Earl Lemley Core

Earl Lemley Core (1902-1984) was a botanist and botanical educator, researcher and author as well as a local West Virginia historian. He was founder (1936) of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club and editor of its journal, Castanea, for thirty-five years. He was a teacher and professor at West Virginia University (WVU) for over forty-four years (1928–72). He served for four years on the Morgantown City Council and was mayor of Morgantown for two years. The Earl L. Core Arboretum at WVU was named in his honor in 1967.

Core was born on January 20, 1902, at Core, West Virginia, the son of Harry Michael and Clara Edna (née Lemley) Core. He graduated from Morgantown High School, taught in rural schools (1920–23) and then attended WVU, earning Bachelor of Arts (1926) and Master of Arts (1928) degrees. He married Freda Bess Garrison on June 8, 1925. (They eventually parented four children: Ruth, Merle, Harry, and David.) He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1936, Columbia University) with a dissertation on the systematics of the sedge genus Scleria.

Core became an instructor at WVU in 1928 and remained on the faculty for over 44 years. He progressed to assistant professor (1934), associate professor (1941), professor (1942), and professor emeritus (1972) and was chairman of the Biology Department from 1948 to 1966. He served as curator of the university herbarium from 1934 until his retirement in 1972. In addition, he served as a member of the summer faculty at Ohio State University during 1939-41 and of Concord College in 1961.

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