Clara Southmayd Ludlow (1852–1924) was an American entomologist, the first woman known to publish extensively on the taxonomy of mosquitoes and their occurrence in relation to the incidence of mosquito-borne diseases.[1][2] She made important contributions to the field of medical entomology and served as head of the Department of Entomology at the Army Medical Museum from 1920 until her death.
Clara Southmayd Ludlow | |
|---|---|
 Photographed ca. 1905–1924 | |
| Born | 26 December 1852 Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | 28 September 1924 (aged 71) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | B.S., M.A., Mississippi State University, Ph.D. George Washington University |
| Years active | 1889–1924[1] |
| Known for | Scientist, Entomologist |
| Parent(s) | Jacob Rapalje Ludlow, Anna Mary Hunt |
Early life
editClara Southmayd Ludlow was born on December 26, 1852, in Easton, Pennsylvania, the eldest child of Jacob Rapalje and Anna Mary (Hunt) Ludlow.[3] During the American Civil War, her father served as Surgeon of the 1st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, United States Army,[4] and the family briefly lived in Knoxville, Tennessee after the war.[2]
Between 1877 and 1879, she completed a course of study at the New England Conservatory of Music in singing and piano, and soon after served as alumni president.[2] In 1880 she was enumerated by the federal census at the Monticello Female Seminary[5] near Alton, Illinois, her occupation listed as "Music [Teacher]." According to the 1924 Biographical Cyclopedia of American Women, "for many years she made music her profession, teaching and doing a certain amount of concert work."[6] However, she reported experiencing familial strain and depression during that period that contributed to her change in profession.[2]
Education and career as a scientist
editBy 1897, she was a student at Mississippi Agricultural & Mechanical College (now Mississippi State University) in Starkville, Mississippi, which was otherwise an all-male institution. In 1898, she had her first formal exposure to entomology as a student working in the mosquito laboratory of Professor George W. Herrick during an epidemic of yellow fever.[2] She graduated from Mississippi A&M in 1900 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. In 1901, she was awarded a Master of Arts degree in botany by Mississippi A&M. She made drawings of Viola species that were later obtained by Professor Edward Lee Greene of the University of Notre Dame.[1]
After graduation in 1901 with her Masters of Arts degree, Ludlow traveled to Manila, Republic of the Philippines,[1] to visit one of her two younger brothers, Henry Hunt,[3] who was stationed there as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army. There she worked on disease-vectoring mosquitoes with the Army Surgeon General's Office, encouraged by Dr. William J. Calvert of the Manila Plague Laboratory.[1] In October 1901, she returned to San Francisco with her brother, who had contracted an illness. She began to publish descriptions of the mosquitoes she had encountered in the Philippines in 1902 and continued to receive specimens from Army physicians stationed internationally who used special collecting kits to catch mosquitoes at the order of her later dissertation committee chair, Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg.[2]
In 1904, she was a lecturer on mosquitoes and disease at the Army Medical Museum in Washington, D.C. By 1907, she was Demonstrator of Histology and Embryology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.,[1] where she received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in preventive medicine in 1908.[2] Her doctoral dissertation was entitled The Mosquitoes of the Philippine Islands: The Distribution of Certain Species and Their Occurrence in Relation to the Incidence of Certain Diseases. She remained on the faculty of George Washington University, where in 1909 she was Instructor of Histology and Embryology. In 1908 Ludlow was elected to the American Society of Tropical Medicine, the first woman and the first non-physician member of the society.[1] During this time, between 1909 and 1910, she also attended medical school classes.[2]
From 1916 until 1920 she was officially an anatomist at the Army Medical Museum, now the National Museum of Health and Medicine, on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center post in Washington, D.C.[1] She was deeply involved in mosquito taxonomy, identification and public health efforts, including a project that resulted in the production of an educational film, Mosquito Eradication, in 1918.[7] During 1920, she became the museum's Chief Entomologist, a position she held until her death.[1]
Death and interment
editLudlow died on September 28, 1924, from cancer in Washington, D.C. She was eulogized by Major General James F. Coupal.[2] She is interred in Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 2, Grave No. 3843, beside her father. Her grave marker simply indicates her name and date of death, and that she was "daughter of Jacob".[1]
Commemoration
editShe was commemorated by contemporary entomologists in the specific epithets of the mosquitoes Uranotaenia clara Dyar & Shannon, 1925 and Uranotaenia ludlowae Dyar & Shannon, 1925, having formally described many more species herself during her life (72 species plus six genera).[4]
In 2017, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene began awarding a medal named after Dr. Ludlow, "a woman icon in tropical medicine" recognizing honorees of either gender for their "inspirational and pioneering spirit, whose work represents success despite obstacles and advances in tropical medicine."[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Carpenter, Terry L. (2005). "Notes on the Life of Dr. Clara Southmayd Ludlow, Ph.D., Medical Entomologist (1852-1924)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 107 (3): 657–662. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kitzmiller, James B. (1987) [Originally published 1982 as part of "Anopheline Names, Their Derivations and Histories" in Volume 8 of the Thomas Say Foundation, pp. 316–321]. Ward, Ronald R. (ed.). "Biography of Clara Southmayd Ludlow 1852 - 1924" (PDF). Mosquito Systematics. 19 (3): 251–258. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Ludlow, Clara Southmayd". The GW and Foggy Bottom Historical Encyclopedia. Special Collections Research Center, George Washington University Libraries. 11 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012.
- ^ a b Streck-Havill, Trenton (1 August 2019). "Dr. Clara Ludlow: from Music to Mosquitoes". The Micrograph: A Closer Look at NMHM. National Museum of Health and Medicine. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ Kristen Brueckner. 1998. Monticello Ladies' Seminary. Illinois History 52(1): 6-7, accessible online at http://www.lib.niu.edu/1998/ihy981206.html Archived 2010-04-02 at the Wayback Machine (2009).
- ^ Cameron, M.W., ed. (1924). "LUDLOW, CLARA SOUTHMAYD, scientist". The Biographical Cyclopedia of American Women. Vol. 1. New York: The Halvord Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 189–190. ISBN 978-0-8103-3990-3. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Google Books. Republished 1974 by Gale Research Company.
- ^ Boyle, Eric W. (2012). "Finding Aid, Otis Historical Archives, OHA 17: Curatorial Records, Ludlow Etomology Records" (PDF). National Museum of Health and Medicine. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene: Society Introduces Medal Named After Woman Icon in Tropical Medicine, http://www.astmh.org/blog/november-2017/society-introduces-medal-named-after-woman-icon-in, posted 5 November 2017.
External links
edit- Knight, Kenneth L.; Pugh, Ruth B. (1974). "A Bibliography of the Mosquito Writings of C. S. Ludlow and D. W. Coquillett" (PDF). Mosquito Systematics. 6 (3): 214–219. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Carpenter, Mathilde M. (1945). "Bibliography of Biographies of Entomologists". American Midland Naturalist. 33 (1): 62. JSTOR 2421325.
Data related to Clara Southmayd Ludlow at Wikispecies
