Richards, Ellen guallow 1,842-1911 1/31/2019 Ellen Swallow Richards: Tributes: Institute Archives & Special Collections: MIT Tributes to Ellen Swallow Richards From Technology Review, vol. 13, 1911, pp. 365-373 Biographical Sketch by H. P. Talbot, '85 | Poem by L. E. R. An Appreciation by W. T. Sedgwick | Action of Woman's Education Association Ellen Henrietta Richards, A.M., Sc.D. A biographical sketch of her life--Her remarkable career and her many public activities The death of Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, on the thirtieth of March, occasioned a sense of personal loss to an unusually large number of friends, acquaintances and co-laborers in widely different walks of life. For nearly forty years a participant in the work of the Institute of Technology, she had become a prominent and most active figure among its corps of instructors; her scientific work had gained for her a wide acquaintance among various scientific organizations, local and national; her social service and interest in all that pertained to the higher education of women and to the betterment of living conditions for all had made her a leader whom thousands had learned to respect and were glad to follow. Mrs. Richards was born at Dunstable, Mass., in 1842, the daughter of Peter and Fanny G. Swallow. She entered Vassar College in due course and was graduated in 1870, having devoted much time to astronomy as a pupil of Prof. Maria Mitchell. She soon afterward connected herself with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, turned her attention to chemistry, and was graduated from that course in 1873, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. While the reasons for the selection of chemistry as a field for her later work are not accurately known, a memorandum which was apparently made by her indicates that it was because she felt that greater opportunities for effective service to her fellow beings were open in that than in other fields and this probably represented the first, and possibly unconscious, leaning toward public service which later manifested itself in so large a measure. The marriage of Miss Ellen Swallow to Prof. Robert H. Richards, in 1875, marks the beginning of that mutually sympathetic and quarter of a century. 2 During the period from 1873 to 1884, Mrs. Richards was active in various fields. A part of her time was given to teaching, but much of it was devoted to the assistance of Profs. John M. Ordway and William Ripley Nichols. The former maintained an active practice as consulting expert in technical chemistry, while the latter had gained an enviable reputation as an authority in matters of water supplies. It was also during this period that the Women's Laboratory was established to afford better opportunities for the scientific education of women. It was housed in a portion of a one-story structure located between the present sites of the Rogers and Walker Buildings, and later removed when the Walker Building was erected. This laboratory was established largely through the instrumentality of Mrs. Richards in enlisting the financial support necessary for it, hers was the guiding hand in its management, and hers the leading spirit in this, as in other subsequent movements of similar import. Her association with Professor Ordway laid the foundation for her later service (1884-1894) as chemist to the Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Co., in which she did much interesting work bearing upon the danger from spontaneous combustion of various oils in commercial use. It also gave her an appreciation of technical problems which added much to her efficiency as a teacher. Her work in sanitary chemistry with Professor Nichols was destined to be of still more significance, for, in 1887, the State Board of Health of Massachusetts began a comprehensive survey of the water supplies of the State which involved a series of problems for the solution of which she was especially well prepared. This work was under the immediate supervision of Dr. Thomas M. Drown, but the success of the undertaking, now a classic of its kind, was in no small measure due to the enthusiasm, energy, experience and insight with which Mrs. Richards threw herself into the work of devising methods, recording results and organizing assistance. Over twenty thousand samples of water were examined under her supervision, a record never approximated before that time, the results of which made possible generalizations of lasting value, not only to this community, but to the world. Mrs. Richards was chemist to the Board of Health from 1872 to 1875 and water analyst from 1887 to 1897. Mrs. Richards also found time to take an intelligent and helpful interest in the professional work of Professor Richards and some of her earliest published work associated itself with the mineral industries. She was elected to membership in the American Institute of Mining Engineers, a distinction conferred upon only one other woman. She received the degree of Master of Arts from Vassar College in 1873, and her large circle of friends was greatly pleased by the deserved recognition on the part of Smith College in the conferring upon her of the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, in https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/esr/esr-tributes.html 2/8 1/31/2019 Ellen Swallow Richards: Tributes: Institute Archives & Special Collections: MIT 1910. She was also for many years a member of the Board of Trustees of Vassar College. 3 In 1884 Mrs. Staff of Chemistry Laboratory, 1899-1900. Photograph courtesy of the MIT Museum. Richards was appointed instructor in Sanitary Chemistry at the Institute of Technology, a position which she held at the time of her death. For many years she directed the entire instruction in the chemistry of air, water and foods, for chemists, biologists and sanitary engineers, and only relinquished the chemistry of food supplies when the pressure of other affairs made this necessary. Her service as an instructor was helpful and inspiring, and the extent of her personal and financial sacrifice for her pupils and for the increase of the effectiveness of her laboratory will probably never be adequately known or appreciated. She also maintained an extensive private practice in sanitary chemistry for many years and acted in an advisory capacity for a very large number of public and private institutions. Her publications relating to sanitation have been numerous and varied, and she maintained active membership in, and participated in the meetings of local and national societies dealing with water supplies and public health problems. All