LOUIS C. BIERWEILER — AN APPRECIATION 
THE death of Louis C. Bierweiler on December 12, 1964 ended 
a unique career of 63 years of dedicated service to the Botanical 
Museum and to Harvard University. 
The career began in 1901 when “Louie,” as he was affection- 
ately known to a host of friends, became personal assistant, at 
the age of fifteen, to Professor George Lincoln Goodale, founder 
and first Director of the Museum. He soon made himself an in- 
dispensable part of the Museum. There was almost nothing 
which he could not do. 
After Professor Goodale’s death, Louis became assistant to 
Professor Ames, who was responsible for recommending him 
for a corporation appointment as Curator. When I came to the 
Museum in 1940, first as Assistant Director and then later Direc- 
tor, I found Louis ready and willing to serve as my right hand, 
and I soon realized that, though Directors might come and go, 
the Museum would always be looked after and cared for so long 
as Louis was on the job. 
Known to the public as “Mr. Glass Flowers,” Louis, next to 
the Blaschkas, father and son, who created them, was responsi- 
ble for making them Harvard’s most popular scientitic exhibit. 
He made the plaques on which they were mounted, the supports 
which reduced vibration and breakage. After he took charge, 
no other person ever touched his beloved ‘‘Flowers.” His skill 
in handling them was remarkable, and his hands remained 
steady until the illness which preceded his death. 
Although officially “retired” in 1957, Louis continued to come 
to the Museum daily until a few weeks before his death. Indeed, 
he would have been quite unhappy had he not been able to 
continue to serve the institution to which he was so completely 
dedicated. 
His service to the Botanical Museum and to Harvard Univer- 
sity is epitomized in an excerpt from an engrossed citation pre- 
sented to him in May 1951 on the occasion of the completion of 
fifty years of service: 
Steadfast in the performance of his many duties, constantly vigilant 
in guarding the interests of the University, always ready to lend effec- 
tive help to others, he has endeared himself to successive generations 
of her faculty and students. .. . 
—PAUL C. MANGELSDORF 
[ B84 ] 
