Erminnia Adele Platt Smith

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In: 19th Century Women, Science

Erminnie Adele Smith (April 26, 1836– June 9, 1886) was a geologist, linguist, and anthropologist. A CHILDHOOD ROOTED IN CURIOSITY Born on April 26, 1836, in Marcellus, New York, Erminnie Adele Platt grew up just a stone’s throw from the Onondaga Iroquois reservation. Her world was one of endless questions and boundless wonder. Picture a young girl with her skirts muddied from afternoons spent collecting rocks and wildflowers, her pockets brimming with nature’s treasures. She attended the Troy Female Seminary, a rare opportunity for women at the time, where her hunger for knowledge only grew. Even as a child, Erminnie was never satisfied with surfaceRead More →

Dr. Henrietta Hyde, biologist

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In: 19th Century Women, Science, Women's Rights

Educator, biologist, public health and women’s rights advocate Ida Henrietta Hyde (September 8, 1857, to August 22, 1945) was born in Davenport, Iowa, into a German-speaking immigrant family. Ida Hyde’s Early Life When she was young, her father abandoned her mother and four siblings. In 1871, the Chicago fire destroyed the family home, and as the oldest sibling, she became the breadwinner at age fourteen, working in a clothing factory and as a milliner. During this time, she paid for her only brother’s tuition at the University of Illinois and also took evening classes from 1875 to 1876. During this period, she read The ViewRead More →

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In: 18th Century Women, Motherhood, Science

Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti  (1711 – 1778), an Italian physicist, was the first woman to be named chair of physics at any university. EARLY LIFE Laura Bassi was born in Bologna to a wealthy lawyer, Giuseppe Bassi, and his wife Maria Rosa Cesari. Her paternal grandfather, Giacinto Bassi, had run a chemists shop in Bologna, where natural-based medicines were prepared and sold. Laura was her parents’ only surviving child. They were an enlightened family for the time. As an only child, Bassi was given an extensive education. Starting at the age of five she was taught by her cousin, Father Lorenzo Stegani, Latin, French,Read More →