of this would seem a sufficient achievement for even a busy life, but there still remains what may possibly be regarded as the most important aspects of Mrs. Richards' life work, namely, her leadership in matters pertaining to home economics and to the education of women. Preeminently a successful organizer, she gave more and relating to from one end of the country to the other, lecturing, teaching and, when necessary, pleading in behalf of the causes which were so dear to her. In this work she was highly successful, not only in the attainment of immediate benefits, but in the inspiration of others to foster and continue the enterprises which she inaugurated. It is gratifying to note that plans are already on foot to bring together a memorial fund to be known as the Ellen H. Richards Research Fund, the proceeds to be used for the promotion of advanced work in Sanitary Chemistry, in recognition of her labor and self-sacrifice. Her writings upon household economics and kindred topics include numerous books of recognized value, a large number of papers read before gatherings of the most varied character, and many magazine articles. Her death occurred at her home at Jamaica Plain, after a brief illness. She literally spent the last remnants of her strength in public service, never fully recovering from the strain of her last public speech in behalf of better standards of living. A powerful leader, a wise teacher, a tireless worker, of sane and kindly judgment, Mrs. Richards has taught and inspired thousands to carry forward the movements which she has inaugurated. Her associates and co-laborers necessarily mourn their loss and miss her leadership, but they will best express their appreciation of her life and its far-reaching influence by increased activity in behalf of those phases of human progress and betterment for which she sacrificed herself so freely. H. P. TALBOT, '85. IN MEMORIAM Ellen H. Richards A voice is hushed: but ere it failed, The listening echoes caught its tone, And now its message clear and keen On every wind of heaven is blown. A staff is broke: but ere it snapped, 1/31/2019 Ellen Swallow Richards: Tributes: Institute Archives & Special Collections: MIT Those who had leaned on it so long Had made its steadfast fibre theirs, And fare now forward, straight and strong. A light is quenched: but ere it paled, It lit a hundred torches' flame, That shine across the darkening sky, And star with gold one honored name. L. E. R. April, 1911. Ellen Swallow Richards. Photograph courtesy of the MIT UMRS! RICHARDS' UNIQUE POSITION An appreciation of her work at the Institute by Prof. Sedgwick We have lost a great teacher. For whatsoever else Mrs. Richards was- -and that was much--she was first and foremost a teacher. She was fortunate in being closely associated in her professional education and in her professional work with two distinguished chemists, the leaders of their time in sanitary chemistry, a subject which she early made her own. From William Ripley Nichols especially, who from the time of his graduation from the Institute in 1869--the same year in which the State Board of Health of Massachusetts was organized-- until his death in 1886, was the highest authority on water analysis in the western world, and whose mind was one of the keenest and finest that I have ever known, Ellen Swallow as a student, and Mrs. Richards as an assistant and associate, gained her principal training in the methods and ideals of sanitary science and public health service. And when Professor Nichols' successor, Dr. Thomas Messinger Drown, was invited in 1887 by the then newly-organized State Board of Health to take charge of the sanitary survey of the inland waters of the State, the first in that brilliant series of sanitary undertakings which have brought renown to Massachusetts, Professor Drown turned at once to Mrs. Richards as the proper person to supervise and administer the great laboratory for water analysis which the State Board of Health established, and for years water sent in TOR analysis came to pe analyzea. Here also was prepared that famous "normal chlorine" map of Massachusetts which was the first of the kind to be prepared anywhere and which has served as a model in sanitary surveys of states and countries all over the world. This laboratory, always presided over with a firm yet genial hand by Mrs. Richards, will long remain famous in the annals of American water analysis. From it have gone out dozens of men and women who are today directors or workers in similar laboratories all over the United States. But fond and proud as Mrs. Richards was of her laboratory of sanitary chemistry, she was never restricted to that narrow space. At her home in Jamaica Plain, where hundreds of Technology students and teachers have from time to time foregathered and shared her gracious hospitality, she found time to prepare a series of books which extended her influence as a teacher to schools, colleges, clubs, associations and societies almost without number. She was rightly recognized as an authentic speaker upon a wide range of sanitary subjects and was always heard with respect and regard, for the very reason that she spoke with the authority of the laboratory and the scientific world and not merely as one of the scribes. The mere enumeration of her writings would fill a column and one needs only to open one of her volumes, such for example as her latest, "Conservation by Sanitation," to marvel at the breadth of her writings and the extent of her reflection upon sanitary themes. She was without question a master of her subjects, and the foremost sanitary authority of her sex in the whole world, and yet Mrs. Richards was always a woman, believing intensely in the home and its fundamental importance. Most of her books and writings deal in fact directly with the home, such for example as "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning," "The Cost of Living," "The Cost of Food," "The Cost of Shelter," "The Art of Right Living," "The Cost of Cleanness"; and although her interests and work reached out far beyond the home and into the world at large, she was ever mindful of its supreme importance in American life. Mrs. Richards was a graduate of Vassar College, always a loyal alumna and for a long time a trustee. She was, however, no less devoted to the Institute of Technology, from which she received the degree of bachelor of science in chemistry in 1873. She appreciated intensely that rigid discipline which has always characterized its training and she was keenly alive to its achievements and its rising reputation. She was personally and closely attached to its founder and first president, William Barton Rogers, and his wife. To the women students of the Institute she stood literally in loco parentis, and many a girl struggling to meet financial obligations or the academic requirements of the Institute has found in Mrs. Richards an elder sister or a foster mother. It was, therefore, with the greatest satisfaction that her friends and colleagues learned of the conferring https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/esr/esr-tributes.html 6/8 7. 