Susan Minns

Susan Minns (21 August 1839 – 2 August 1938) (born Susanna Minns) was an American biologist, philanthropist, and collector. She was one of the first women to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She created a notable and extensive collection of art and literature relating Danse Macabre, a portion of which is now held by the University of Louvain. Minns helped establish the Marine Biological Laboratory and donated generously to numerous scientists, institutions and to her home state of Massachusetts.

Susan Minns
FAAAS FRSA
Born21 August 1839 
Lincoln, Massachusetts, US
Died2 August 1938  (aged 98)
Burial placeMount Auburn Cemetery
Alma mater
OccupationBiologist, philanthropist, and collector

Early life

Minns was born to Frances Ann Parker and her husband Constant Freeman Minns on 21 August 1839 in Lincoln, Massachusetts.[1] She began her education at private schools including the Cambridge School for Girls run by the naturalist Louis Agassiz.[2][3] She also attended the Anderson School of Natural History set up by Agassiz on Penikese Island.[2] She went on to graduate from Wellesley College.[1] Minns was one of the first women to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[4][5] She was a graduate of the class of 1881.[6][7]

Collecting

Minns created several collections over her lifetime. Her most notable was the collection she created from the age of 14 of art and literature relating to death and the Danse Macabre.[8][9] Much of this collection was purchased by the University of Louvain through the generosity of Minns.[10] Minns also created a collection of juvenile texts that she bequeathed to the Clapp Library of Wellesley College.[7] She was a botanical collector, collecting botany specimens herself as well as obtaining specimens from other collectors.[11] Her specimens can be found in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, the Harvard University Herbaria, the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, the University of Vermont Pringle Herbarium and University of Minnesota Bell Museum.[12] These specimens continue to be used to further scientific research.[12]

Public service and philanthropy

Minns helped establish the Marine Biological Laboratory.[13] In 1888 She was appointed a member of the inaugural board of trustees and was a signatory of the Laboratory's Act of Incorporation.[14][15] She also served for several years on the Harvard University Committee of the Gray Herbarium.[16]

Her donations of money and artifacts to individuals and institutions were substantial during her lifetime. She donated to land to MIT to be used for a river flow hydraulics laboratory.[5] She donated $50,000 to Wellesley College as a memorial to Professor Susan Maria Hallowell in 1914.[1] In 1917 Minns donated land to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including 127 acres on the Little Wachusett mountain, which was subsequently used to create the Minns Wildlife Sanctuary.[1][5] In that year Minns also donated funds to the Arnold Arboretum.[17]

In 1924 Minns made a substantial donation of $50,000 in honour of Mary Hancock, her great grandmother, to the Harvard Botanical Museum.[3] Minns, when initially proposing this donation, explained to Oakes Ames that she was donating her great grandmother's twenty dollar gold piece. Ames' disappointment was allayed when Minns explained that this gold piece had been carefully invested and had transformed into a sizeable gift.[18] In 1925 Minns made a donation to the Wellesley College Library of a collection of books illustrated by Kate Greenway.[19] Also in the 1920s she made significant monetary donations aiding the construction of the botany section of Sage Hall at Wellesley College as well as ensuring improvements were made to the college library.[1][2][20]

In June 1930 Minns donated funds to assist Professor Margaret Clay Ferguson of Wellesley College with her botanical research.[21][22][23] In her will Minns established the Thomas Minns Fund in memory of her brother and enabling the creation of the Minns Lectures.[24] In the 1940s the Susan Minns estate gifted portions of her art and literature collections to Wellesley College.[25][23]

Books and art

During the later part of her life Minns studied silkworms. In 1928 she authored a book entitled "Book of the silkworm", illustrating the book herself.[5][26] She also wrote a book about her genealogy entitled "Minns and allied families in the line of descent of Miss Susan Minns".[27] Minns was also a painter of watercolors and a creator of woodblock prints.[26][1]

