Mrs. Scientist: Addressing the Missing Names of Women in Science Archives

"Mrs. Scientist": Addressing the Missing Names of Women in Science Archives Karina Cooper* Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics *NBLA Reparative Co-Working Group: Allison Buser, Chip Calhoun, Ben Henry, Corinne Mona, Allison Rein, and Elizabeth Wood Abstract: As part of reparative description efforts, staff at the AIP Niels Bohr Library & Archives (NBLA) have formed a monthly co-working group to identify, discuss, and improve description in our catalogs, finding aids, and online collections. One of our aims is to identify and make discoverable collections and materials we have on women scientists and other marginalized voices in science that were obscured or omitted by past archival description practices. The initial focus has been on NBLA's online photograph collection, the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives (ESVA), which features over 30,000 photographs of physicists and astronomers and is one of our most used resources by researchers. Many of the women pictured in this photo archive, particularly married women, had previously been described only in relation to the male scientists in their lives. They often are missing given and maiden names, even for some women who were scientists themselves. This poster talks about our workflow and methods for adding the names of women in photographs through description and authority work, highlights some of the stories from our findings, and discusses some of the unique challenges and aspects of doing reparative work with historical physics and astronomy collections. It also discusses plans for future work with other parts of our archives, library, and oral histories, to make these collections accessible and discoverable to researchers in the history of the physical sciences. Background: AIP Niels Bohr Library & Archives (NBLA) was founded in 1962 to "document and make known the history of physics." It is an institutional archive for the American Institute of Physics and its member societies (including AAS) and has an extensive book collection on the history of the physical sciences. Notable digital holdings include the oral history collection, which contains over 2,000 oral history interviews with scientists, and the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives (ESVA), an online photo collection of over 30,000 photographs. In Fall 2024, NBLA staff formed a Reparative Description Group to build on previous efforts for ethical and reparative cataloging. After identifying several areas of potential work across collections, we began with the ESVA with a focus on identifying women’s names in photo descriptions. Structure: Monthly Co-Working Group •1 hour monthly virtual meeting on Microsoft Teams for active editing oUsed for informal working time on shared spreadsheet tracking progress; asking questions; sharing findings •Ad-hoc planning meetings to set agenda and workflows •Dedicated Teams Channel outside of co-working hours for questions, ideas, and further research that comes up outside of designated time •Attendance: about 4-6 staff members, consistent engagement •Cross-Collaborations: Co-working group method is also used for other outreach activities, such as Wikipedia edit-a-thons and metadata taxonomy cleanup 1. Identify oSearch for "Mrs.", "wife", "unidentified woman" in repository oFlag photographs where woman is unnamed, missing first name and/or maiden name. Especially when Mrs. [Husband's First and Last Name] or simply "wife" 2. Research oLook up name of woman, as complete as possible (first and maiden name) ▪Often need to start with name of husband – starting with Wikipedia, National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs, Physics Today Obituaries, Find-a-Grave, AIP Oral Histories oNote additional information like dates, profession, etc. as relevant oNote any existing name authorities (e.g. LCNAF, VIAF) or preferences on name oTry to find at least 2 different sources for the name 3. Update: oUpdate image titles and descriptions with woman's full name. Added info is provided in brackets [ ] to distinguish from original caption oAdd "Women in Science" tag and "Biographical/Historical Note" (equivalent to 545 in MARC) when woman is active scientist and not obvious from photo (e.g. referred to simply as "wife") 4. Link: oCreate taxonomy name authorities in our digital repository for untagged women to link photos together ▪If no existing LCNAF authority, follow convention: [Married Name],[First] [Maiden], [YYYY-YYYY] oAdd to taxonomy page where additional information found during research (like dates, occupation, biography, alternate names) can be added and displayed oUse name and information to search for other photos of this same woman not identified previously to make sure all are linked 5. Outreach: oUse information found to improve Wikipedia pages, other library materials, and create social media stories. Original Caption: "Juan Roederer and his wife" Issues: •Cougnet is unnamed and referred to only as "wife" •Only subject heading was for Juan Roederer •No acknowledgement of Cougnet's science background Solution: •Name added to title and caption [Beatriz Cougnet] •Historical context note added •Created taxonomy term for Cougnet •Added "Women in Science" tag https://repository.aip.org/node/29594 https://repository.aip.org/node/66092 Solution: •Added names in brackets and additional context to the title and caption to focus on the women, however left the original caption to preserve archival record •Created taxonomy subject terms for each allowing linking to other photos and oral histories •Biographical info included in taxonomy pages Issues: •Caption and subject headings only referred to these women's husbands despite them not being present in the photo •Lack of first names for women •Lack of context of the photo •Leon Cooper had multiple wives, used other photographs to verify identity as Kay Allard •Minimal biographical information available for these women online https://repository.aip.org/node/10738 Original Caption: Left to right standing are: Niels Arley; Fritz Kalckar; Leon Rosenfeld; Otto Robert Frisch and Mrs. Rosenfeld is sitting front left. Revised Caption: Left to right standing are: Niels Arley; Fritz Kalckar; Leon Rosenfeld; Otto Robert Frisch and Mrs. Rosenfeld [Yvonne Cambresier] is sitting front left. Issues: •Woman is only figure in photo without a full name •Doesn't include the form of the name that she published under or mention of science background •One of the only photos that exists of her online Key Findings Over 150 unique women identified across 240+ photographs Over 20 previously unnamed women who have received a degree and/or had a career in physics and astronomy identified. Many were the only photographs of these women online. •Wives