1/31/2019 Ellen Swallow Richards: Tributes: Institute Archives & Special Collections: MIT upon her of the degree of Doctor of Science by Smith College at its recent anniversary, for upon no one could that degree have been bestowed more justly. It is a matter for congratulation that death came to Mrs. Richards, doubtless as she would herself have wished, while she was still full of intellectual vigor and hard at work. Many gaps left by death are not difficult to fill, but this is not the case with Mrs. Richards. Her position in the Institute and her work in the world were both unique. No one can fill her place. Other women may become experts in water analysis. and preside over laboratories, but no one hereafter can possibly gain the peculiar historic equipment which fell to Mrs. Richards. Other women may, and no doubt will, make addresses and write books upon sanitation and the home, but no one else can ever do these things as Mrs. Richards has done them, for the reason that she was herself an evolution and represented an epoch. We are always too prone to undervalue things familiar and near at hand, and Boston and Massachusetts have never adequately appreciated Mrs. Richards or her work. But now that she is gone and no one can possibly take her place, we may begin to realize the extent of our loss. Those of us who have had the privilege of being her colleagues and enjoying her friendship will miss her vigorous personality, her sane and keen judgments, her cheerful smile. We are grateful to have shared her companionship and to have felt her womanly influence. Her name is already writ large in the history of New England women and of the Institute, and many who knew and valued Mrs. Richards will hold her in affectionate remembrance, both for what she was and for what she has done. W. T. SEDGWICK. Boston Transcript, March 31. 1911 esd 8/8 Life and The Remarkable Career of ( hapter 10 Ellen Swallow Richards Pamela C. Swallow Cupid Pops into the Laborator N.Y. Wiley, 2014. "Il is becoming recognized that a woman has a personality that is not in her husband's control, that the mere act of marrying him does not make her his devoted slave. ~ Ellen Swallow Richards wish I were triplets," Ellen said with a sigh. She would have liked lor days, too. Her responsibilities and heavy workload, both from MIT and f1 home in Worcester, were enormous. With SO much to do and with so little I romance wasn't foremost on her mind in the spring of 1873. It was, however the mind of one handsome young professor, ironically one who had felt C llieted about the issue of co-education. When Ellen arrived to begin her studies at MIT, Robert Hallowell Richa chairman of the Mining Engineering Department, liked her right a away. Net theless, having women attend a college or scientific institute alongside men something he struggled with. He tried to sort out his thoughts in his journal. wrote: "Statement: Men and women together-introduces feelings and inter Note: Married in to the Laura E foreign to lecture room." " Next to that he wrote: "Answer: But these feelings less harm there (Swallow), than in cars and street corners." Then again Richards family of gardiner ME wrote: "Statement: Together in the family-why not in the school?" Appea 10 become even more muddled, Robert awkwardly followed that statem through Marriage to Robert Richards, with: "Answer: Mother warmly interested in each one. Teacher cannot Numbers great." (Robert apparently had a way to go in clarifying his posi brother of faura's huebany, Henry . on co-education.) Born in Gardiner, Maine, in August, 1844, Robert Richards had bec "slow" student when he was younger. "Twas il complete failure at Exeter, Jamaica Plain overlap as well said, referring to his years at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he (T been at "Tool of his class." But when he enrolled at MIT as a member of its first HI: ating class (1868), he soon proved 10 be il technical menius Robert fell reli 52 Chapter 10 Cupid the Laboratory 53 at last 10 be studying and learning actively through observation, experimenta others could not As it mineralogist and mineralogical chemist, she tion, and testing, rather than by merely reciting memorized facts. After gradua- attitized him. Robert wrote, "She came near to being one of those immortals tion, he stayed on at the Institute to teach In just llice years, he rose to depart= 11/11 have identified new elements in the earth's crust." 11c also said that she ment chairman. My became considered by some to be "the best analyst in the United Robert was an extrovert with a winning personality. He liked to tell humor- States And besides all that, Robert couldn't help but be drawn to her enthusi- ous stories and entertain friends with his glass-blowing abilities. Athletic and to her eyes blue with flecks of steel bright and determined. lit, he loved sports and the outdoors, and excelled as an archer. Robert also had Robert was determined, too determined to court Ellen. But that wasn't an outstanding bass voice and sang with the Boston Handel and Haydn was For one thing, she was a pupil and he was a professor. He often spent ex- Society. 