| Harriet Redfield Cobb | |
| Birth Date: | September 10, 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Peekskill, New York |
| Death Date: | February 13, 1958 |
| Death Place: | Northampton, Massachusetts |
| Occupation: | Mathematics professor |
Harriet Redfield Cobb (September 10, 1866 – February 13, 1958) was an American mathematics educator, a professor at Smith College from 1895 to 1931.
Cobb was born in Peekskill, New York, the daughter of Elisha G. Cobb and Esther Meroa Redfield Cobb. Her father was a Congregational clergyman. She attended Northampton High School and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Smith College in 1889, and an honorary master's degree, also from Smith College, in 1891.[1] She pursued further studies at Columbia University.[2]
Cobb taught mathematics at schools in Louisiana and Ohio before returning to Smith as a mathematics instructor in 1895. She taught geometry[3] at Smith College[4] until she retired as professor emerita in 1931. Her colleagues at Smith included fellow mathematics professors Eleanor P. Cushing. Ruth Goulding Wood, and Suzan Rose Benedict.[5] [6] She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a president of the Western Massachusetts Mathematics Association. She also taught Bible study classes at a Congregational church.
Cobb was a busy traveler. She made an eight-month trip around the world with her friend, Pennsylvania math educator Sarah Gilbert, in 1907 and 1908.[7] She traveled to China several times in the 1920s,[8] and consulted there on math education for Chinese women.
Cobb spent much of her retirement in Florida.[9] She was active in Smith alumnae activities there.[10] In 1936 she spoke to an audience of retired teachers in Florida about "The Pioneer Spirit of Smith College".[11]
Cobb died in 1958, aged 91 years, in Northampton, Massachusetts.[12]