Laurence H. and Frances MacDaniels Papers

Laurence Howland MacDaniels

Laurence MacDaniels (1888-1986, AB 1912) was best known as an eminent horticulturist, scholar, teacher, and community activist, as well as a participant in Oberlin College's alumni affairs. Laurence Howland MacDaniels, son of Heman Nye MacDaniels (d. 1921) and Ellen Woodbury Fay (d. 1940), was born in Fremont, Ohio, on October 21, 1888. Laurence was only two years old when his father moved the family to Oberlin, Ohio, for better educational opportunities.

As a teenager, Laurence attended Oberlin High School, graduating in 1907. He served as the 1907 president of the high school debating club, was a member of the Board of Editors of the school newsletter The O-High, and played guard on the high school football team.

Laurence worked for one year after his high school graduation, beginning classes at Oberlin College in the fall of 1908. He completed his studies in 1912. At Oberlin, Laurence was a Phi Beta Kappa with a major in economics. He was elected Class President in his first year, served as President of the Student Council, chaired the Honor Court, and served as secretary and then vice-president of Sigma Gamma. In his senior year, Laurence was named captain of the Oberlin College football team. He was the starting center on squads that won the Ohio State championships in 1909, 1910, and 1911, and was named to the all-Ohio Football Team by the Ohio College Press Association. Laurence was also a class tennis champion during his freshman and sophomore years. Laurence enjoyed music: he studied piano and voice at the Conservatory, sang in the College Glee Club, and was a member of the First Congregational Church Choir in Oberlin. In addition, Laurence held a student assistantship in dendrology in the botany department under the direction of Professor Frederick O. Grover.

In the fall of 1912, Laurence began his forty-five year association with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Here, he would make his academic mark in teaching, scholarship, and service to Cornell. While earning a PhD (he finished in 1917) in plant anatomy and plant pathology, he also served as a part-time instructor in botany. After graduation (and World War I), Laurence would return to Cornell to teach as Assistant Professor of Pomology (1921 -1923), Professor of Pomology (1923-1940), and Head of the Department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture (1940-1956). Laurence retired in 1956, but was named Visiting Professor, Emeritus, an appointment he served from 1957 to 1960.

He married Frances Cochran MacDaniels on June 3, 1916. The couple had two children, Ellen and Carolyn.

Laurence was influential in the development of horticulture agricultural science. His research projects were in plant anatomy and related to fruit plants, fruit varieties, tropical fruits, and pollination. Laurence wrote several articles for journals and periodicals, as well as co-authoring a popular 1925 textbook, Introduction to Plant Anatomy. Laurence was recognized in American Men of Science (4th edition) for his expertise, research, teaching in plant histology and anatomy, fruit pollination, plant propagation, ornamental horticulture, and floriculture, receiving several awards for his work with food-producing trees, garden lilies, and nuts. As an early dedicated conservationist, Laurence gave particular attention to plantings and horticultural maintenance as Chairman of The Cornell Plantations Committee, a group actively engaged in supporting an area nature preserve. He was also active in the Cornell chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). In addition to his teaching, Laurence was recognized as a leader and a first-class scholar at Cornell.

Besides teaching, Laurence was able to serve his country in non-military capacities during two World Wars, as well as participate in research trips throughout his career. At the outbreak of World War I, Laurence became an investigator for the Botanical Raw Products Committee in Boston (1917) and an inspector of propeller woods in Baltimore and Boston (1918-1919). He then worked on relief and reconstruction projects in Lebanon and Turkey (1919-1920). During World War II, Laurence sought ways to use plant materials for camouflage and helped develop Victory Gardens in New York State. In 1943-1945, he was director of agriculture for the Near East Foundation in Syria and Lebanon and for the UNRRA in Italy. Research trips took Laurence to Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, and Tahiti in 1926-1927. He continued botanical collecting in 1949-1950 in New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and Canton Island.

Laurence was also active in many professional and civic groups. He was a President of the American Society for Horticultural Science, the North American Lily Society (founder), the Northern Nut Association, the Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Horticulture Society of London. In Ithaca, Laurence was active with the Rotary Club, Boy Scouts, Council of Social Agencies, First Unitarian Church, and the early hospice movement. He also helped found a Senior Citizens Center with his wife Frances, and served as chair of the Cayuga Lake Preservation Association-a group credited with preventing construction of a nuclear power plant on the lake. On his 85th birthday in 1974, a 90-acre tract near Cornell was dedicated as the Laurence H. MacDaniels Botanical Sanctuary (and added to The Cornell Plantations) to be kept wild.

The Oberlin Alumni Board benefited from Laurence's participation, and he was active in Oberlin alumni groups in Ithaca. Laurence served as class president in 1912 and from 1957-1982. As class president, he corresponded often with classmates and college officials to communicate reactions, support, and dissent to changes on campus and contribute expertise when appropriate. Laurence represented Oberlin at numerous inaugurals of college presidents and served as Honorary Marshal at the 129th Commencement in 1962. In 1986, Laurence was inducted as a charter member of the Heisman Club Hall of Fame for his time on the Oberlin College football team.

Laurence died at home in Ithaca, New York, at the age of 97, on June 18, 1986, weeks after Frances, who preceded him in death on May 15, 1986.