1101 time with her at the institute and frequently waited for her to finish her wa- Although some of the MIT males still regarded Ellen as a potentially danger- 111 survey work SO that he could walk her home from MIT to her boarding ous person since there was no way of knowing what might result from allow- because on Columbus Avenue in the evening. It wouldn't have been proper for ing a woman to study-Ellen was eventually allowed out of her "special" isolat- him to romantically pursue her, however, while she was his student. In addition ed work area downstairs and permitted to attend classes alongside the male In that she was incredibly busy working in several fields of science, where she students. She signed up for Robert's courses in geology and mineralogy. He monted was passionate about his field, and Ellen found both the subject matter and the Turning her bachelor's degree in chemistry on May 31, 1873 Ellen became instructor appealing. Robert found Ellen's intelligence and capabilities as 1111 list woman 10 graduate from MIT. as well as becoming America's first de- founding She showed remarkable skill in recognizing metals, ores, and miner- preed female chemist. In addition to her MIT degree, she simultaneously earned master's degree from Vassar that year for her remarkable study and thesis, on anadium. "There is no more difficult metal to obtain," according to experts in peology and mineralogy. Ellen had also made some amazing studies of armatskite the previous semester and she revealed that "there is an insoluable maddie that is not accounted for." Her findings were correct. lillen's reputation spread quickly, and it was at about this time that Vassar's Mana Mitchell began proclaiming proudly that she had "discovered" Ellen Swallow In just nine semesters, Ellen had earned three degrees. And there was one more special "degree" bestowed upon Ellen by some of the men who worked with her in the laboratory- Artium Omnium Magistra (A.O.M.). They translated it as "Mistress of All the Arts." She wondered if it conveyed a second meaning: "An Old Maid." Having patiently waited until Ellen had received her degree on June 6, 1873, 111 tell her his feelings, Robert wasted no time once the diplomas were awarded. But Ellen. precious degree in hand, had disappeared. It wasn't hard to guess where gone, however. She was exactly where he expected she'd be-in the hemistry laboratory. Although her coursework was complete, she still had work 10 finish on the water survey with Professor Nichols. She'd also agreed to day on ill the Institute to assist Professor John M. Ordway, another of those who'd originally opposed her admittance but then later realized that she was sceptional Robert paid no mind to the fact that the laboratory was not a romantic set- mm Surrounded by flasks, condensers, filter paper, test tubes, microscopes, and sample bottles, Robert took Ellen's hand. "I had no ideas of what a wife ought to be to me, or what I ought to be to a wife," he later wrote, "but I knew that Ellen Swallow's aims in life were along the lines which mine seemed to follow. I ad- mited her pioneer spirit, as I think she respected me for the hard work which I Fig. 10-1 A young Robert Richards doing a gymnastic move MII doing The inevitable happened I asked her to become my wife." Ellen had liked Robert from the beginning and was happy being with him () Cupid Pops into the Laboratory United States. He was a much sought-after bachelor in Boston society. It ag vited Fanny that her daughter was taking SO long to say "yes" to such a ma Robert didn't give up. He continued to court Ellen over the next two ye 11 last, she believed that he truly did not want her to sacrifice all that she worked for. He convinced her that he respected her drive and her strong sp and even though it would be most unusual for a married woman to work side the home, what Robert truly wanted was for the two of them to be pion topether in their studies and to love science as a team. Robert later wrote ir autobiography, "to my everlastingjoy, she decided to accept my offer." Their partnership became formalized when they married on June 4, 187: Boston's tiny Union Chapel. Many nervous newlyweds are flustered on the of their wedding. Ellen and Robert were no different. He forgot to pack upht clothing for after the ceremony and, once she got through laughin, J.P. him, she realized she had forgotten the key to the new house they were to m 10 in Jamaica Plain, just a few miles from MIT. Ellen and Robert honeymooned but in a highly unusual way. No roma ruise or dreamy resort. They traveled to Nova Scotia on a four-week wed HIP with an entire class of Robert's mining engineering students! They I mules and traveled by buckboard. Ellen tromped through mines wearir hou skirt (ankle-length, as opposed to floor-length) and work boots. S clothing was certainly not worn by fashionable Boston ladies. In fact, upon return to the Institute, several women who were introduced to Ellen for the time were stunned to learn that this young woman, still in her mining attire, il new bride just back from her honeymoon. And they were shocked that El il Passar graduate, had a couple dozen extra young men along on the hoi Fig. 10-2 Robert Richards. Courtesy MIT Museum. moon! Robert and Ellen were quite a pair. Ellen was small and compact. Ro all, blue-eyed, and handsome, he was understanding, funny, and was tall, athletic, and lanky. She was quick in speech, understanding, and he was also patient. Even though Ellen loved him, she did not non. lle was slower and more deliberate. She excelled at practical theory. harrying Robert on that June afternoon. Instead, she told him excelled at applying theory to the mechanical devices that Ellen imagined. E d time to think. She valued the important work she did. And she were physically active and studious. ious. Would marrying mean giving up her dream of becoming a A niece of Robert's, Laura Richards Wiggins, described them this way: ientist? She wouldn't do that If she married, she had to be ab- at all that she had worked SO hard for wouldn't be sacrificed They were the most opposite people you could imagine. He was a handsome fact that, at age thirty-one, Ellen was considered "an old maid," man vain about his good looks She was quite plain. But even though et that cause her to hurry her decision. She stalled. She told she was not pretty, she was striking She had the most intent, keen eyes. A could never marry a man who smoked. So he stopped smoking pleasant sense of humor very much her own not silly, but very feminine. She didn't waste words on humor for humor's sake. When she said something ained that she still had important water survey experiments to clever or comical, it had a point. vaited. Then she explained that she simply had to set up science Women's Education Association. R obert continued to be pil Andrey Abraham Potter, a former Dean at Purdue who had studied car cring. at MIT and knew Ellen well, spoke of her vivaciousness and extraordir low could not be patient. She couldn't understand why on earth kindness He described Ellen as "it great. kind. practical and useful perso P at the chance 10 marry Robert ("your professor"). In addition woman who was much more beautiful than her photographs, and one who ing and good looking, Robert came from it line old influential constantly and unselfishing giving of herself ensure better working conditi amily and had studied in first rate schools in England and in the improved health and happier living loi all people" Chapter 11 Applied Scientists at Work "Love of home and of what home stands for converts the