Gertrude Crotty Davenport

Gertrude Crotty Davenport (1866–1946), was an American zoologist who worked as both a researcher and an instructor at established research centers such as the University of Kansas and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where she studied embryology, development, and heredity.[1] The wife of Charles Benedict Davenport, a prominent eugenicist, she co-authored several works with her husband. Together, they were highly influential in the United States eugenics movement during the progressive era.[2][3][4]

Gertrude Crotty Davenport
Born(1866-02-28)February 28, 1866
Asequa, Colorado, U.S.
DiedMarch 8, 1946(1946-03-08) (aged 80)
Upper Nyack, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationZoologist

Life

Gertrude Anna Crotty was born 28 February 1866, in Asequa, Colorado (near Denver), to parents William and Millie (Armstrong) Crotty. She graduated from University of Kansas in 1889 where she stayed as an instructor for three years until she went to pursue a higher degree. She then became a graduate student at Radcliffe College (then known as the Society for Collegiate Instruction of Women). There are conflicting facts about her time at Radcliffe. According to Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, she was there for two years but did not complete her degree.[5] According to Nicole Hahn Rafter, she was there for five years doing graduate work in zoology and wrote her book The Primitive Streak and Notochordal Canal in Chelonia (1896).[6] Tamsen Wolff said that she did earn her PhD in zoology.[7] While attending Radcliffe, she met Charles Davenport, who was one of her zoology instructors.[6] She married Charles in Burlington, Kansas on June 23, 1894 and went on to have three children. The eldest child was Millia Crotty Davenport, who was born on 30 March 1895.[8] The middle child, Jane Joralemon Davenport, was born on 11 September 1897.[8] The youngest, Charles Benedict Davenport Jr., was born on 8 January 1911.[8] Gertrude died on 8 March 1946, in Upper Nyack, New York at the age of 80.[9][1][6]

Scientific work

Davenport worked alongside her husband in the field of eugenics. Together they went to Cold Spring Harbor, New York in 1893 and stayed there working in a biology lab with microscopic methods until 1903. Afterwards she took on an unpaid position to work alongside Charles and assisted him in his research.[10] This was research on experimental evolution and she collaborated with him on the books that he published. She also co-authored with him on a number of other of his works. While in Cold Spring Harbor, they bought a house with 6 acres on the coast. This residency was used for the laboratory staff to rent out while they did research on the heredity of humans. Gertrude later added 19 acres of land and it was named after her.[11]

Gertrude and Charles did work on heredity which included studying eye, hair, and skin color of humans. She also did research on embryology using turtles, studied the differences between Sargatia (a type of sea anemone) and starfish as well the variations on other organisms.[10] She encouraged her husband to continue working on Sir Francis Galton’s work on eugenics using Mendelian genetics. Together they worked on eugenics to breed better humans. They claimed that this type of eugenics, called negative eugenics, was a necessity. She was worried that people who were feeble-minded, would hide their heredity.[12][13]

Published work

Gertrude and Charles Davenport had a productive working relationship which yielded many scientific works through the years. They produced two textbooks, the first of which was written for secondary students titled Introduction to Zoology.[14] The second textbook was titled Elements of Zoology: To Accompany the Field and Laboratory Study of Animals and was to be used as a guide for zoology studies and experimentation.[15] Charles and Gertrude's studies on genetics included Heredity of Skin Pigmentation in Man,[16] Heredity of Eye Color in Man,[17] and Heredity of Hair-Form in Man.[18] During the course of these studies and publications, the Davenports explored how human traits, specifically skin pigmentation, eye color, and hair characteristics, were passed on to the next generation with Mendelian genetics. Each study also included a "practical application" statement on how the marriage of two individuals with certain traits influences the passing of said traits.[16][17][18]

Gertrude also individually authored the monographs The Primitive Streak and Notochordal Canal in Chelonia (1896)[19] and Variation in the Number of Stripes on the Sea-anemone, Sagartia luciae (1902).[20] In the former study, the notochordal canal in turtle embryos was observed as the embryos developed. This study produces a series of descriptions of how the notochordal canal develops and some implications based on its development.[19] In the latter study, samples of Sargatia were taken from Cold Spring Harbor and examined in a laboratory. Under a microscope, the sea anemones' cell division was examined in both natural conditions and artificially placed strain. During and after the division processes, the various stripe characteristics were noted and recorded from different samples.[20]

References
  1. Creese, Mary R. S. (2000). Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of Their Contributions to Research. Scarecrow Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-585-27684-7.
  2. "Charles B. Davenport · Galton's Children · OnView: Digital Collections & Exhibits". collections.countway.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  3. Largent, Mark A. (2011). Breeding Contempt: The History of Coerced Sterilization in the United States (Paperback ed.). Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-4998-9.
  4. Trent, James W. (2008). "Review: Breeding Contempt: The History of Coerced Sterilization in the United States. By Mark A. Largent". The Journal of American History. 95 (2): 533–534. doi:10.2307/25095679. JSTOR 25095679.
  5. Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives from Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century. Vol. 1. Routledge. p. 328.
  6. Rafter, Nicole Hahn (1988). White Trash: the Eugenic Family Studies , 1877-1919. Northeastern University Press. pp. 66.
  7. Wolff, Tamsen (2009). Mendel's Theatre: Heredity, Eugenics, and Early Twentieth-Century American Drama. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 58.
  8. "Davenport Genealogy: Ninth Generation". members.tripod.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  9. "Davenport, Gertrude Crotty". Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. New York: L.R. Hamersly & Company. 1909. pp. 452–453.
  10. Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey; Harvey, Joy Dorothy (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives from Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century. Vol. 1. Routledge. p. 328.
  11. Kevles, Daniel J. (2004). In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. International Society for Science and Religion. p. 51.
  12. Wolff, Tamsen (2009). Mendel's Theatre: Heredity, Eugenics, and Early Twentieth-Century American Drama. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 58.
  13. Hasian, Marouf A (1996). The Rhetoric of Eugenics in Anglo-American Thought. University of Georgia Press. pp. 72, 81, 88.
  14. Davenport, Charles Benedict; Davenport, Gertrude Anna Crotty (1900). Introduction to zoology; a guide to the study of animals, for the use of secondary schools;. London: Macmillan company.
  15. Davenport, Charles Benedict; Davenport, Gertrude Anna Crotty. Elements of zoology, to accompany the field and laboratory study of animals (Rev.. ed.). New York: Macmillan.
  16. Davenport, Gertrude C.; Davenport, Charles B. (1907). "Heredity of Eye-Color in Man". Science. 26 (670): 589–592. Bibcode:1907Sci....26..589D. doi:10.1126/science.26.670.589-b. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 1634277. PMID 17754423.
  17. Davenport, Gertrude C.; Davenport, Charles B. (1910). "Heredity of Skin Pigmentation in Man". The American Naturalist. 44 (527): 641–672. doi:10.1086/279181. ISSN 0003-0147. JSTOR 2455612. S2CID 84362414.
  18. Davenport, Gertrude C.; Davenport, Charles B. (1908). "Heredity of Hair-Form in Man". The American Naturalist. 42 (497): 341–349. doi:10.1086/278941. ISSN 0003-0147. JSTOR 2455602.
  19. Davenport, Gertrude Anna Crotty. The primitive streak and notochordal canal in Chelonia. Boston: Ginn.
  20. Davenport, Gertrude Anna Crotty (1903). Variation in the Number of Stripes on the Sea-anemone, Sagartia Luciae. Henry Holt.
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