Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: A Women’s History Month Walking Tour
March 23, 2013
Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics 1.
Katharine Burr Blodgett* (1898-1979) Lot # 9243, Begonia Path Physicist, inventor of “invisible” glass
2.
Lucretia Crocker (1829-1886) Lot #4518, Wegeilia Path First woman supervisor of the Boston Public Schools, pioneered the discovery method of teaching mathematics and natural sciences
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Williamina Stevens Fleming* (1857 – 1911) Lot #6188, Maple Avenue Astronomer Lois Lilley Howe* (1864 – 1964) Lot #24, Olive Path Architect, with Manning & Almy – first woman’s architectural firm in Boston, second in country, second woman elected to the American Institute of Architects Dr. Harriot Kezia Hunt* (1805 - 1875) Lot#2147, Poplar Avenue Homeopathic and holistic physician, possibly first female physician in US Dr. Sara Murray Jordan* (Mower) (1884 - 1959) Lot #8152, Narcissus Path Noted Gastroenterologist, fi rst female physician at Lahey Clinic, JFK’s personal MD
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Janet Mattei* (1943 – 2004) Lot #11000, C47, Willow Pond Knoll Astronomer, director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers from 1973 to 2004
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Eleanor Raymond* (1887 – 1989) Lot #637, Greenbrier Path Architect, designed first solar house and considered to have designed the first, true modern house in New England
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Bernice Giduz Schubert (1913-2000) Lot #11006, Spruce Knoll Plant Taxonimist
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Emily Fairbanks & Marion Talbot* Lot #3504, Angelica Path Female Educators, Formed an association of women graduates
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Dr. Helen Taussig (1898 - 1986) Lot#6188, Columbine Path Noted Pediatric Cardiologist
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Helen Meriwether (Lewis) Thomas* (1905 – 1997) Lot #8474, Thyme Path Historian of science, astronomer, engineer, editor *included on today’s walk
Women’s History Month and the National Women’s History Project Each year, March is designated as National Women’s History Month to ensure that the history of American women will be recognized and celebrated in schools, workplaces, and communities throughout the country. The stories of women’s historic achievements present an expanded view of the complexity and contradiction of living a full and purposeful life. The knowledge of women’s history provides a more expansive vision of what a woman can do. This perspective can encourage girls and women to think larger and bolder and can give boys and men a fuller understanding of the female experience.
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Women’s History Month 2013 Theme The 2013 National Women’s History Month theme, Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination, honors generations of women who throughout American history have used their intelligence, imagination, sense of wonder, and tenacity to make extraordinary contributions to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) fields.
Friends of
We invite you to participate in the programs of the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery. Membership information is available at the Visitors Center, the Gatehouse information rack and the Office. Since its founding in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery has retained its original purpose of being a natural setting for the commemoration of the dead and for the comfort and inspiration of the bereaved and the general public. Its grounds offer a place for reflection and for observation of nature — trees, shrubs, flowering plants, ponds, gentle hills, and birds both resident and migrant. Visitors come to study our national heritage by visiting the graves of noted Americans and enjoying the great variety of monuments and memorials. Mount Auburn Cemetery began the “rural” cemetery movement out of which grew America’s public parks. Its beauty and historic associations make it an internationally renowned landscape. Designated a National Historic Landmark, Mount Auburn remains an active, nonsectarian cemetery offering a wide variety of interment and memorialization options.
Cover Photo: In 1938, when this publicity photograph was taken, physicist Katharine Burr Blodgett (1898-1979) worked at General Electric Research Laboratories, where she did important research in surface chemistry and thin films. She received the American Chemical Society’s Garvan Medal in 1951. Smithsonian Archives.
This walk was prepared and led by Volunteer Docents: Helen Abrams, Ginny Brady, Marilee O’Brien, Carol Harper and Rosemarie Smurzynski.
t: 617-547-7105 | f: 617-876-4405 www.mountauburn.org
friends@mountauburn.org The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery is a nonprofit charitable trust promoting the appreciation and preservation of the cultural, historic and natural resources of America’s first landscaped cemetery, founded in 1831.
©Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, 2013
Funding provided in part by