drudgery of daily routine into a higher order of social service." Ellen Swallow Richards "I is imperative that fresh air, not used-up, breathed-over-and-over-again a should flow through the lungs," Ellen stressed as she and Robert began work the home they moved to after their wedding. She wanted them away from t pollution of Boston, and SO they chose a neighborhood in Jamaica Plain just O1 side the city. The house they bought on Eliot Street was on a corner lot with and light on all sides. It also had plenty of room for a garden. Across the str wasan alley leading to a sta ble where Ellen and Robert were a ble to keep a hor Right away, Ellen tested their water to make sure it was clean. So many pe ple, she said, were living at or "just above the diphtheria level." Jamaica Por which had supplied water to Boston from as far back as the late 1700s, h been found to be polluted at times and had been the cause of multiple e demies. No doubt, Ellen conscientiously kept abreast of its water quality. She and Robert worked feverishly to bring their home up to a healthy sta dard that would set an example for others. Number 32 Eliot Street was not j their home, it became a living laboratory for the kind of life that Ellen a Robert felt nourished body and soul. Being knowledgeable applied scientis they applied their scientific knowledge directly to their daily lives, wanting house to be safe and efficient, their meals to be nutritious, and their water a all 10 be clean and fresh. Side by side, Robert and Ellen worked to take out the old windows and stall new ones that opened at the top to let out warm, polluted air. Fresh from below flowed in and replaced it. They cui holes in ceilings and walls ventilation and in the roof to make skyligl and to install fans to pull out st IIII. They created ventilators over each of their chandeliers. 58 Chapter 11 Fig. 11-2 Dining room at the Eliot Street home. Courtesy MIT Museum. Fig. 11-1 The Richards' home on Eliot Street, now a National Historic Landmark Courtesy MIT Museum. leaner, she was delighted to have a device that would actually remove dust ar dut rather than just stir it up and move it around, the way feather dusters ar To make sure their well water stayed pure and uncontaminated, they pulled brooms did. out the lead pipes and replaced them with safer ones. Some people were not lillen and Robert modernized their kitchen. Once it was possible to do S aware of danger of locating their well too close to an outhouse or waste system they began cooking with gas rather than coal. This was a major improvemen pipes, but Robert and Ellen were careful about that. Because wallpaper com- overy week a coal stove required about 290 pounds of coal, 14 pounds monly contained arsenic-based dyes, they stripped that toxic covering off their kindling wood. and left about 27 pounds of ash that had to be removed and d walls. posed of To keep their kitchen air clean, Robert and Ellen designed a hood f To reduce dust, mites, and germs, Ellen took down the window drapes and then stove, a brand new innovation at that time. They also rigged up meters filled the window areas with beautiful oxygen-producing vines and flowering then kitchen SO that they could keep track of how much gas (and later electri plants such as tulips, ivy, hyacinths, clematis, geraniums, roses, daffodils, and IV) they used for each meal. While telephones were certainly not in every hor violets. "No draperies ever gave to a room the beauty which Mrs. Richards's Illen and Robert installed an early model soon after Alexander Graham Be flowers gave to her dining room," said her friend Caroline Hunt. Robert and 18/6 invention was available in Boston. Ellen rigged up an indoor sprinkling system for their plants. Ellen grew a vari- Hillen taught others to seriously consider the importance of a healthy ind ety of outside plants. Some were vegetables, others beautiful flowering plants. environment For too long, people "have lacked respect for nature and Her "gardening heart" was happy in the new home. laws." she said, as they foolishly "expect hot, foul air to come down from Tassels, doilies, ruffles, draped scarves, heavy cushiony furniture, and knick of the room and obediently go out the window." They have "allowed knacks, commonly used to decorate homes, were not in Ellen's. She kept hers smk drain to feed the well and the dark, damp cellar to furnish air to free of them, along with other dust catchers and bric-a-brac. She and Robert house." The principles that Ellen and Robert applied to their water, air, pulled up carpeting, refinished their wood floors, and put down area rugs, samitation systems became the standards that Ellen would later strive to SE which were easier to clean. Before vacuum cleaners, which weren't available for whools, factories, public buildings, and hospitals. another quarter century (1901), the only way to clean a carpet was to drag il "I Isc your head to save your heels," Ellen advised. In addition to consi outdoors and beat it. This was not something people did very often, usually just imp the aspects of health in the home, Ellen also made studies of convenio during spring cleaning Years later. when Ellen was finally able to pet a vacuum and efficiency. She stressed the importance of looking at the time and step 60 Chapter 11 Applied "ists all Work 61 volved in doing a task; creative energy gets dunined when one wastes time and ended up. They often Hipped a penny to decid hich direction to motion in accomplishing a task. 11 the path or trail had 110 intersection. "The penny W ven a rest for the When Ellen and Robert first moved to Jamaien Plain, they commuted the day Louisa described the fun they had hiking, climbing, ks by the ocean, four miles to MIT in a horse-drawn bus that had wheels in the summer and sled Idecovering French and ( 'hinese restaurants. Louisa W1 refer to Ellen as runners in the winter. Over time, a horse-drawn trolley replaced the bus, and 11111 wise one," and she said that from these adventures, earned, "that rest following that came an electric trolley. Finally, a subway (known in Boston as is not alone in sleep but in variety of scene and thought. ouisa called their the "T") was built. This was the first subway in the United States. mp "voyages of discovery." Robert and Ellen made an acrostic to illustrate what was important to them 11 might seem odd that "task" should come last in thei: rostic, given how in balancing their lives. They created a "Feast of Life" from its components: hand Illen and Robert both worked, but it was their be that in order for make to be performed optimally, it is necessary to balance with good