Mar 8, 2019
(March 2, 2019) Women from Indiana became pioneers in sciences ranging from physics to home economics during the early and mid-1900s. But they confronted myriad challenges, and their trailblazing efforts often have been ignored.
Hoosier History Live strives to fill in this historical void as we salute Women's History Month with this encore broadcast (original air date: March 11, 2017) of a show that spotlights the innovations of - and obstacles confronted by - a physicist from southern Indiana who pioneered new theories (but whose career was stalled because of McCarthyism during the Cold War) and two women associated with Purdue University who were pioneers in "bringing science into the home." One of them traveled across the Hoosier state during the World War I era to share research with farm women.
Nelson's guests include:
Jill
Weiss, digital outreach manager at
the Indiana
Historical Bureau. She shares insights
about Melba
Phillips (1907-2004), a native
of Hazleton,
Ind., who became an internationally acclaimed
physicist, worked to improve science education and, according to
Jill, "advocated for women's place at the forefront of science
research." Following World War II, Phillips and other scientists
organized to prevent nuclear war. She was fired from university
posts, though, after being accused of advocating subversive
positions.- And Angie Klink, a Lafayette-based author and historian whose eight books include Divided Paths, Common Ground (Purdue University Press, 2011). It is a dual biography of Mary Matthews, who became the first dean of home economics at Purdue University, and Lella Gaddis, the first state leader of home demonstrations in agricultural extension.
"She hit the
road to take research and knowledge ... directly to farm women, who
often were isolated," Angie notes, referring to Gaddis. Prior to
her outreach, what farm women knew about food preservation (a
particularly important topic during World War I, when meat, sugar
and other goods were
in high demand), sanitation and nutrition often had
just been "handed down by word-of-mouth from their mothers."
When Matthews was initially appointed a department chair of home economics in 1912 prior to becoming Purdue's first dean of the subject, "she had little support from the men in power at Purdue," Angie writes.
Melba Phillips, the physicist, encountered enormous challenges during her long career, but she rebounded and became the first woman president of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1966.
More than 20 years later,
according to a blog post that our guest Jill Weiss has written for
the Historical Bureau, Brooklyn College publicly apologized for
having fired Phillips during the 1950s. Eventually, the college
even created a scholarship in her name.
Phillips, who had studied under Robert Oppenheimer and went on to write two physics textbooks, was living in Petersburg, Ind., when she died at age 97. During the 1950s, she refused to testify before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that was investigating internal security.
Jill's blog about her is titled "Melba Phillips: Leader in Science and Conscience." Phillips also is the subject of an episode of the IHB podcast Talking Hoosier History, which Jill helps produce.
According to Jill's blog, Melba Phillips graduated from high
school at 15, then studied at Oakland City
College (which became Oakland City University in 1985)
in southern Indiana. Eventually, she earned a Ph.D. and became
"known throughout the physics world" because of her contributions
to the field.
As described in our guest Angie Klink's book Divided Paths, Lella Gaddis "tooled down the country roads past Indiana cornfields" to bring the latest science about vitamins, food preservation, sanitation and other topics to farm wives. On the running board of her Model T, Gaddis propped her demonstration suitcase - and held onto it as she traveled on the rural roads.
Divided Paths also tells the story of an unconventional "lady farmer," as Virginia Claypool Meredith was called during the late 1800s and early 1900s. During our show, we also will explore her pioneering career, which included becoming the first woman on Purdue's board of trustees in 1921.
When Virginia Claypool Meredith was 33 years old in 1882, she had to take over the running of a 115-acre cattle and sheep farm near Cambridge City, Ind, when her husband died unexpectedly, according to Angie's book. "She became a nationally recognized agricultural speaker and writer."