Edith Nason Buckingham Explained

Edith Nason Buckingham
Birth Date:September 28, 1877
Birth Place:Boston, Massachusetts
Death Date:February 23, 1954
Death Place:Sudbury, Massachusetts
Occupation:Zoologist, businesswoman, chicken farmer, dog breeder

Edith Nason Buckingham (September 28, 1877 – February 23, 1954) was an American zoologist, dog breeder, and chicken farmer. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in zoology at Radcliffe College.

Early life

Buckingham was born in Boston, the daughter of Edward Marshall Buckingham and Alice Darracott Nason Buckingham. Her father and grandfather were both Harvard-trained physicians.[1] Her sister Margaret married biochemist Addison Gulick. She attended Girls Latin School and the Curtis-Peabody School. She attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1902,[2] [3] and was president of the Radcliffe Science Club.[4]

In 1910,[5] Buckingham became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in zoology at Radcliffe,[6] with a dissertation titled "Division of Labor among Ants" (1911).[7] [8] Her supervisor was Edward Laurens Mark at Harvard Zoological Laboratory.[9] [10] In connection with that project, she also wrote "A Light-Weight, Portable Outfit for the Study and Transportation of Ants" (1909), published in The American Naturalist.[11]

Career

Buckingham worked at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research after college,[12] and taught science at high schools in Concord[13] and Abington, Massachusetts.[14] She was an active member of Phi Beta Kappa.[15] [16]

From 1927, Buckingham and her partner owned and operated Featherland Farm, a chicken farm in Sudbury, Massachusetts.[17] The farm grew to a large business, including farm equipment rentals. She also bred and raised show dogs,[18] [19] and was a founding member of the New England Old English Sheep Dog Club. She was a member of the Sudbury Woman's Club and the Sudbury Garden Club, and taught Sunday school at an Episcopal church. She claimed that the "Grandmother's house" of Lydia Maria Child's 1844 "Over the river and through the wood" lyric was her farmhouse in Sudbury.[20]

Personal life

Buckingham lived and worked with Emily G. Fish.[21] Edith N. Buckingham died in 1954, at a Sudbury town meeting, aged 78 years.[22] After her death, the Framingham District Kennel Club gave a Memorial Trophy in her name.[23] Some of her correspondence is in the Gulick Family Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Notes and References

  1. Gay. George W.. May 31, 1917. Edward Marshall Buckingham M.D.. The New England Journal of Medicine. 176. 22. 761–762. 10.1056/NEJM191705311762204.
  2. May 1954. In Memoriam. The Radcliffe Quarterly. 25.
  3. Radcliffe College, Class of 1902 (1902 yearbook): 17.
  4. Web site: Tonn. Jenna. 2019. The Woman Zoologist Who Found a Home for Her Science in Chicken Farming. live. 2021-10-02. Lady Science. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20210429062837/https://www.ladyscience.com/features/edith-buckingham-zoologist-turned-chicken-farmer-dog-breeder . 2021-04-29 .
  5. News: 1910-06-28. Radcliffe Commencement. 2. Boston Evening Transcript. 2021-10-02. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: 1910-07-20. Women the World Over. 12. The Post-Standard. 2021-10-02. Newspapers.com.
  7. Book: Buckingham, Edith Nason. Division of Labor Among Ants. 1911. Ginn. en.
  8. Book: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments. 1912. 245. en.
  9. News: 1910-05-05. Ants Have Their Cattle Like Humans. 6. The People's Ledger. 2021-10-03. Newspapers.com.
  10. Tonn. Jenna. 2017. Extralaboratory Life: Gender Politics and Experimental Biology at Radcliffe College, 1894–1910. Gender & History. en. 29. 2. 329–358. 10.1111/1468-0424.12292. 149438967 . 1468-0424.
  11. Bronstein. Judith L.. Bolnick. Daniel I.. December 2018. "Her Joyous Enthusiasm for Her Life-Work ...": Early Women Authors in The American Naturalist. The American Naturalist. 192. 6. 655–663 (see Appendix). 10.1086/700119. 30444652. 53567449. free.
  12. Tonn. Jenna. June 2019. Laboratory of domesticity: Gender, race, and science at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, 1903–30. History of Science. en. 57. 2. 231–259. 10.1177/0073275318797789. 30309265. 52966629. 0073-2753.
  13. Book: Parker, George Howard. Mark Anniversary Volume: To Edward Laurens Mark, Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Zoölogical Laboratory at Harvard University, in Celebration of Twenty-five Years of Successful Work for the Advancement of Zoölogy, from His Former Students, 1877-1902. 1903. H. Holt. vi. en.
  14. Book: Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. Yearbook of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. 1906. 219. en.
  15. News: 1915-06-22. Class Exercises of Radcliffe Seniors. 10. The Boston Globe. 2021-10-03. Newspapers.com.
  16. News: 1921-06-21. More Phi Beta Kappa Elections at Radcliffe. 12. The Boston Globe. 2021-10-03. Newspapers.com.
  17. News: Banner. Earl. 1948-08-07. Sudbury Farmer Finds Growing Own Pays Off. 11. The Boston Globe. 2021-10-03. Newspapers.com.
  18. News: 1937-09-16. Setter, Sheepdog Vie for Best at Brockton. 22. The Boston Globe. 2021-10-02. Newspapers.com.
  19. News: 1940-02-20. Eastern Dog Show Summary. 10. The Boston Globe. 2021-10-02. Newspapers.com.
  20. News: April 5, 1956. Meeting of Society Will be Thursday. 16. Concord Enterprise. October 3, 2021. NewspaperArchive.com.
  21. News: September 16, 1954. Miss E. G. Fish Visits Friends in Sudbury. 5. Concord Enterprise. October 3, 2021. NewspaperArchive.com.
  22. News: 1954-02-24. Sudbury Woman, 78, Dies at Town Meeting. 1. The Boston Globe. 2021-10-02. Newspapers.com.
  23. News: May 6, 1954. Trophy Given in Honor of E. Buckingham. 20. Concord Enterprise. October 3, 2021. NewspaperArchive.com.

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