food, Food excluse amusement, and sleep. Exercise Remember human energy is the most precious thing W ve e e ought Amusement III have within us a sense of spare energy, a force of ab ding vitality. We Sleep multi to wake up in the morning and be glad there is a nev ay coming," Ellen said Always up by five-thirty, she would first meditate a set her intentions Task Im the day she called them her "visions." Next, she woul ake Robert. They would have coffee together and take their brisk daily two ile morning walk Regarding the importance of amusement, Ellen said, "Amusements, going to around Jamaica Pond, in "fair weather and foul," Elle said. Niece Laura the play, to the concert, to a pleasant party, give rest to the overworked Richards Wiggins wrote, "I can still see them from my bec om window, when nerves." She and Robert, along with good friends, frequently also took day I Will allowed to stay over for the night, walking arm and m up the street to trips, weekend excursions, and longer sight-seeing trips. Their friend and neigh- hepond." bor, Louisa Hewins, kept an entertaining journal of the many excursions she Seler-in-law Laura E. Richards wrote, "The gre sorrow of Mrs. took with Ellen and R obert. She described how they enjoyed going as far as the Richards's life was her childlessness. She had a deep love and understanding trolley, or train, or carriage would take them, and then exploring the place of children. Having none of her own, and no nieces and phews of her own blood, her latent tenderness showed itself in unceasing kir ness to the children of her husband's brothers." Although Robert and Ellen had no children, they did h animals. Duchess was their chestnut mare that Ellen rode often and that their carriage for many years. Ellen suffered extreme sadness when Duches lied. Still heartbro- ken several weeks after losing her beloved horse, she wro "It has been a de- lightfully warm, sunny day, but no longer do such day bring me pleasure. Since my beautiful Duchess went to the land of perpetu sunshine, I would rather it rained." Fillen also loved cats and kittens. In a letter to her fri d Flora, she wrote that after traveling and teaching, she savored time at ho enjoying "the de- licions quiet. No one in the house but my beautiful ca Huz and Buz, his brother." Ellen and Robert also enjoyed pet parrots. Their cages cre in the large din- my room near the windows. Dayoko (who greeted Rob it with "Hello, Old boy"), Diaz (who enjoyed reciting, "Little drops of water little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land"), and Carr (who never said a thing). The Richards's friends and relations had a chane 10 know silent Car- men well, for he had an especially long life, perhaps from sa ving his energy by being quiet. Fig. 11-3 Ellen and Louisa Hewins, 1899, Courtesy MII ibuties Institute Archives The food that Ellen served was nutritious, delicious and simple 11 was Special Collections meant to fuel the body and mind She knew that the "fuels we put in Ellen Swallow Richards Timeline 1842 - Ellen Swallow is born in Dunstable, Massachusetts, on December 3. She lives on the Swallow Farm with parents and grandparents. 1859 - Ellen and her parents move to Westford, Massachusetts. Ellen attends Westford Academy for two years. 1863 - The Swallow family moves to Littleton, Massachusetts. 1864 - Ellen begins her first teaching job. 1865 - Ellen moves away from home to teach in Worcester, Massachusetts 1866 - Ellen returns home for two years of "Purgatory." 1868 - Ellen enters Vassar College. 1870 - Ellen graduates from Vassar College. MIT committee reviews Ellen's application for admittance on Decem- ber 3. MIT's President Runkle informs Ellen on December 14 that she may attend the Institute. 1871 - Ellen enters MIT in January. Peter Swallow, Ellen's father, dies in March. 1872 Ellen begins work on water testing with Professor Nichols. The Remarkable through / the smaller Rii hinds Pioneer III Science and Technology 139 Print Edition Pamela ( uills ( upyright 402014 Pamela ( untia Swallow New 140 Ellen Swallow Richards Timeline Ellen Swallow Richards Timeline 14 1873 - Ellen teaches science to women at Girls' High School of Boston. 1893 - Ellen opens the Rumford Kitchen at the Chicago World's Fair. Ellen graduates from MIT. 1894 - Ellen overhauls Boston's school lunch program. Ellen receives a master's degree from Vassar College. Professor Robert Richards proposes marriage. 1899 First annual Lake Placid conference. 1875 - Ellen marries Robert Richards. 1908 American Home Economics Association is established, with Ellen a its first president. The Richards move into their home on Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain. 1910 Ellen receives a doctor of science degree from Smith College. 1876 - Woman's Laboratory is opened in November. Ellen teaches correspondence science courses throughout North 1911 Ellen Swallow Richards dies on March 30 at age sixty-eight. America. 1878 - Ellen and her students conduct a study on adulteration of foods, which leads to the nation's first Food and Drug Acts. The American Association for the Advancement of Science elevates Ellen's status to "Fellow." 1879 - Ellen is the first woman elected to the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. 1881 - Ellen co-founds the Summer Seaside Laboratory, later moved to Woods Hole and now known as the Marine Biology Laboratory at Woods Hole. 1882 - Ellen co-founds the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, later renamed the American Association of University Women. 1883 - MIT builds a new chemistry lab for both women and men. 1884 - Ellen is appointed by MIT as instructor in sanitary chemistry. 1886 - Robert Richards becomes ill with typhoid and pneumonia. 1887 - Ellen's second water study produces water purity tables, leading to the nation's first water quality standards. 1889 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Women's Association is formed, with Ellen as its first president. 1890 - Ellen establishes the New England Kitchen. 