Biographical Note
George Weidman Groff, affectionately called "Daddy" Groff by thousands
of alumni, was born in Annville, Pa. on 29 March 1884, attended public schools
in Harrisburg, and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in horticulture
from Penn State. As a student at Penn State he was an active and popular
participant in many campus activities, "known by practically every man in the
two upper-classes." He was a good debater and helped win a splendid victory
from Swarthmore. On campus he was a member of two social fraternities, Alpha
Zeta and Delta Upsilon, and two honorary societies, Delta Sigma Rho (debating),
and Phi Kappa Phi (general scholastic).
When he was a senior, China, a country which was then looking for new
scientific knowledge, captured his imagination. He pioneered the idea of
agricultural missions under Christian auspices and in 1907 became the first
agricultural missionary to China. He was assigned to the Canton Christian
College (later known as Lingnan University) as a teacher in the middle school.
Very shortly after his arrival, he began agricultural work there and soon
raised teaching to the college level.
Groff credits his work to "the fellowship and inspiration received
from teachers and friends at Penn State." With the support of staff, students,
and alumni, he served both Lingnan and Penn State, advocating a reciprocal
exchange of cultural ideas in which the United States contributed to China's
agricultural science and techniques of extensive agriculture, while receiving
an understanding of China's intensive agricultural methods and the value of her
unique cultivated and wild floras.
In 1918 Groff received his Master of Science degree from Penn State.
Three years later, he helped organize the Lingnan Agricultural College with a
faculty of western-trained Chinese, supplemented by a few Penn State and Kansas
State staff members. He served as the Dean of the College until 1935. He also
became the director of the Economic Plant Receiving Station, Lingnan University
in 1935.
During his years in China he traveled widely, studying plant life in
South China, Indo-China, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaya. Among the
extensive work which Groff has been responsible for is the development of
citrus fruits, improvement and introduction of papaya, lychee, eucalyptus
robusta, the Siam banana, other sub-tropical fruits and some ornamentals. He
was largely responsible for gathering the largest collection of bamboo in
Southeast Asia. Groff successfully imported some good livestock breeders from
the U.S. and improved the local livestock quality.
In 1937 he directed a National Geographic expedition into the hill
country of northern Guangxi province in search of the famous, unidentified
medical plant, the Lo-Hon Fruit. He found and collected this plant which was
later identified as a new species. It is noteworthy that the working and living
environment was not always safe during the years that Groff was in China.
Banditry, piracy, and frequent wars often threatened people's security in the
first half of the 20th century. Therefore, it was extremely challenging for
Groff to achieve his academic and research goals in China during this
particular time period.
Groff's work from the beginning in 1908 was financed and supported by
his friends at Penn State. Impressed with the work that he was doing in China,
Penn State students in 1911 organized a Penn-State-in-China committee and for
more than thirty years supported, in part, the work of "Daddy" Groff. Each year
the new students in Penn State were told the story of the work of "Daddy" Groff
in China and each year through chapel offerings they supported his work. The
"old grads," when discussing Penn State spirit, liked to relate the story of
this project in China as illustrative of the meaning of Penn State spirit.
After the Japanese invasion in 1937, Groff remained at Canton in an
effort to preserve the campus and equipment of Lingnan and to make the farm
contribute to the children's refugee work carried out on the campus. He moved
to Florida in early 1941 because of ill health. Rest and care in Florida did
much to restore him. He had long been interested in establishing a plant
exchange post here in America where promising plants might be collected and
propagated for shipment to China. He found a place in Sarasota, Florida, where
the climate is similar to that in south China. Here he set up a Plant Exchange
Station and soon had plants ready for shipment as conditions at Lingnan
permitted.
In 1946 and 1947 he served as agricultural rehabilitation officer in
South China under the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
He was not only of great help in building China's agriculture but was one of
America's good-will ambassadors.
Groff published numerous articles and bulletins on Chinese
agriculture, horticulture, and botany. Those works were not only about academic
research, but also regarding China's agricultural education and rural
leadership. They were helpful in China's agricultural development and at the
same time assisted the American people understand China's specialties. He took
photographs of China's geography, special plant species and Chinese living
status, and introduced these pictures to American people. He was a fellow of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Peking National
Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society of China, and the American
Geographical Association. He was also a member of the Florida State
Horticulture Society.
After his retirement and return to America in 1947, Groff lived in
Laurel, Florida, where he was preparing a "Plant Manual" on world plant
resources for plant exchange, with special emphasis on Chinese plant names and
literature. Privately and without sponsorship, he still sent living American
plant materials from Florida and the Caribbean area to Taiwan and other island
areas of Asia, which contributed to the local plant research and agricultural
improvement of these areas.
Groff devoted all his life to plant study, agricultural education and
international exchange since he believed that plant and agriculture exploration
is of great importance to the world. In a letter he wrote to a friend, he
stated that "helpful cooperation and collaboration between nations in plant
acquisition and improvement is a dominant factor in the adequate feeding,
clothing and sheltering of mankind everywhere. It is now widely recognized that
food production and distribution is of major importance to a peaceful world.
The sharing of nature's blessings in the form of plant life is essential to a
wholesome international outlook upon life. Thus man's life with plants and the
uses he makes of them become of deep significance to his religious, social and
economic progress."
Because of his outstanding achievements, in 1953 Groff was honored as
one of the first group of five to be named "Distinguished Alumni" of Penn
State. The "Plant Manual" work however, was not to be completed in Groff's
lifetime. Groff passed away in Laurel, Florida, on 4 December 1954 at the age
of 70.
Scope and Content
The George Weidman Groff Papers consist of seven series relating to
his research and publications on Chinese botanical samples and his detailed
plant index.
Series One -- Lychee: This series includes the general chronological
survey of lychee, growing localities, reports and talks on the lychee fruit,
and two treatises by Chinese scientists.
Series Two -- Publications: This series includes reprints of Groff's
articles, encyclopedia entries, Plant Receiving Station reports, and Lingnan
Science Journal reprints organized by author's last name.
Series Three -- Correspondence: This series includes Lingnan Plant
Exchange correspondence, letters to and from Mrs. Eva Groff and Dr. Groff's
general correspondence.
Series Four -- Lo-Han Fruit: Groff was the first American to study the
Lo-Han fruit. His article, "The Lo-Han Fruit of the Kwansi" was published by
the National Geographic Society. This series includes Groff's research and a
copy of the article.
Series Five -- Personal: This series includes Groff's biography, an
inventory of his publications and materials (furniture) brought to Penn State
from China, and his calendars.
Series Six -- Research Notes: This series includes Groff's research
notes on Chinese botany, classifications of flowering plants, plants of
Kwantung province, and article reprints by other authors.
Series Seven -- Plant Index: This series, the largest and the most
scientifically important, includes Groff's handwritten notes on all the plant
species he identified and located during his years in China. The notes include
scientific identifications, drawings and specifications. Note: These index
cards are extremely fragile.
This collection should be viewed in concert with the records of the
Penn State in China program, also held by the Penn State University
Archives.
