann
This photo from the MBL archives shows Hans Spemann at the MBL in 1931. Spemann was a visiting researcher at the MBL in 1931 and 1936. Given that Ethel Browne Harvey spent summers at the MBL beginning in 1909 and continuing for nearly 50 years, it is not unlikely that she and Spemann met while he was at the MBL. If so, did they dine together at the Mess? Did they discuss the organizer? One wonders whether there was information about this in Browne Harvey’s papers that were lost when her house in Woods Hole burned.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Sander_and_Faessler_2001.pdf”]Introducing the Spemann-Mangold organizer: experiments and insights that generated a key concept in developmental biology
KLAUS SANDER*,1 and PETER E. FAESSLER2
Hans Spemann’s grave in Pragfriedhof Stuttgart
CONTROVERSY
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Sears_Crowell_Letter.pdf“]Sears_Crowell_Letter 1989. 8.3
This is the letter from Sears Crowell to Howard Lenhoff that Howard mentions in his Biological Bulletin paper. In the letter, Sears describes his conversation at the MBL with Ethel Browne Harvey in which she says “You know that it was I who first discovered the organizer?” The original copy of the letter was given to Rob Steele by Sylvia Lenhoff.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Klaus_Sander_Letter.pdf”]Klaus Sander Letter 1988.11.7
This letter from Klaus Sander to Howard Lenhoff describes the discovery of the reprint of Ethel Browne’s Hydra paper in Spemann’s archives. It also discusses the Nazi stamp that was added to the paper when Spemann’s archives were bequeathed to the Zoological Institute at the University of Freiburg after his death. Sander asks Lenhoff to cover up the stamp to avoid bringing up Spemann’s possible connections to the Nazi regime.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Reprint_Cover_with_Nazi_Stamp.pdf“]This shows a scan of the front page of the copy of Ethel Browne’s paper in Spemann’s archives. It shows the Nazi Stamp that was covered up in the scan shown in Lenhoff’s Biological Bulletin paper. Lenhoff removed the stamp at the suggestion of Klaus Sander (add link here to Klaus Sander letter).
Reprint_Cover_with_Nazi_Stamp
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Lenhoff_Paper_1991.pdf”]Lenhoff_Paper_1991
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Lenhoff_Abstract.pdf”]Lenhoff_Abstract
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Evelyn_Fox_Keller_Letter_1.pdf”]Evelyn Fox Keller’s Letter 1 to Howard Lenhoff 1991.3.16 about Victor Hamburger’s response to Lenhoff’s paper
Photo of Viktor Hamburger taken at the MBL and currently in the MBL Archives.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Viktor_Hamburger_Letter_1.pdf“]Viktor_Hamburger_Letter_1
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Viktor_Hamburger_Letter_2.pdf”]Viktor Hamburger Letter 2 1992.3.10 in response to Harward Lenhoff’s paper send to him by Evelyn Fox Kelle, denying influence of Browne’s work on Spemann
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Waelsch_Letter.pdf“]Salome Waelsch’s Letter to Evelyn 1992.4.3 in response to Viktor Hamburger’s letter expressing reserved opinion about Spemann and certainty that he knew about Browne’s work however didn’t find it relevant.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Evelyn_Fox_Keller_Letter_2.pdf”]Evelyn Fox Keller’s Letter to Howard Lenhoff 1992.4.8 about a reference to Harvey from 1942
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Richard_Harvey_Letter.pdf”]Letter from Richard Harvey to Lenhoff dated 1991.10.31
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Greenberg_Letter_1.pdf”]Greenberg’s letter to Lenoff in support of publishing his manuscript in the Biological Bulletin 1990.6.11
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Reply_to_Greenberg.pdf”]Lenoff’s reply to Greenberg 1990.10.2
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Greenberg_Letter_2.pdf”]Greenberg’s letter to Lenoff about reviewer’s comments 1990.11.5
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Reviewer_1_Comments.pdf”]Reviewer Comments
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Reviewer_3_Comments.pdf”]Reviewer Comments
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Kabat_Letter.pdf”]Alan Kabat’s Letter in response to Lenhoff’s paper 1991.8.29
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Jeanette_Harvey_Letter.pdf”]Jeanette Harvey’s Letter in response to Lenhoff’s paper 1991.10.20
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Hufbauer_Letter.pdf”]Hufbauer’s Letter in response to Lenhoff’s paper
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Afzelius_Letter.pdf”]Afzelius Letter in response to Lenhoff’s paper 1991.10.7
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Afzelius_Letter_3.pdf”]Letter from Lenoff to Afzelius 1992.3.23
Requesting Ethel Brone’s reprint collection.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Afzelius_Letter_2.pdf”]Afzelius Letter to Lenhoff’s 1992.3.30
Regarding the reprints he received from Ehtel Browne in 1958.
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Gurdon_Letter.pdf”]Letter from John Gurdon to Lenhoff 2009.1.21
Expressing admirartion for Lenhoff’s paper
[gview file=”http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/rmy5/files/2024/06/Holstein_2024.pdf”]The significance of Ethel Browne’s research on Hydra for the organizer concept
Thomas W. Holstein 2024