Frances Cochran MacDaniels

Frances Ermina Cochran, daughter of William C. Cochran (1848-1936, AB 1869) and Rosa Dale Allen (1851-1926), was born in Cincinnati on January 12, 1891. She attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati before enrolling at Oberlin College in 1908. She was Vice-President of her class (1909-1910) and a member of Sigma Gamma, as well as a student player and director in the Oberlin Dramatic Association. Frances, who studied piano for four years at the Conservatory, was also active in natural dancing and student recitals, served on Honor Court and Women's Senate for three years, sang in First Congregational Church Choir, and was twice class tennis champion. After graduation in 1912, Frances worked for the Young Women's League in Dayton, Ohio, then as a field worker and, later, as a director (1912-1916) of a Juvenile Protection Association in Cincinnati, Ohio. Frances and Laurence MacDaniels married in 1916 in Cincinnati.

Frances and Laurence raised two daughters, Ellen Woodbury (1921-2024) BA '42) and Carolyn Rudd (1926-1994, BA '47). While raising her children, Frances remained active in the Ithaca community, where she focused on social work. Frances chaired both the Ithaca Council of Church Women and the Council of Social Agencies. She served as Superintendent of the Unitarian Sunday School from 1931-1932. During World War II, she was head of the Office of Civil Defense Volunteers. In 1945, Frances was appointed as the first female member of the Ithaca Common Council. She was elected in 1948. Subsequently, Laurence donated two acres of land to Ithaca to create a small city park to honor Frances as the first woman to hold that office. In addition, Frances was active with the PTA between 1928 and 1934. She was involved in Girl Scouts and was a co-founder of the Ithaca chapter of the United Nations Society. Frances was an accomplished pianist who pursued art and dramatic interests at the Ithaca Women's Club, and for a time lead the Federation of Women's Clubs.

Frances often accompanied and served with Laurence on overseas assignments. She contributed to relief work in Turkey (1919-1920), supervised a clinic in Lebanon with the Near East Foundation (1944), worked as a mess sergeant in Italy and Egypt (1945), and served as a secretary for her husband when on assignment in the Philippines (1957-1959), in Mexico (1960), and in Yugoslavia (1963-1964).

Frances Cochran MacDaniels died on May 15, 1986.

Ellen W. MacDaniels Speers

Ellen Woodbury MacDaniels was born August 11, 1921, to Frances and Laurence MacDaniels in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ellen was raised in Ithaca, New York, where she attended Ithaca High School. She later studied at Oberlin College, graduating in 1942. Ellen received her master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Following her graduation from Tufts, Ellen worked for the State Department from 1943 through 1947. Ellen served as a research assistant, participated in the US Delegation to the United Nations Conference in San Francisco, and was a member of the American Section of the Allied Mission to Observe the Greek Elections. It was in this role that she met her future husband. In addition, Ellen worked in the Near Eastern Division as an Assistant Turkish Desk Officer.

She married Peter C. Speers Jr. on December 21, 1946. Ellen and Peter spent most of the first three decades of their marriage in Saudi Arabia, where Peter worked for the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) in government relations.

Ellen taught history of philosophy at the American University in Cairo in 1949 while Peter was enrolled as an Arabic student. Due to a lack of family housing available in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Ellen temporarily returned to Ithaca in 1950, where she awaited the birth of her twins. They returned to Saudi Arabia in 1951. Peter and Ellen had three children, Peter, Ted, and Martha. Ellen and Peter moved to Houstin, Texas, in 1977, and relocated to Austin after Peter’s 1981 retirement. Ellen remained active in her community, volunteering as a driver for the American Cancer Society and helping to prepare tax forms for the elderly. She also worked to preserve her family’s history, transcribing letters of general Jacob D. Cox. Ellen MacDaniels Speers died on January 21, 2024.

Caroline R. MacDaniels Miller

Carolyn Rudd MacDaniels was born April 9, 1926, to Frances and Laurence MacDaniels in Ithaca, New York. Carolyn graduated from Ithaca High School in 1943, and went on to study at Oberlin College, where she completed her degree in 1947. Carolyn worked as a kindergarten teacher at Ithaca’s East Hill Elementary School until 1952. She married her husband, Robert S. Miller, on December 23, 1949. Robert and Carolyn had 3 children, Janet, Stephen, and Nancy.

Carolyn was active in her community throughout her life, serving on boards including those of the American Association of University Women, the Tompkins County Library, and the City Federation of Women’s Organizations. She was also a member of the Ithaca Community Chorus. Carolyn MacDaniels Miller died in Ithaca on January 8, 1994.

Sources Consulted

“Carolyn MacDaniels Miller,” The Ithaca Journal, January 14, 1994, 4A.

“Carolyn MacDaniels Weds R.S. Miller,” The Ithaca Journal, December 27, 1949, 4.

"Crusader at 79." Cornell Alumni News (February 1968): 16-17.

“Ellen MacDaniels to Wed Peter Speers,” The Ithaca Journal, November 2, 1946, 4.

“Ellen MacDaniels Weds P.C. Speers Jr.,” The Ithaca Journal, December 23, 1946, 4.

“Frances C. MacDaniels,” The Ithaca Journal, May 16, 1986.

Joan Isabell, “Dr. Mac, an Activist, Scientist and a Friend to All Who Knew Him,” The Cornell Plantations 42 (1986): 47-68.

Oberlin College Archives. Record Group 0. Class Files.

Oberlin College Archives. Record Group 28. Alumni Record Files for Laurence H. MacDaniels and Frances MacDaniels.

“Ellen MacDaniels Speers,” Falcon Family Funeral & Cremation Service, January 2024, https://www.centraltexascremation.com/obituaries/Ellen-Speers/#!/Obituary.