In 1936, Bartholomew graduated with an A.B. degree in botany from West Virginia University. She started working for the Botany Department, acting as Herbarium Assistant of the West Virginia University Herbarium. Bartholomew initiated an exchange program between dozens of botanists in the southeast, and she personally coordinated, sorted, and mailed the botanical specimens. In 1946, Bartholomew became Secretary of the
Southern Appalachian Botanical Club. She received her
M.S. degree in botany from West Virginia University in 1948. under the direction of
Earl Lemley Core. Her thesis was titled "The Flora of Wirt County, West Virginia". In 1972, Bartholomew become secretary of the
West Virginia Academy of Science, and in 1974, she was appointed assistant professor of biology at West Virginia University. She retired from WVU in 1977, the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club in 1981, and from the West Virginia Academy of Science in 1984. ==Legacy==