Sarah Frances Whiting taught physics and astronomy at Wellesley College from 1876 to 1916 and developed the first physics laboratory classes for female students. She was elected a fellow of AAAS in 1883 and received an honorary D. Sc. from Tufts University in 1905. I review her accomplishments and discuss some of the barriers that she had to overcome.

1.
Gladys
Anslow
, “
Whiting, Sarah Frances
,” in
Notable American Women, 1607–1950
, edited by
E. T.
James
(
Harvard University Press
, Cambridge, MA,
1971
), pp.
593
595
. Some dates cited by Anslow differ by one year from those in Wellesley College records, which are followed in this paper.
2.
Margaret W.
Rossiter
,
Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940
(
Johns Hopkins University Press
, Baltimore,
1982
), pp.
1
8
.
3.
http:∕∕www.rootsweb.com∕~nygenese∕Leroy-hist.htm⟩ contains a historical summary on LeRoy, NY, dated
1869
, with a section on Ingham University.
4.
http:∕∕www.leroyny∕towns∕LeRoy∕standing⟩ includes a reference to LeRoy as “
… once the home of Ingham University, the first women’s university in the United States…
.”
5.
Annie Jump
Cannon
, “
Sarah Frances Whiting
,”
Popular Astronomy
35
,
539
545
(
1927
).
6.
Patricia Ann
Palmieri
,
In Adamless Eden: The Community of Women Faculty at Wellesley
(
Yale University Press
, New Haven,
1999
), pp.
8
9
.
7.

Reference 2, pp. 31–32.

8.
Wellesley College 1875–1975: A Century of Women
, edited by
Jean
Glasscock
(
Wellesley College
, Wellesley, MA,
1975
), p.
89
; Ref. 5.
9.
Janet B.
Guernsey
, “
The lady wanted to buy a Wheatstone bridge: Sarah Frances Whiting and her successor
,” in
Making Contributions: An Historical Overview of Women’s Role in Physics
, edited by
Barbara
Lotze
(
American Association of Physics Teachers
, College Park, MD,
1984
), pp.
65
90
.
10.

Reference 8, p. 89; Ref. 9, p. 70. The lab was housed in a converted attic.

11.

Reference 2, p. 19.

12.
Dorrit
Hoffleit
,
The Education of American Women Astronomers Before 1960
(
American Association of Variable Star Observers
, Cambridge, MA,
1994
), pp.
2
and
44
.
13.

Reference 2, p. 12.

14.
Klaus
Hentschel
,
Mapping the Spectrum
(
Oxford University Press
, Oxford,
2002
), pp.
385
394
. Hentschel examined Whiting’s notes and correspondence, as well as her students’ lab books, held in the Wellesley College Archives.
15.
Sarah F.
Whiting
,
Daytime and Evening Exercises in Astronomy
(
Ginn
, Boston,
1912
).
16.
Sarah F.
Whiting
, “
History of the Physics Department at Wellesley College from 1878 to 1912
,” Wellesley College Archives,
1926
.
17.

Reference 6, p. 183; Ref. 9, pp. 73–74.

18.
Sarah F.
Whiting
, “
Experiences of a woman physicist
,” The Wellesley College News
21
(
13
), pp.
1
6
(
1913
), Wellesley College Archives.
19.

Reference 9, p. 71.

20.

Reference 9, p. 73; Ref. 16.

21.
Sarah F.
Whiting
, “
Reminiscences of Lord Kelvin
,”
Science
60
,
149
150
(
1924
).
22.

Reference 6, p. 86; Ref. 18.

23.

Reference 14, pp. 344–349; Ref. 5.

24.
R. A.
Guyer
, “
Liquid helium
,” in
Encyclopedia of Physics
, edited by
Rita G.
Lerner
and
George L.
Trigg
(
Addison-Wesley
, Reading, PA,
1981
), p.
388
.
25.
Kurt
Mendelssohn
,
The Quest for Absolute Zero
, 2nd ed. (
Taylor and Francis
, London,
1977
), pp.
59
62
and
72
73
.
26.
Reference 16;
H. R.
Glyde
, “
Solid helium
,” in
Encylopedia of Physics
, edited by
Rita G.
Lerner
and
George L.
Trigg
(
Addison-Wesley
, Reading, PA,
1981
), p.
392
.
27.

Reference 9, p. 11; Ref. 2, p. 356, note 47.

28.

Reference 6, pp. 157–158. Whiting is not among the participating faculty named.

29.

Reference 2, pp. 14–15.

30.

Reference 2, pp. 15–16. In contemporary discussions about never-married women, the question of sexual orientation often arises. For Whiting, no such speculation appears in the literature. Durant required Wellesley faculty to be single and members of evangelical denominations, and to live on campus, where they roomed in pairs in residence halls (Ref. 6, p. 11). Whiting was not likely to have violated the tenets of her devout religious faith, and, living with her sister, she did not develop emotional bonds with another woman. A more probable inference is that in her era, with her interests, talents, activities, and independence, she would have been anathema to any potential suitor. What is clear is that she enjoyed her work and remained free to pursue it.

31.

Reference 6, p. 177.

32.

Reference 6, p. 75; Ref. 16.

33.

Reference 2, pp. 18 and 54–55; Ref. 14, p. 393.

34.

Reference 2, Chap. 2.

35.

Reference 2, p. 89.

36.

Reference 9, pp. 81–82.

37.

Reference 2, p. 77.

38.

Reference 9, p. 74; Ref. 16.

39.

Reference 9, pp. 77–78.

40.

Reference 2, p. 194.

41.
Shirley W.
Harrison
, “
Margaret Eliza Maltby
,” in
Women in Chemistry and Physics
, edited by
Louise
Grinstein
,
Rose K.
Rose
, and
Miriam H.
Rafailovich
(
Greenwood Press
, Westport, CT,
1993
), pp.
354
360
.
42.

Reference 6, p. 46. In this book, the president’s “selection” effort is called a “purge.”

44.

Reference 14, p. 386.

45.
Sarah F.
Whiting
, “
Priceless accessions to Whitin Observatory
,”
Popular Astronomy
22
,
487
492
(
1914
).
46.
Sarah F.
Whiting
, “
Lady Huggins
,”
Science
41
,
853
855
(
1915
).
47.
Niels Bohr Library staff (private communication).
48.

Reference 2, p. 92; Ref. 6, p. 252; Refs. 16 and 18.

49.
Abraham
Pais
,
Einstein Lived Here
(
Oxford University Press
, New York,
1994
), pp.
145
148
.
50.

Reference 9, pp. 80–81.

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