Born February 1, 1895, in Herman, Nebraska. She grew up drawing pictures. She lost hearing when her family doctor poured sweet oil down her ears for her earache, losing it completely at age 13. She learned lip-reading out of necessity on her own as she went through public schools and hearing family. Her family punished her whenever she did not pay attention to any hearing people talking to her. She went to art schools while growing up. She went to Gallaudet College, graduating in 1918. That’s where she met her husband, Frederick Hughes while he was a teacher, and she was a student. They got married in 1923.

Regina Olson Hughes knows four Romance languages, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. So, she got a job translating for State Department. After a variety of jobs as a translator, she got a job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a botanical artist, illustrating hundreds of plants’ pictures. That’s where she got her fame. She had her drawings of plants published in botanical books all over the world. She had her work exhibited in many galleries, including Smithsonian. In honor of her accomplishments, she got a species of orchid in her honor, Hughesia Reginae. She received an honorary doctorate from Gallaudet in 1967. She died from a cardiovascular disorder on August 12, 1993.