of male scientists who hosted graduate students, entertained faculty, and organized departmental events; often the heart of social culture in physics departments; maintained friendships with other scientist families •Women with careers supporting the physical sciences: such as secretaries to scientists; librarians and teachers at Los Alamos; editors of journals and manuscripts •Women with degrees in STEM (BS, MS, or PhD) who left their career to raise a family – still often involved informally with their husband's career; editing journals and manuscripts; assisting in the lab; often have scientific papers published before marriage under maiden name •Physics and Astronomy familial networks – children and siblings of scientists who married into the families of their relative's colleagues, students, or professors •Non-Scientists with fulfilling careers of their own – artists, economists, teachers, doctors •Women who were scientists throughout their career while married; sometimes husband and wife team, other times successful independent career Challenges and Unique Aspects for Science Archives: While similar well-documented "Mrs. [Husband's Name]" projects have been undertaken at other archives and universities, working with a physics and astronomy collection brought out some unique aspects and strategies into consideration. General Challenges: •Social naming conventions of the early and mid-20th century make it hard to distinguish identity of multiple wives, in addition to first and maiden names. •Lack of information both on the husband and the wife online hinders identification •Unidentified or misidentified women in photographs where there are no additional clues to aid in identification •Maintaining balance between preserving original descriptions from donated photographs and improving discoverability •Wrestling with past archival description decisions that were created for physical rather than digital access and centered on male scientists Specific Challenges and Strategies: •In addition to common sources like Find-a-Grave, Wikipedia, science specific resources played a large role in identifying and learning more about these women: oHusband obituaries tend to be only in scientific publications (e.g. Physics Today, NAS Biographies), however these focus mostly on their scientific achievements rather than their personal life oAIP Oral Histories often reveal background of the women, such as if they studied physics before they were married, but are not always reliable for spelling or dates •Understanding of social networks among the women married to scientists can help identify or discover their science background – e.g. many women who were scientists married scientists, etc. •Lack of acknowledgement of women who earned degrees in physics and astronomy but later left the field in NBLA's and other's collections on women in science oImportance of needing to link maiden name with married name for scientific publications oLack of existing authority terms for women scientists Next Steps: Screenshot of tracking spreadsheet used for our photo identification project. Methods Workflow: Examples Beatriz Susana Cougnet de Roederer (1930-2022) Pioneering Argentine nuclear physicist who was one of the first to work at the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission and did research on cosmic radiation. She was lead author on a famous paper on nuclear emulsion with her husband, also a physicist. She left the research field in 1958 after her third child was born. Anne Schrieffer, Jane Bardeen, and Kay Allard Original Caption and Title: "Wives of Schrieffer, Bardeen and Cooper" •Anne Grete Thomsen (1941-2013) was born in Denmark. Housewife but active in her community and served as president of several local arts and science organizations. •Jane Maxwell (1907-1997) Taught biology at a women's college and secondary school before she was married. Active host to her husband's graduate students and later taught Sunday School at the local church. •Kay Allard: Leon Cooper's second wife, from their marriage in 1969 till his death in 2024. Yvonne Cambresier Belgian astrophysicist and one of the first women to earn a PhD in physics in Europe. She co-authored a paper on stellar structure under her maiden name with her future husband Leon Rosenfeld. She left the field after she married but assisted her husband on editing scientific journals and had a close friendship with S. Chandrasekhar. Draft taxonomy page for Yvonne Cambresier Every Name Tells a Story: Multifaceted Contributions to Science This project has highlighted a range of roles that these women played in the history of science and involvement with the scientific community. The following profiles emerged: Acknowledgments: This work has been a group effort from the Reparative Description Co-Working Group at AIP: Allison Buser, Chip Calhoun, Karina Cooper, Benjamin Henry, Corinne Mona, Allison Rein, and Elizabeth Wood. Thank you also to Melanie Mueller, Trevor Owens and AIP Research for supporting this work. We would also like to acknowledge inspiration for this project and structure from similar presentations and conversations at SAA, MARAC, and RBMS conferences, as well as resources compiled by other institutions, particularly Yale University. Introduction Revised Title: [Anne] Schrieffer, [Jane] Bardeen and [Kay] Cooper Revised Caption: Caption on photo: 'the wives of Schrieffer, Bardeen, and Cooper.' Mrs. Bardeen is in the center of the photograph. [L-R: Anne Grete Thomsen Schrieffer, Jane Bardeen (nee Maxwell) and Kay Allard, the wives of 1972 Nobel Prize Winners John R. Schrieffer, John Bardeen, and Leon Cooper.] Solution: •Added first and maiden name to caption •Added "Women in science" tag •Added context using taxonomy page with bio and link to her published work. (see above figure) Takeaways: •Many women scientists are already present in our physics and astronomy archives, but are hidden due to past descriptive practice •Co-working group edit-a-thons are an easy, sustainable way to tackle metadata correction. They are fun and low time commitment •Wives of male scientists in physics and astronomy often have scientific backgrounds or connections, a fruitful start for more research •Finish updating repository with identified photographs and taxonomy pages (Taxonomy page feature still in beta testing) •Identify and link women found in photographs to other collections in our digital repository, especially oral history interviews •Add women's names to their spouse's Wikipedia pages, along with images, dates, and updated information •Share stories and resources we have found through blog posts, social media, resource guides •Apply methods to other areas of reparative description in our collections The following structure and workflow has enabled us to make steady progress over the last year: