John Eliot Coit: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 22:56, 26 November 2014
John Eliot Coit | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 9, 1880 |
| Died | June 4, 1976 (aged 96) |
| Nationality | USA |
| Citizenship | USA |
| Known for | Father of avocado industry in California |
| Spouse(s) | Emilie A. Hanna, Luise Gait Viney |
| Children | Eleanor, Frances and Lucy |
| Scientific career | |
| Notable students | Robert Willard Hodgson |
John Eliot Coit (March 9, 1880 - June 4, 1976) was an american professor specializing in the horticultural fields of avocado, citrus and carob.[1]
Private life
Coit was born at San Antonio, Texas, March 9, 1880, to a family associated with American history. John Eliot, a missionary, translated the Bible into the Indian language in Pilgrim days. The Coit family was involved in Pilgrim history. His grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, a faith followed by Dr. Coit throughout the years, and in which he served as an elder in the church.[2]
John Eliot Coit married Emilie A. Hanna in 1907 at Durham, North Carolina, together they had three girls, Eleanor, Frances and Lucy. His first wife passed away August 10, 1924. In 1926 Coit was married to Luise Gait Viney of Pasadena. This second wife passed away suddenly on August 25, 1962, after their many years of close companionship.[1]
Reared in Texas and North Carolina, he spent much of his early life learning the fundamentals of agriculture on experimentally level, with shovel and hoe.[1]
Education
He entered the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1899, graduating in Agriculture in 1903.[1]
Completing his undergraduate training at the North Carolina College, he went on to Cornell University for graduate training. Here he was fortunate to have been a student of Liberty Hyde Bailey, one of the great national leaders in agricultural and horticultural education—author, teacher, and educator, whose students have left their mark in this country and many countries abroad.[2] He received his Masters Degree in Horticulture from Cornell University and in 1907 the Ph.D. degree, "Honorary Fellow in Agriculture" from the same University.[1]
Carrier
On the completion of his graduate work at Cornell in 1907, Coit accepted the position of horticulturist at the Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station (1907-1909[1]) and began to work in a field that was to keep him busy for the next seven decades—the field of citrus fruits, palm dates, figs and olives, and, in California, the avocado and the lesser subtropical fruits.[2]
Soon he became Assistant Professor of Pomology, University of California at the Whittier Pathological Laboratory and at the University of California Citrus Experiment Station, in Riverside, California. He was Superintendent of the Citrus Experiment Station at Mount Rubidoux in 1912, and in that position was instrumental in selecting the site of the present Citrus Research Center and Experiment Station at Riverside.
From 1913 to 1917, Coit was Professor of Citriculture, University of California, Berkeley. Farm Advisor, Los Angeles County, 1917 to 1919. In 1919 he founded the "Coit Agricultural Service" and is today continuing in this line of service.
Among agricultural organizations, Coit has served as director of the Sierra Madre Lamanda Citrus Association, the California Avocado Association in 1915 and again from 1923 to 1947, and served as president three terms. In 1924 he helped organize the California Avocado Growers Association (now Calavo) and served as director until 1944.[1]
Awards
Dr. Coit has received honorary awards including: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Sigma Xi, Cornell University 1905, and is a member of Alpha Zeta and Gamma Alpha. He received the first Award of Honor from the California Avocado Society and was presented with a Special Award of Honor in 1956, and in 1963 was made Director Emeritus by the Board in appreciation of his many contributions to the industry.
The following from the 1939 Yearbook of the California Avocado Society, is a succinct statement of the service of John Eliot Coit to the avocado industry:
"Dr. J. Eliot Coit is truly "The Father of the California Avocado Industry." From its babyhood or the time when growing avocados was a hobby, through adolescence or the transitional period into maturity as a full fledged industry Dr. Coit has been its able and watchful parent. Long after his name will have been forgotten, consumers in New York as well as growers in California will unknowingly feel Dr. Coit's influence."[1]
"No other individual deserves to be called “The father of the California Avocado Industry” than Dr. J. Eliot Coit." - California Avocado Society 1976 Yearbook 60: 11-13[2]
Literature
Coit's literary accomplishments have been valuable contributions both as technical and of a popular nature. He served as editor of the California Avocado Society Yearbook from 1932 until 1948.[1]
He also authored the "Citrus fruits" book, which is an account of the citrus fruit industry, with special reference to California requirements and practices (Jan 1, 1915),[3] and "A peony check-list" including the leading varieties of peonies of which authentic descriptions can be found in horticultural literature... (Jan 1, 1907)[4]