Institution memberships and awards

Minns was a member of several institutions or societies. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[1] Minns was also a member of the Boston Society of Natural History from 1877 and remained a member for over 50 years.[28] She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[29] Minns also had various scholarly works dedicated to her in appreciation and acknowledgement of her support.[30]

Death

Minns died on 2 August 1938 and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.[2]

References
  1. "Minns, Susanna". www.numismaticmall.com. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  2. "Susan Minns". Princeton Historical Society. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  3. Kamen-Kaye, Dorothy (1984). Studies In Bark Cloth: I. Polynesia. Boston: Harvard University. pp. 54–55.
  4. "Miss Susan Minns, 98, dies in Boston". The New York Times. 1938-08-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  5. Sharpe, Lollie (2010). "Susan Minns". minnslectures.org. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  6. "Collection on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Women's Laboratory". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections. 1 July 2019. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  7. Boles, Alexandra (2019). To Teach and Entertain: An Exploration of Overlapped Trends in 19th Century Children’s Literature through the Eyes of the Minns Collection (Thesis). Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  8. American Art Association (1922). A notable collection of coins and medals bearing emblems illustrative of "the dance of death" : collected by Miss Susan Minns. New York City: American Art Association. p. 1.
  9. Towner, Wesley; Varble, Stephen (1970). The elegant auctioneers. New York: Hill & Wang. pp. 316–318. ISBN 978-0809041718.
  10. "Museum of Death for Louvain". The Wellesley College News. 11 May 1922. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  11. Robinson, B. L. (1905). "The Gray Herbarium". Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College. 2 (4): 236 – via Internet Archive.
  12. Shorthouse, David P. "Susan Minns". bionomia.net. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  13. Lillie, Frank R. (July 1944). "The Origin of Marine Laboratories in Europe and America". The Biological Bulletin (supplement). 174 (1): 28 – via Internet Archive.
  14. "Twelfth Annual Report of the Marine Biological Laboratory". Biological Bulletin. 18 (5): 213–244. 1910. doi:10.2307/1536059. ISSN 0006-3185. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22.
  15. "The Marine Biological Laboratory". Science. 8 (324): 303. 19 April 1889. JSTOR 1764855 – via Internet Archive.
  16. "George Golding Kennedy correspondence". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Harvard University Botany Libraries. 1864. Retrieved 2020-07-22.CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. "List of Subscribers to the Arnold Arboretum". Bulletin of the Garden Club of America. 20: 350. May 1917 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  18. Ames, Oakes; Plimpton, Pauline Ames (1979). Oakes Ames, jottings of a Harvard botanist, 1874-1950. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp. 91–92.
  19. "Report of the Librarian". Wellesley College Bulletin. 14 (5): 62. May 1925 – via Internet Archive.
  20. "Unusual gifts". Report of the President. Wellesley College. December 1939 – via Internet Archive.
  21. "Bequests and Gifts". Wellesley College News. 22 June 1931. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  22. "Presidents report". Wellesley College Bulletin. 20 (4): 11. February 1931 – via Internet Archive.
  23. "Gifts". Report of the President: 62. October 1941 – via Internet Archive.
  24. "History". minnslectures.org. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  25. "Gifts". Report of the President: 66. October 1940 – via Internet Archive.
  26. "Susan Minns watercolors of Bahamas plants and scenery". hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  27. "Gifts of books, letters, manuscripts, pictures etc., to the Illinois State Historical Library and Society". Illinois State Historical Society Journal. 18 (4): 1080. 1908 – via Internet Archive.
  28. Creed, Percy R. (1930). The Boston Society of Natural History, 1830-1930. Boston: Boston Society of Natural History. p. 56. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.5846.
  29. Rowlands, John J. (May 1932). "M.I.T. News Bulletin". The Technology Review. 34: iii – via Internet Archive.
  30. Cushman, Joseph A. (1928). Foraminifera; their classification and economic use. Sharon, Mass.: Cushman Laboratory for Foraminiferal Research. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.10175.
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