Adele M. Fielde Explained

Adele Marion Fielde
Parents:Leighton Field and Sophia (Tiffany) Field
Birth Name:Adelia Field
Birth Date:30 March 1839
Birth Place:East Rodman, New York
Known For:The Fielde Nest
Signature:File:Adele M Fielde signature.jpg

Adele Marion Fielde (March 30, 1839February 23, 1916)[1] was a social activist, Baptist missionary, scientist, and writer.[2] [3]

Biography

Adelia Field was born in East Rodman, New York on March 30, 1839. Her parents were Leighton Field and Sophia Field. She graduated from New York State Normal School in Albany in 1860. From 1883 to 1885, she studied medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Fielde also studied biology for two years at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, but did not receive a formal degree.

At age 27, her fiancé, Reverent Cyrus A. Chilcott, went to Thailand to engage in missionary work among the local Chinese,[4] and she followed, only to find he had passed several weeks before her arrival.[5] She never married.[6]

In 1894, after the defeat of the women's suffrage amendment to the New York State constitution, Fielde was one of six prominent suffragists who founded the League for Political Education. She worked with other suffragists to establish the Volunteer Committee with the goal of targeting New York society, using her wealth and status she established as a missionary in China to facilitate her efforts.

Key research contributions

Fielde made significant contributions to myrmecology, the study of ants. In particular, she devised the 'Fielde Nest', a portable observation nest that she then used to enable precise observations of ant behaviour,[7] and which was also used by others including William Morton Wheeler.[8] She published over 20 papers about ants in less than 10 years.[9] She carried out her myrmecological research at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, one of the few institutions that was sympathetic to female students at that time. In addition to studying there, she also gave lectures. Key discoveries include demonstrating that ants use their antennae to recognise nestmates[10] and that ants react to vibrations in the ground detected via their legs, rather than 'hearing' sound travelling through the air.[11]

Fielde also wrote a comprehensive dictionary and guide to the Chinese Teochew language, and was known to locals as "Miss Fielde" .[12]

Selected works

Taxon named in her honor

Notes and References

  1. Book: Stevens, Helen Norton. Memorial Biography of Adele M. Fielde: Humanitarian. 1918. Fielde Memorial Committee.
  2. Web site: Adele M. Fielde. Tucker. Ruth A.. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity. 20 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140421064306/http://www.bdcconline.net/en/stories/f/fielde-adele-m.php. 2014-04-21.
  3. Book: Warren, Leonard. Adele Marion Fielde: Feminist, Social Activist, Scientist. 14 January 2004. Routledge. 9781134488155.
  4. Book: 徐松石 . 華人浸信會史錄 (第四輯:海外地區) . 1972-04-01 . 浸信會出版社(國際)有限公司 . zh.
  5. Griffiths. Valerie. September 2008. Biblewomen from London to China: the transnational appropriation of a female mission idea. Women's History Review. 17. no 4.. 530. ebscohost.
  6. Santangelo. Lauren C.. Summer–Fall 2017. "The Merry War Goes On": Elite Suffrage in Gilded Age Manhattan. Fenimore Art Museum. 349–350. ebscohost.
  7. Portable Ant Nests. 2. 81–85. Fielde. Adele Marion. Biological Bulletin. 1900. 2. 10.2307/1535735. 1535735. free.
  8. Book: Wheeler. W.M.. Ants: Their Structure, Development and Behavior. 1910. Columbia University Biological Series. 9. Columbia University Press.
  9. Women's History: Adele Marion Fielde. Gibson. Roberta. Myrmecological News Blog. 2020.
  10. Power of recognition among ants . Fielde. A.M. . 1904. Biological Bulletin. 7 . 5 . 227–250. 10.2307/1535711 . 1535711 . 2027/njp.32101079510044 . free .
  11. The reactions of ants to material vibrations . Fielde. A.M. . Parker. GH. . 1904. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 56 . 3 . 642–649. 4062955 .
  12. Web site: 林伦伦 . 2018-04-22 . zh:"斐姑娘"及其《汕头方言词典》 . http://chaofeng.stlib.net/information/157041 . 2022-06-14 . zh:汕头日报 . zh.
  13. Web site: Family ENGRAULIDAE Gill 1861 (Anchovies) . 27 April 2023 . Christopher Scharpf . Kenneth J. Lazara . amp . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara . 22 September 2018.

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