1892 Ellen introduces "ockology" (ecology) in the I United States Fanny Taylor Swallow, Hillen's mother, dies in December Selected Bibliography Abel, Mary H. and Ellen H. Richards. The Story of the New England Kitchen. B Press of Rockwell and Churchill, 1890. American Home Economics Association. Journal of Home Economics. Baltimore. Bertmann, Harriet F. "The Silent University": The Society to Encourage Stud Home, 1873-1897. New England Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 3 (Sept. 2001) pp. 447- Bryant, Alice G. "Values for Which Mrs. Ellen H. Richards Stood." The Medicc Professional Woman's Journal, August, 1933. Clarke, Robert. Ellen Swallow: The Woman Who Founded Ecology. Chicago: F Publishing Company, 1973. Cornell University Archives-Journal of Home Economics (full collection). Dodd, Helen Chamberlin. Introduction by Ellen H. Richards. The Healthful Farmh Boston: Whitcomb and Barrows, 1906. Douty, Esther M. America's First Woman Chemist: Ellen Richards. New York: J Messner, Inc., 1961. Durant, Elizabeth. "Ellencyclopedia." Technology Review 110.5 (2007): M12-17. Gormley, Beatrice. Maria Mitchell: The Soul of an Astronomer. Grand Rapids: Wr Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004. Howe, Elizabeth M. "A Memorial to Mrs. Richards." Vassar Miscellany, Vol. : Number 1, Nov. 1, 1911. Hunt, Caroline. The Life of Ellen H. Richards. Boston: Whitcomb and Barrows, 191 "In Memory of Ellen H. Richards." Journal of Home Economics. Vol. 21, No. 6, J 1929. Karnes, Frances A. and Kristen R. Stephens. Young Women of Achievement: A Reso for Girls in Science, Math, and Technology. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 20 Kendall, Phoebe Mitchell. Maria Mitchell: Life Letters, and Journals. Boston: Lee Shepard, 1896. Kass-Simon, Gabriele and Patricia Farnes, editors Women of Science: Righting Record Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990 Krensky. Stephen What's the Big Idea? Form ( enturies of Innovation 111 Boston W town. MA Charlesbridge 2008 170 Selected Bibliography Selected Bibliography Layne, Margaret E., PE, Editor. "Ellen Swallow Richards and the Ecology Movement." Sweetser, Kate Dickinson. Great American Girls. "Ellen Richards: A Girl Who I Women in Engineering: Pioneers and Trailblazers. Women in the Intellectual Develop- Science." New York: Dodd Mead & Company, 1931. ment of Engineering Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009. Technology Review. Published by MIT. Sept./Oct.2007, and Jan./Feb. 2001. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Archives. Cambridge. Tully, Susan and Susan Psaledakis. Dunstable: Making Connections. Charleston Merriam, Eve. Growing Up Female in America: Ten Lives. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987. Arcadia Publishing, 1998. Nason, Rev. Elias, M.A. A History of the Town of Dunstable: From Its Earliest Settle- Vare, Ethlie Ann. Adventurous Spirit: A Story about Ellen Swallow Richards. Minne ment to the Year of Our Lord 1873. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1877. lis: Carolrhoda Books, 1992. Prescott, Samuel C. When M.I.T. Was "Boston Tech" 1861-1916. Cambridge: The Tech- Vassar College Archives. Poughkeepsie, NY. nology Press, 1954. Weigley, Emma Seifrit. "It Might Have Been Euthenics: The Lake Placid Confer "Remarkable American Women: 1776-1976." Life. New York: Time Inc., 1976. and The Home Economics Movement." American Quarterly. Vol. 26, No. 1 I Richards, Ellen H. and Alpheus Grant Woodman. Air, Water, and Food from a Sanitary more: Johns Hopkins University Press. March, 1974. Standpoint. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1900. Revised editions: 1904, 1914. Weingardt, Richard, P.E. Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers: 32 Richards, Ellen H. The Art of Right Living. Boston: Whitcomb & Barrows, 1904. files of Inspiration and Achievement. Reston, VA: ASCE Press, 2005. Richards, Ellen H. The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning: A Manual for Housekeepers. Wiegand, Wayne A. Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melvil Dewey. Chic Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1882. Second edition, revised in 1897 and published in American Library Association, 1996. Boston by Home Science Publishing Co. Third edition revised in 1912 and published Wylie, Francis E. Ellen Swallow Richards: The First Oekologist. Jamaica Plain His in Boston by Whitcomb & Barrows. cal Society. Available online at www.jphs.org/people/2005/4/14/ellen-swal Richards, Ellen H. Conservation by Sanitation; Air and Water Supply; Disposal of Waste richards-the-first-oekologist.html. (Including a Laboratory Guide for Sanitary Engineers). New York: Wiley, 1911. Zach, Kim K. Hidden from History: The Lives of Eight American Women Scient Richards, Ellen H. The Cost of Cleanness. New York: Wiley, 1911. Greensboro, NC: Avisson Press, 2002. Richards, Ellen H. The Cost of Food: A Study in Dietaries. New York: Wiley, 1901. Re- vised editions: 1913, 1917. Richards, Ellen H. The Cost of Living as Modified by Sanitary Science. New York: Wi- ley, 1900. Revised editions: 1901, 1905, 1913. Richards, Ellen H. The Cost of Shelter. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1905. Richards, Ellen H. Domestic Economy as a Factor in Public Education. New York: New York College for the Training of Teachers, Vol. II, No. 4, 1889. Richards, Ellen H. Euthenics, the Science of Controllable Environment; A Plea for Better Living Conditions as a First Step toward Higher Human Efficiency. Boston: Whit- comb and Barrows, 1910. Revised edition: 1912. Richards, Ellen H. First Lessons in Food and Diet, Boston: Whitcomb & Barrows, 1904 Richards, Ellen H. First Lessons in Minerals. Boston: Press of Rockwell & Churchill, 1882. Richards, Ellen H. Food Materials and Their Adulterations. Boston: Estes & Laurial, 1886. Revised editions, Whitcomb & Barrows: 1898, 1906. Richards, Ellen H. Home Sanitation: A Manual for Housekeepers. Rev. ed. Boston Home Science Publishing Co., 1898. Richards, Ellen H, and Edward Atkinson. The Science of Nutrition, in Three Parts Trea tise Upon the Science of Nutrition. Springfield. MA: Clark W. Bryan and Company 1891. Richards, Robert H. His Mark Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1936. Smith College Archives Northampton Stern, Madeleine B. We the Women: Career Firsts of Nineteenth Century America Lin coln: University of Nebraska Press 199.1 Stille Darlene R Extraordinary Women Scientists Chicago Childrens Press. 1995 I Gammelle the Boston Painters 1900-1930. Onthous appiale. averging lengal (ficto at Carbridge). Experients in Ethers. 