Born in 1853, Eva Josephine Root was the daughter of Dr. Simeon Pliny Root, a physician and surgeon, and his wife, Susan. Eva was born in Liberty, Michigan, and attended Hillsdale College, where her main studies were in English and French. She earned B.S. and M.S. degrees at Hillsdale and went on to serve in a number of academic positions, including High School Principal in Lexington, Illinois, and Principal of the Academy at the Sherman Female Institute (Sherman, Texas).
Miss Root came to Rollins in 1887 as Principal of the Sub-Preparatory Department and joined the faculty two years later, teaching natural science, French, and history. She lived for a time in Cloverleaf Cottage, a women’s residence hall, and also served as a housemother in Pinehurst Cottage, which was then home to male students.
Miss Root left Rollins in 1897, moving back to her home state of Michigan. She later taught at Mary Nash College, until health concerns led her to move back to Hillsdale, where she taught English and French on a part-time basis until her death in 1913.
In 1931, Miss Root’s sister, Mrs. William F. Van Buskirk, shared these highlights of Prof. Root’s years at Rollins:
Miss Root reveled in the study of the flora and fauna of Florida. Her nature-study classes were to her a source of great delight.
Daytime or evening she was ready for a botanizing trip or a moth-netting excursion, the latter, especially enjoyed by the students were rather frequent.
She had many an interesting tale to tell of these trips.
She told one story which lost nothing in the telling and if she had not been a person with an established reputation for veracity, her hearers would certainly have raised a question.
One day in poling through Maitland Run the boat met a school of bass "head on", six of the fish jumped into the boat and one jumped out.
The Rollins students were quite given to serenading, they never failed to remember Miss Root who enjoyed these musical demonstrations to repletion . . .
She chose her never abundant wardrobe with great care and was usually becomingly attired. She was certain the instructor's dress and appearance had a decided effect on the mind of the instructed.
When the first pavement was laid between Winter Park and Orlando, she purchased a bicycle and was happy in the exercise and freedom that riding the wheel afforded.
At that time, roads in Florida were in such a primitive condition that riding either on horseback or in vehicle was not an unmixed pleasure but partook of the nature of hard work.
To have a real road even so limited in extent was a matter for rejoicing.
Remembering Miss Root, a former Rollins student wrote, "I do wish to say how dear Eva Root was and what a power in Rollins College in its younger days.” Another remembered, “I think her outstanding achievement and glory was her ability to inspire ambition in young people with whom she came in contact. . . I know she was the greatest influence for good that ever came into my life.”