# David Fairchild

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American botanist (1869–1954)

This article is about the botanist. For the politician, see [David Fairchild (California politician)](/source/David_Fairchild_(California_politician)).

David G. Fairchild Born (1869-04-07)April 7, 1869 Lansing, Michigan, U.S. Died August 6, 1954(1954-08-06) (aged 85) Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida, U.S. Education Kansas State College of Agriculture, Iowa State University, Rutgers University Known for Incorporating non-native food and other commercial plants into American agriculture Spouse Marian Hubbard Bell (daughter of Alexander Graham Bell) Children Alexander Graham Bell Fairchild, Nancy Bell (who married Marston Bates) Father George Fairchild Awards Honorary D.Sc. from Oberlin College, Public Welfare Medal (1933) Scientific career Fields Botany Institutions U.S. Department of Agriculture University of Miami Patrons Barbour Lathrop, Allison Armour Author abbrev. (botany) D.Fairchild

**David Grandison Fairchild** (April 7, 1869 – August 6, 1954) was an American [botanist](/source/Botany) and plant explorer. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 [exotic plants](/source/Exotic_plants)[1] and varieties of established [crops](/source/Agriculture) into the United States, including [soybeans](/source/Soybean),[2] [pistachios](/source/Pistachio),[3] [mangos](/source/Mangos), [nectarines](/source/Nectarine), [dates](/source/Date_palm), [bamboos](/source/Bamboos), and [flowering cherries](/source/Prunus_serrulata).[4] Certain varieties of wheat,[5] cotton, and rice became especially economically important.

## Early life and education

Fairchild was born in [Lansing, Michigan](/source/Lansing%2C_Michigan) and was raised in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan%2C_Kansas), Kansas. He was a member of the [Fairchild family](/source/Fairchild_family), descendants of Thomas Fairchild of [Stratford](/source/Stratford%2C_Connecticut), Connecticut. He graduated from [Kansas State College of Agriculture](/source/Kansas_State_College_of_Agriculture) (B.A. 1888, M.S. 1889) where his father, [George Fairchild](/source/George_Fairchild), was president. He continued his studies at [Iowa State](/source/Iowa_State_University) and at [Rutgers](/source/Rutgers_University) with his uncle, [Byron Halsted](/source/Byron_Halsted), a noted biologist. He received an [honorary](/source/Honorary_degree) [D.Sc.](/source/D.Sc.) degree from [Oberlin College](/source/Oberlin_College) in 1915.

## Career

[Barbour Lathrop](/source/Barbour_Lathrop), a wealthy world traveler, persuaded Fairchild to become a plant explorer for the [United States Department of Agriculture](/source/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture). Lathrop and another wealthy patron, Allison Armour, financed some of Fairchild's many explorations for new plants to be introduced into the U.S. Fairchild was the author of a number of popular books on his plant collecting expeditions. Of those early travels, Fairchild wrote, "I am glad that I saw a few of the quiet places of the world before the coming of automobiles...".[6]

For many years Fairchild managed the [Office of Seed and Plant Introduction](/source/Office_of_Seed_and_Plant_Introduction) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. One accomplishment was to help introduce flowering cherry trees from Japan to Washington.[7] He is also credited with introducing [kale](/source/Kale), [quinoa](/source/Quinoa) and [avocados](/source/Avocado) to Americans.[8] In 1898, he established the [introduction garden for tropical plants](/source/Chapman_Field_(Miami)) in [Miami](/source/Miami), Florida.[9] In 1905 he married Marian Bell, the younger daughter of [Alexander Graham Bell](/source/Alexander_Graham_Bell).[10][11] Fairchild was a member of the board of trustees of the [National Geographic Society](/source/National_Geographic_Society),[12] and an officer in what is now called the [Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing](/source/Alexander_Graham_Bell_Association_for_the_Deaf_and_Hard_of_Hearing).[13]

In 1926, the Fairchilds built a home on an 8-acre (32,000 m2) parcel on Biscayne Bay in [Coconut Grove, Florida](/source/Coconut_Grove%2C_Florida). They named it "[The Kampong](/source/The_Kampong)", after similar family compounds in [Java, Indonesia](/source/Java%2C_Indonesia), where Fairchild had spent so many happy days collecting plants. He covered this property with an extraordinary collection of rare tropical trees and plants and eventually wrote a book about the place, entitled *The World Grows Round my Door*. In 1984, The Kampong became part of the [National Tropical Botanical Garden](/source/National_Tropical_Botanical_Garden). In 1938, he was honored by having the [Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden](/source/Fairchild_Tropical_Botanic_Garden) in [Coral Gables](/source/Coral_Gables%2C_Florida) named after him. He was also the namesake of David Fairchild Elementary in [South Miami](/source/South_Miami).

### University of Miami

Fairchild was a member of the board of regents of the [University of Miami](/source/University_of_Miami) from 1929 to 1933. For three of those years he was chairman of the board.[14] In 1933, he was awarded the [Public Welfare Medal](/source/Public_Welfare_Medal) from the [National Academy of Sciences](/source/United_States_National_Academy_of_Sciences).[15]

His son, [Alexander Graham Bell Fairchild](/source/Graham_Fairchild), lived and worked as a research [entomologist](/source/Entomology) for 33 years at the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory in [Panama](/source/Republic_of_Panama). His daughter, Nancy Bell, married another entomologist, [Marston Bates](/source/Marston_Bates), author of many books on [natural history](/source/Natural_history). She herself wrote a book, *East of the [Andes](/source/Andes) and West of Nowhere*, about living in rural [Colombia](/source/Colombia) during the 1940s.

Fairchild is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, *[Anolis fairchildi](/source/List_of_Anolis_lizards)*.[16] Several plants were named after Fairchild, including *Indigofera heudelotii* var. *fairchildii* (Baker f.) J.B.Gillett, *Elaeocarpus fairchildii* Merr., *Actinidia* × *fairchildii* Rehder, and *Ficus* *fairchildii* Backer.[17]

## Plant introductions

### Southwestern (Pima) cotton

David Fairchild played an important role in introducing cotton to the southwestern United States. Circa 1900, the United States led the world in cotton production, with its large production of “upland” cotton in the southeastern part of the country, and its high quality [sea island](/source/Gossypium_barbadense#Sea_Island_cotton) along the Atlantic coast. At the time, the southwestern United States did not produce commercial quantities of cotton. Egypt then led the world with a class of cotton higher quality than "upland" and more economical than "sea island". [H. J. Webber](/source/Herbert_John_Webber) and others in the United States Department of Agriculture believed [Egyptian cultivars](/source/Gossypium_barbadense#Egyptian) would thrive, under irrigation, in the deserts of the southwestern United States. On behalf of the USDA, David Fairchild visited Egypt in 1902 and brought back a few cultivars. A USDA team led by [Thomas H. Kearney](/source/Thomas_Henry_Kearney) selected among these cultivars, and after a decade of refinement, released the first cultivar successful in the southwestern United States.[18] This particularly high quality cotton eventually came to be known as [Pima](/source/Gossypium_barbadense#Pima).

## Works

Fairchild wrote four books that describe his extensive world travels and his work introducing new plant species to the United States. Beside sharing his legendary tropical botanical expertise, Fairchild provided graphic accounts of native cultures he was able to see before their modernization. He was an accomplished photographer and illustrated these books himself.

- *The World Was My Garden: Travels of a Plant Explorer* (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1938)

- *Garden Islands of the Great East: Collecting Seeds from the Philippines and Netherlands India in the Junk 'Chêng ho* (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1943)

- *The World Grows Round My Door; The Story of The Kampong, a Home on The Edge of the Tropics* (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1947)

- *Exploring for Plants.* (New York: Macmillan, 1930)

*The World Was My Garden* won a [National Book Award](/source/List_of_National_Book_Award_winners#1935_to_1941) as the Bookseller Discovery of 1938, voted by members of the [American Booksellers Association](/source/American_Booksellers_Association). The discovery was "the most deserving book which failed to receive adequate sales and recognition."[19]

In addition Fairchild and his wife Marian wrote an early book on [macro photography](/source/Macro_photography) of insects titled *Book of Monsters* (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1914). Fairchild also wrote numerous monographs about plants, plant exploring, and the transportation and cultivation of new plants in the United States.

The standard [author abbreviation](/source/List_of_botanists_by_author_abbreviation_(A)) D.Fairchild is used to indicate this person as the author when [citing](/source/Author_citation_(botany)) a [botanical name](/source/Botanical_name).[20]

## See also

- [The Kampong](/source/The_Kampong), the home and personal introduction garden of David Grandison Fairchild

## References

**Notes**

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Williams 1963. p. 185.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Fairchild 1938. p. 259.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Fairchild 1938. p. 174.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["History of the Cherry Trees"](https://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.html). *National Park Service*. Retrieved May 20, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Barbour 1943. p. 145.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Fairchild 1938. p. 103.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** National Park Service

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Diamond, Anna (January 2018). ["America's First "Food Spy" Traveled the World Hunting for Exotic Crops"](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/smalltalk_fairchild-180967508/). *[Smithsonian](/source/Smithsonian_(magazine))*. Retrieved January 6, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Fairchild 1947. p. 19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Stone, Daniel (Daniel Evan), 1985- (2018). *The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats*. New York City. pp. 204–219. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-101-99058-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-101-99058-2). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [988851760](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/988851760).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher)) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list)) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["George H. M. Lawrence Papers, 1850-1982"](https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RUn-msg49&view=inventory#c304). *www.riamco.org*. Retrieved July 14, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Poole 2004. p. 133.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Fairchild 1938. p. 380.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Tebeau 1976. p. 43

1. **[^](#cite_ref-PublicWelfare_15-0)** ["Public Welfare Award"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130809104231/http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/public-welfare-medal.html). National Academy of Sciences. Archived from [the original](http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/public-welfare-medal.html) on August 9, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). *The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles*. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4214-0135-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4214-0135-5). ("Fairchild", p. 88).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Zona, S. 1995. The immortal Fairchilds. Garden News [Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden] 50(4): 11, 12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Porcher, Richard Dwight; Fick, Sarah (2005). *The Story of Sea Island Cotton*. Charleston, South Carolina: Wyrick. pp. xxxii, 82–83. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-941711-73-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-941711-73-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nyt1939_19-0)** "Book About Plants Receives Award: Dr. Fairchild's 'Garden' Work Cited by Booksellers", *The New York Times* 1939-02-15, page 20. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851–2007).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [International Plant Names Index](/source/International_Plant_Names_Index). [*D.Fairchild*](https://www.ipni.org/search?q=author%20std%3AD.Fairchild).

**Bibliography**

English [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has original works by or about:

**[David Grandison Fairchild](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/en:Author:David_Grandison_Fairchild)**

- [Barbour, Thomas](/source/Thomas_Barbour). *Naturalist at Large*. Boston: Little, Brown, 1943.

- Clement, Gail. ["Reclaiming the Everglades / David Grandison Fairchild"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140606230359/http://everglades.fiu.edu/reclaim/bios/fairchild.htm). [Florida International University](/source/Florida_International_University). Archived from [the original](http://everglades.fiu.edu/reclaim/bios/fairchild.htm) on June 6, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2011.

- Fairchild, David. *The World Was My Garden*. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938.

- Fairchild, David (1947). *The World Grows Round My Door*. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 347.

- ["HISTORY OF THE CHERRY TREES"](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/index.htm). National Park Service. Retrieved November 13, 2013.

- Poole, Robert M. *Explorers House*. New York: Penguin Press, 2004.

- Tebeau, Charlton W. *The University of Miami*. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1976.

- Williams, Beryl and Epstein, Samuel. *Plant Explorer*. New York: Julian Messner, 1963.

## Further reading

- Harris, Amanda. *The Fruits of Eden: David Fairchild and America's Plant Hunters*. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-8130-6061-3.

- [Douglas, Marjory Stoneman](/source/Marjory_Stoneman_Douglas). [*Adventures in a Green World: the Story of David Fairchild and Barbour Lathrop*](https://books.google.com/books?id=6PpGAAAAYAAJ&), Coconut Grove, Florida: Field Research Projects, 1973.

- "Fairchild, David (Grandison)", *[Current Biography](/source/Current_Biography)*, 1953: 190–193.

- "Fairchild, David (Grandison)" (obituary), *Current Biography*, 1954: 266.

- "Fairchild, David Grandison." *[American National Biography](/source/American_National_Biography)* (1999). 7:680-681.

- "Fairchild, David Grandison." *[National Cyclopaedia of American Biography](/source/The_National_Cyclopaedia_of_American_Biography)* (1930). C:253-254

- Stone, Daniel. *The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats*. New York City: Dutton, 2018. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-101-99058-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-101-99058-2). [OCLC](/source/OCLC) 988851760.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [David Fairchild](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:David_Fairchild).

[Library resources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:The_Wikipedia_Library) about
 **David Fairchild**

- [Resources in your library](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=viaf&su=20430545)

- [Resources in other libraries](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=viaf&su=20430545&library=0CHOOSE0)

**By David Fairchild**

- [Online books](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?at=viaf&au=20430545&library=OLBP)

- [Resources in your library](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?at=viaf&au=20430545)

- [Resources in other libraries](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?at=viaf&au=20430545&library=0CHOOSE0)

- [Complete bibliography](http://www.grovebook.com/GA31.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080828181555/http://grovebook.com/GA31.htm) August 28, 2008, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [David Grandison Fairchild and The Kampong](https://web.archive.org/web/20120104014618/http://www.ntbg.org/gardens/kampong-history.php)

- [Works by David Fairchild](https://www.gutenberg.org/author/Fairchild,+David) at [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg)

- [Works by or about David Grandison Fairchild](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%20Grandison%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%20G%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20D%2E%20G%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22David%20Grandison%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22David%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22D%2E%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22David%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22David%20Grandison%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22David%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22D%2E%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22D%2E%20Grandison%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%20Grandison%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%20G%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20D%2E%20G%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20D%2E%20Grandison%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22David%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%22%20OR%20title%3A%22David%20Grandison%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20title%3A%22David%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20title%3A%22D%2E%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20title%3A%22David%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20description%3A%22David%20Grandison%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20description%3A%22David%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20description%3A%22D%2E%20G%2E%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%20Grandison%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%20G%2E%22%20OR%20description%3A%22David%20Fairchild%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Fairchild%2C%20David%22%29%20OR%20%28%221869-1954%22%20AND%20Fairchild%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

- [Works by David Fairchild](https://librivox.org/author/19349) at [LibriVox](/source/LibriVox) (public domain audiobooks)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Japan Netherlands Greece Poland Israel Catalonia Academics CiNii International Plant Names Index Artists ULAN People Trove Deutsche Biographie Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX

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