Women and Science

Introduction Historical Setting Faculty Students Marcus Homepage WIMSE

Faculty

Facilities are critical for teaching science, but professors are also necessary. The faculty was not large in the early years of this institution.

The 1887-1888 Catalogue of the Seminary lists 4 faculty. One of these was Miss Elizabeth Bangs, the first woman to teach science at the institution. The science subject she taught was Natural History. She taught science from 1887 to 1900. During this time her salary rose from $800/year to $900/year. She also taught French and German. Miss Bangs received her B.A. from the University of Michigan. While most women through 1920 were being trained at the women’s colleges, 3 coed institutions did stand out for educating women at the undergraduate level. These were Cornell, Chicago, and Michigan. It is also important to emphasize the importance of listing Elizabeth Bangs as "Miss." Men on the faculty were expected to be married, but women were not and generally had to resign if they did marry.

Miss Louise Miller was a member of the faculty in 1902. Her field was Geology.

Miss Laura Gano joined the faculty in 1908 as an Instructor of Botany and Miss ShirleyLong became an Instructor of Latin and Mathematics in 1910.

Over the next 37 years a number of excellent women joined the science and math faculty of the Florida State College for Women. Some of these women stayed for only a short time, while others continued on the faculty for years remaining after the transition to Florida State University. The educational background and training of these women exemplified the opportunities that were available to women at the time.

If she had a Ph.D., and not all did, the degree typically was awarded by Yale, Cornell, Chicago, or Michigan. Three of these universities were also leaders in awarding undergraduate degrees to women, but Yale did not admit women for such study until the 1970s. Nevertheless, in the early 1900s these four schools were the top producers of women with advanced degrees. The number was not overwhelming however.

Through 1900 a total of 204 doctorates were awarded to women vs several thousand to men. Not all of these 204 degrees were in science, in fact only about 50 degrees were in science and mathematics (M. Rossiter, Women Scientists in America). The numbers did grow in the next few decades, but women who had such credentials in science had limited opportunities for employment, especially in academia.

Although the universities would educate women they steadfastly refused to employ them. Most were employed at the women’s colleges and of these most were restricted to highly feminized departments. Unfortunately these departments were often denied appropriate recognition simply because of the abundance of women.

Partial List of Faculty

• Miss Elizabeth Bangs
• Miss Laura Gano
• Mary Noka Hood
• Olga Larson
• Miss Louise Miller