2008 Ellan Saullers The Women Wh Founded Ecology Robert Clarke. Follett Pub. Co. .1973. birth in Doncaster MA 12/3/1842 1st. woman tobe admetted to any sighteens of Scuriet tech. (same year as WN. James). as GBD. buts However in Octobe 1870 ES is admitted to MIT in December She lived in a bounty have ot523 Columbus Ave. March 18th, death of ber fother, Peter variety for account at avorcistic LR station Meets lobect Richards, pof. of neveralogy agrology In (812, We R.Nichels her help in H2 servings re pollution for factories affect H2O purity (bionnology). Bather 2866 population of 200,000. CantiBash Fire of 1872 H2O soffy 2 p. 49 At foreficiant of the environmental science movement sinn the conecy developed the tests collected samples responsably ad reported or the usis teach of teo can -causey argonesms program toking. much sewage desposal was faceling Results wen not lost on palicy moher -11-1830 the death rate in forston sludda decline. nochols write has budon & Uses see Savelou. of High press to Deption Health that nost anchydral week funsoneone who earlia scouned of hyper ed. Elles, before graduation for MIT, p.so was "know as one of the world's first water scretosts! [Hen lake 6BD run Wa sedgurek] Copy Pp-57-06. 32 57 for newly worried couple 1873) moved to Janisica Plain, house at Eliat St. poston J.P. Pond past source of diptaerta, supply area e H2O. Haise because "a loving labaratory for the the kind of life that the Richards believed body & snal applying ther securities knowledge to theer deely leves Their acrostic to illustrate how they balonced then live Food, Exercise amasement, Sleep, Task FEAST I Swallow-3 note author is Pamela Certis Swallow/B.A. for Shodmore, MLS Rutgers). A first couses, three generations removed. news Liber, house Hew ins, kept a governal of excersens to Richards. 61 hour? Rechards sout that source. was her childlessness. By 1877 Eleen tause her home ino "the fast conseever products testing lover the U.S. There then educated student in sanitation t nustrition, or 'home Chemis try often student loved then in "The Center for Right to 1878 Ellere's widowed mother arrent for the lay take (Fenry Scoollow). Living. Robert brother Georges, sportsmany was regular a Tuesday everyong guest also arrifed new J.P. registration Egassing Blackwell, Chewky Curtes, Eliot, Lowell, Perbody familees a meeting place for scholars, scentists friends, reformers, etc. ch 12 Ellen Land MIT degree in 1873, yet school Pp. 65 f. believed Elleu to he averuption. So ESR did not plan to admit females serie they begu treely scrame relate processes to Boston's Girls High school She provided F at MIT to allow her to use genesic for The Women's Laboratory (chemistry) Opened 2876. Swallow - 4 Purchased late equipment on tip abroad vostry places leken Zass visity 25 cetins in 24 days. Stilliphe received neither solay or prostron few MIT, for teacher the first ecological studes curricular The tab use success At end of you two, MIT decedes that staulets deserved a place to stuf at MIT - nologyne were they 'special students, but. still segregated as of 1877. He labs was open for of years By p. 70 1878, ESR we "assistant structor, "the san year taf ta A AAdu. of Science elevated her status to In Lover gree only to those performancy above the loved Z a PhD. ESW is first degreed woman cherust. "She had a Master sgrie for Vasser. Hu sadd Ellen wooted a doctoral dyees "more the southly else one of the greatest diapportunity in [her Jeife," MIT didn't gur such a derice who 1907. ESR co - a new maliae biologed laborty in 1881 in Annisquance bet a year later noced to Woods Hole. She also had a provent handin fundy the AnAAsar of University Usmen In 1883, ta Women's date cue 1 new facility opened to oy student, gange Sign now mitegrated Lesollow 5 or ESE was the sole fesale in the MIT teaching staff deery her life true -treely sanitary Chemistry savitag cogneeing 7 to ari/water/frood analysis: that is, facturology. mecaforlegy, organe more chem, Chinnology, water K sewage treatment, septio system design, air pallection 1 providization, found chevisty to continuent mg Etc. the wrote 18 books & co-arthoud 3 other. WIT president Arther A. nayes, was 83 unresponsible to ESR's efforts to report environmental courses, Has successors Rechards Machaeria, lestered to her warriage- MIT an qualif improved. Ch.15 Pioneer for Public Health few lows protection water, air, of food supplies Air hasband Combracked typhood at 41 years: pneumonia; toga 2 years for has to recover. La 1887 another H2O survey completed in 1889 guided The Narial Chlorine Map illustrates now for pollution, natural us. p-90 Study soved lives ! helt. Nature: first origin p lab in Lowell. Water angei also da for Europe Courtheous, Efc. dr.ct Returist pp.93f. Teckology - Ecology, a gener scretist Eunst Hackel m 1866 you Surelbow 6 Smintonium a second term: "euthens to flour fotherine, to be in agoud state: Her bank Eatherics was a plan for environment educ. Traveled exteasrel c Robert - examing H2O everywhere! the had interm with recognition as unread agist Built a cobid "the "in White, uts. Opened "The New-England Kitchenin 1890 located on Pleasant St. in Bertan A health food menu, 103 the first large-seate subsition laboratory. Cus forces could see how reals do same in run homes. Precersor of PBS Test Kitchen.,3. other opeand in RI, N4, Chicago # ESR asked to represent Mass at 1893 Chicago world: Farr, just after death & Zong in 1892. She set up th Rurford Kitchen after the founder of the screese Start of The American Kitchen Magoziai (1893-1903) of nutrition Count (1753-1814) chise 2 1894 asked to create spilat leave program to high school students 1st of its kind She fed 4,000 students in 16 of hour four wouth school halls claims Falets, Etc. the opened field of food science Swalla 7 Melville Dewry established LahePlacia Club & encouraged ESR involvenet, especiol engage Anare awy who wated to create an efficial model communt at L.P. ESR's Sept. 1899, and it introduced the term home economics," becom MD thought ecology to lesthevies would corfose people. MiD was opposed to the 116-17 scientific elevation implicit in Ellers vocabulary she componented but did not give way on scraffie coutsnt The -Lake Placed conference a Home Economics ciclended chaeter newfer teachers. writers, managers lectures - but ESR was of secretist that 1st year nut and 1899-1908 and social workers. dicticious, scents fs clinical about establishly Amera Home Economics association begun in Dec. 1908,417 T. Roomelt hosted a reception at WH for ESR first prese dest; on 1/1/1909 Presented its members, late endowed Are Puble Heyelth Assoc. to Net. Ederc Assoe Elemon Romevella later was a avent supporter Indeh 1910 Smith College greated her an honey honorary Doctor of Science degree She with a trustee at Vassar She stored seyes of heart tearate at qr 68. the dest not confeders Robt Does 8/30/1911 Robert was creeshed 1811, an infla prez's less Swallow-8 un estableaded for women in sciences, the first science purze acceded to warends 1911.0 to 1915 the Ecologied Society in America formed the us cierated other Forest Holls carton we J.P., babes bursed Richards fever busid site in Chrts to Cheud country, Gardiner ME. Robert lived m to 100 years. X