Honoring American Women in Mathematics: Pre-World War II PhD’s

Three women pose with flowers

Eighteen women with PhD’s in Mathematics seated at a table at the museum in 1981.
Eighteen Women with PhD’s in Mathematics at the NMAH in 1981. (81-11284-13)

On August 31, 1981, the Division of Mathematics of NMAH sponsored an all-day meeting honoring American women who received PhD’s in mathematics prior to World War II. Fifteen women, all of whom had received their doctorates in the period 1929 through 1940, attended the meeting. The meeting was presided over by the division’s curator, Uta C. Merzbach, who was assisted by two honorary research associates in the division, Judy Green and Jeanne LaDuke. All three organizers also held PhD’s in mathematics, which were awarded several decades after World War II.

The meeting was recorded and questionnaires were prepared to collect and verify biographical and bibliographical information about the women invited to the meeting as well as any husband or other relative who was also a mathematician. The corrected versions of these questionnaires and related photographs are preserved in the collections along with reel-to-reel tapes documenting the proceedings of the meeting and questionnaires collected from other women mathematicians. There are questionnaires in the collection for five mathematical couples and two father/daughter pairs of mathematicians. Although there are no questionnaires for them in the collection, there were several mother/child pairs of mathematicians among the American women with pre-World War II PhD’s in mathematics.

Image of Jeanne LaDuke in August 1981 with the youngest and oldest honorees: Marion Greenebaum Epstein (b. 1915) and Nola Anderson Haynes (1897-1996).
Jeanne LaDuke in August 1981 with the youngest and oldest honorees: Marion Greenebaum Epstein (b. 1915) and Nola Anderson Haynes (1897-1996). (81-11284-26)
Search term: *:* Topic: Women Mathematicians Clear All

