This book is about two sisters who lived in Pennsylvania in the early to mid 1800’s. One was a botanist, and the other, an entomologist. Since there was little to no formal training in those fields then, especially for women, they were both basically self-taught. And we really only know about them because they wrote a lot of letters to other botanists and entomologists. The sisters were Elizabeth and Margaretta Morris, and they lived in the Philadelphia area, where they could walk along the Wissahickon River and find the plants and insects that fascinated them. In fact, this connection with the river, and their large garden, were probably instrumental in their vocations.
The sub-title of the book is “The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science”. While neither sister ever held a job in a scientific field (or any job, for that matter), their discoveries and insights helped the male scientists who did hold jobs, and whose names did get remembered. The sisters were fortunate in that they inherited a house and enough money to live on. Neither sister ever married, and they were able to devote much of their time to their respective studies. Even though they had no formal training or employment, they took their science seriously, and they were well aware of the worth of their discoveries and insights. Of course, at this time, both these sciences were in their infancies, so few men had formal training, either.
Some of the men in their professions respected them, and took the information they provided seriously. Others tried to discredit them, and ensure that they would not overstep the bounds society set for them. Some utilized their willingness to help others, but gave them little credit for it. At that time, botanists and entomologists would send samples to others in their fields, with the hope that these gifts would be reciprocated. The Morris sisters were not the only female “amateur scientists” to assist others this way.
If this was your family, how would you research them? Much of what McNeur learned about Elizabeth and Margaretta, she learned from the letters they wrote to others. People who are well known in their fields sometimes donate their “papers” to colleges or institutions that are important to them, and that is where McNeur found them. One other place she found traces of the sisters was in magazines devoted to gardening and agriculture. The sisters would write an article about a new plant or insect they had seen. Sometimes they used their full name, sometimes initials or a pseudonym.