She was born Fay A. MacDonald on 21 February 1888 in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, and grew up in Cripple Creek, Colorado. She studied medicine for a while at the University of Boulder, Colorado, but did not finish a degree. She married Joel MacFadden in 1912, and moved with him first to eastern Oregon, then to Sandon, British Columbia, a year later, where she had two daughters. This is where she became serious about collecting and identifying plants. She became a member of the Alpine Club of Canada, which brought her into contact with other collectors.

The family moved to the Los Angeles, California, area in 1929, and Fay continued to collect plants all over southern California, many of which she grew in her spectacular garden on the Westside of Los Angeles, where she lived from 1935 on. She died 5 April 1964 in Los Angeles, CA. The Herbarium at CSUF is named for botanist Fay A. MacFadden, who sold her extensive collection of plants to the university just prior to her death in 1964.

Here is a list of some of Fay Mac Fadden’s publications (all available in the JSTOR database):

MacFadden, F. A. (1926). A trip to the New Denver Glacier. The Bryologist, 29(3/4), 40-42.

MacFadden, F. A. (1927). A trip to Tonquin Valley. The Bryologist, 30(4), 65-74.

MacFadden, F. A. (1929). Easter week at Halcyon Hot Springs, British Columbia. The Bryologist, 32(5), 100-104.

MacFadden, F. (1961). Basket ferns for southern California. American Fern Journal, 51(4), 186-188.

MacFadden, F. (1961). Ferns for a lath house. American Fern Journal, 51(3), 129-131.

MacFadden, F. (1961). My lath house for ferns. American Fern Journal, 51(2), 65-67.

MacFadden, F. (1962). Some outdoor ferns for the Los Angeles area. American Fern Journal, 52(4), 151-152.

MacFadden, F. (1963). Remarks on the care of ferns in cultivation. American Fern Journal, 53(4), 155-158.

Source: CSUF website: https://www.fullerton.edu/biology/facilities/herbarium/about.php.