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Ellen Swallow Richards has been called "the American woman chemist of the latter part of the nineteenth century" (see Women in Chemistry and Physics, p 520). She made many significant contributions to chemical analysis, sanitary chemistry, and home economics.
Ellen was born on December 3, 1842 in Dunstable, Massachusetts to Peter Swallow and Fanny Gould Taylor. Since they both had experience as teachers, Ellen was home-schooled until she was sixteen. The family was quite poor and moved several times as her father changed jobs. Ellen was fortunate to be able to attend and graduate from Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts. However, from 1863 to 1868, she had to work to help the family survive as well as try to set aside money so she could further her education.
When Ellen was 25, she was accepted at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Here she became interested in the sciences because of her interactions with chemist Charles Farrer and astronomer Maria Mitchell. Upon graduating, Ellen decided to go to Argentina to teach astronomy. When this fell through, she was advised to apply to MIT for graduate study. Because she was a woman, MIT would accept her only for a second bachelorÕs degree. In 1873, Ellen was the first woman to earn a B.S. from MIT. During this time she worked with William R. Nichols on the analysis of public water supplies. In addition, she received an M.A. from Vassar in 1873 for her research on the amount of vanadium in iron ore samples.
Ellen continued to work at MIT in the hopes of someday earning a graduate degree from this institution. She never did. However she gained more valuable experience as well as enhancing her reputation as a chemical analyst through her work with John M. Ordway. In 1876 Ellen began the WomanÕs Laboratory at MIT that resulted in four women graduating from MIT with bachelorÕs degrees in science. During this period, she also became one of the founding members of the Association for the Advancement of University Women.
In 1883 Ellen received her first official appointment, albeit nonpaying, at MIT as instructor in the laboratory of sanitary chemistry. It was here that she began her work on the application of water analysis to industrial waste and municipal sewage. Later she was appointed as a water analyst to the Massachusetts State Board of Health and served there from 1887 to 1897. In addition, Ellen became an instructor in the newly established program of sanitary engineering at MIT in 1890. She published her research in numerous papers in professional journals from 1880 to 1900.
Through her example and advocacy, Ellen Swallow Richards promoted the education of women in scientific disciplines. She also helped to establish interdisciplinary research in wastewater analysis, nutrition, home economics--all part of what she called "oekology".
Ellen Swallow married Robert Richards in 1875. He was a professor in the mining engineering department at MIT. He was always very supportive of her professional activities.
Ellen Swallow Richards died on March 30, 1911 in Boston.
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