Biobibliographical Documents on Women Mathematicians

The following is a list, mainly of women mathematicians, of those who submitted biographical and bibliographical information about themselves to the Division of Mathematics of NMAH.
Description
The following is a list, mainly of women mathematicians, of those who submitted biographical and bibliographical information about themselves to the Division of Mathematics of NMAH. Many of these women attended a 1981 meeting at the Museum that honored American women who received PhDs in mathematics prior to World War II. Others on the list later submitted the same sort of information to the division between 1981 and 1987.
Also on this list are seven male mathematicians, two of whom are fathers of women on the list and five of whom are husbands of women on the list. With the exception of Vera (Ames) Widder (1909–2004), Bryn Mawr College, 1938, all those who attended the 1981 meeting returned questionnaires. For each person listed we give name, dates of birth and death, school awarding doctorate, and year of that degree. A name in parentheses is the surname before marriage, and a number in parentheses at the end of an entry refers to a comment following the list. An asterisk before a name means that the woman attended the 1981 meeting.
*Aitchison, Beatrice (1908–1997), PhD, Johns Hopkins University, 1933
Arnoldy, Sister Mary Nicholas (1893–1985), PhD, Catholic University, 1933
Baker, Frances E. (1902–1995), PhD, University of Chicago, 1934
Baker, Richard P. (1866–1937), PhD, University of Chicago, 1910 (1)
Bechtolsheim, Lulu (Hofmann) (1902–1989), PhD, University of Zürich, 1927
Bower, Julia Wells (1903–1999), PhD, University of Chicago, 1933
Boyce, Fannie W. (1897–1986), PhD, University of Chicago, 1938
*Burke, Sister Leonarda (1900–1998), PhD, Catholic University, 1931
Carlson, Elizabeth (1896–2000), PhD, University of Minnesota, 1924
Cole, Nancy (1902–1991), PhD, Radcliffe College, 1934
Darkow, Marguerite D. (1893–1992), PhD, University of Chicago, 1924 (2)
*Epstein, Marion (Greenebaum) (1915–2014), PhD, Bryn Mawr College, 1938
Frink, Aline (Huke) (1904–2000), PhD, University of Chicago, 1930
Frink, Orrin (1901–1988), PhD, Columbia University, 1926 (3)
*Frisch, Sister Elizabeth (1901–1993), PhD, Catholic University, 1940
Fry, Cleota G. (1910–2001), PhD, Purdue University, 1939
Gibbens, Gladys (1893–1983), PhD, University of Chicago, 1920
Grant, Anna M. C. (1903–1984), PhD, Bryn Mawr College, 1937 (4)
Greenfield, Bella (Manel) (1915–2010), PhD, New York University, 1939 (5)
Griffin, Harriet (1903–1991), PhD, New York University, 1939
*Haynes, Nola (Anderson) (1897–1996), PhD, University of Missouri, 1929
Hazard, Clifton Terrell (1885–1963), MA, Indiana University, 1913 (6)
Hazard, Katharine E. (1915–1992), PhD, University of Chicago, 1940
Hedberg, Ermest A. (1903–1961), PhD, University of Missouri, 1935 (7)
Hedberg, Marguerite (Zeigel) (1907–2002), PhD, University of Missouri, 1932
*Henriques, Anna (Stafford) (1905–2004), PhD, University of Chicago, 1933
Hill, Sister Mary Laetitia (1898–1992), PhD, Catholic University, 1935
Hopkins, Margarete C. (Wolf ) (1911–1998), PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1935
*Hopper, Grace (Murray) (1906–1992), PhD, Yale University, 1934
*Humphreys, M. Gweneth (1911–2006), PhD, University of Chicago, 1935
Huston, Antoinette (Killen) (1904–1993), PhD, University of Chicago, 1934
Huston, Ralph E. (1902–1969), PhD, University of Chicago, 1932 (8)
Johnson, Roberta F. (1902–1988), PhD, Cornell University, 1933
Kanarik, Rosella (Kanarik) (1909–2014), PhD, University of Pittsburgh, 1934
Lester, Caroline A. (1902–1996), PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1937
Maria, A. J. (1896-1964), PhD, Rice Institute, 1925 (9)
Maria, May (Hickey) (1904–2001), PhD, Rice Institute, 1929
Mayer, Joanna Isabel (1904–1991), PhD, Marquette University, 1931 (10)
McCoy, Dorothy (1903–2001), PhD, University of Iowa, 1929
McFarland, Dora (1894–19867), PhD, University of Chicago, 1936
*McKee, Ruth (Stauffer) (1910–1993), PhD, Bryn Mawr College, 1935
Mears, Florence M. (1896–1995), PhD, Cornell University, 1927
Montague, Harriet F. (1905–1997), PhD, Cornell University, 1935
Newton, Abba V. (1908–1996), PhD, University of Chicago, 1933
Noble, Andrewa (1908–1993), PhD, University of California, 1935
O’Brien, Katharine (1901–1998), PhD, Brown University, 1939
*Price, Irene (1902–1999), PhD, Indiana University, 1932
*Quinn, Grace (Shover) (1906–1998), PhD, Ohio State University, 1931
Rayl, Adrienne S. (1898–1989), PhD, University of Chicago, 1939 (11)
*Reavis , Mabel (Griffin) (1907–1999), PhD, Duke University, 1933
Reschovsky, Helene J. (1907–1994), PhD, University of Vienna 1930
*Schneckenburger, Edith R. (1908–1990), PhD, University of Michigan, 1940
*Sullivan, Sister M. Helen (1907–1998), PhD, Catholic University, 1934
Tuller, Annita (1910–1994), PhD, Bryn Mawr College, 1937
Wakerling, R. K. (1914–1999), PhD, University of California, 1939 (12)
Wakerling, Virginia (Wood) (1915–1997), PhD, University of California, 1940
(1) R. P. Baker was the father of Frances E. Baker, who completed his questionnaire.
(2) Margarete D. Darkow’s questionnaire was completed by her sister, Felice E. Darkow.
(3) Orrin Frink was the husband of Aline Huke Frink.
(4) Anna M. C. Grant’s questionnaire was annotated after her death by her niece, Jessie F. Flouton.
(5) There is no questionnaire from Bella Greenfield, only a curriculum vitae.
(6) Clifton Terrell Hazard was the father of Katharine E. Hazard, who completed his questionnaire. He did not possess a PhD but was a professor of mathematics at Purdue University.
(7) Ernest A. Hedberg was the husband of Marguerite Zeigel Hedberg, who completed his questionnaire.
(8) Ralph E. Huston was the husband of Antoinette Killen Huston, who completed his questionnaire.
(9) A. J. Maria was the husband of May Hickey Maria, who completed his questionnaire.
(10) There is no questionnaire from Joanna Isabel Mayer, only correspondence.
(11) Adrienne S. Rayl submitted a questionnaire completed with the assistance of her nephew, Donald R. Wilken.
(12) R. K. Wakerling was the husband of Virginia W. Wakerling.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1981-1987
ID Number
2006.3037.01
catalog number
2006.3037.01
nonaccession number
2006.3037

Photographs of Women with Doctorates in Mathematics

The following is a list of mathematicians, all but one a woman, who provided photographs when they submitted biographical and bibliographical information in the years 1981 through 1987 (for this information, see 2006.3037.01).
Description
The following is a list of mathematicians, all but one a woman, who provided photographs when they submitted biographical and bibliographical information in the years 1981 through 1987 (for this information, see 2006.3037.01). Unless otherwise indicated, there is one black and white photograph for each person listed. In a few cases, other items related to a woman are listed.
Beatrice Aitchison
Frances Baker
Julia Bower
Julia Bower, Abba Newton, and Frances Baker (contributed by Julia Bower)
Sister Leonarda Burke (one color photograph)
Marguerite Darkow (four black and white photographs and one color photograph; also a note from Marguerite Darkow’s sister, Felice Darkow, and a business card of their mother, Mrs. Martin Darkow, for piano instruction)
Sister Elizabeth Frisch
Cleota Fry
Anna Grant
Nola Haynes
Anna Henriques (with return envelope)
Rosella Kanarik (one color photograph)
Caroline Lester
Dorothy McCoy (one black and white photograph and one color photograph)
Dora McFarland
Andrewa Noble (two black and white photographs, one with a negative)
Katharine O’Brien
Irene Price
Mabel Reavis
Annita Tuller
R. K. Wakerling (husband of Virginia Wakerling)
Virginia Wakerling
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2006.3037.02
catalog number
2006.3037.02
nonaccession number
2006.3037

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