Mary Lee Ware

Mary Lee Ware (Jan. 7, 1858 – Jan. 9, 1937) - daughter of Elizabeth Cabot Lee and Dr. Charles Eliot Ware - was born to a wealthy Bostonian family and, alongside her mother (henceforth known as Elizabeth C. Ware), was the principle sponsor of the Harvard Museum of Natural History's famous Glass Flowers exhibit; indeed, the wondrous collection's official name is The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants. She is credited as an avid student of botany, namely of Harvard/Radcliffe Professor George Lincoln Goodale, and as a close friend as well as sponsor of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka — the makers of the Glass Flowers — as well as a being leading philanthropist and farmer of West Rindge, NH.

Born into a respected family in the New Hampshire town of Rindge, specifically to naturalist and Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Charles Eliot Ware ("a leading physician in Boston") and his wife Elizabeth in 1858, Mary Lee Ware was an avid nature-lover and lived according to the precept "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Taken to Italy as a young girl, Mary was dazzled by the many sights (such as Rome and Florence) there, which served to enhance her love of beautiful things. Beauty that ranged from the picturesque landscape to the language which she quickly excelled, to the art for which the country is famous. This is no surprise given that her father, Dr. Charles Ware (Harvard class of 1834), while not a botanist himself raised his daughter to love botany with a passion. A love which was fostered by the family farm in Rindge New Hampshire, a place which stood out happily among her childhood memories. Mary eventually (exactly when is unclear given source ambiguity) settled with her parents and possibly brother, Charles Jr. (reports/sources vary regarding his existence, with the bare majority suggesting it) in Boston, 41 Brimmer Street (Back Bay), around 1870; at that time, Mary was 13 years old. She was also, at some point, a student of Radcliffe College and learned under Dr. Goodale - who would become the first director of the Harvard Botanical Museum. In fact, "Mary Ware, an especially fascinating character, became in many respects a professional naturalist," a role which she was later able to utilize by being the patron sponsor of the Glass Flowers, her purpose being to advance the education of women.

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