Maude Gilchrist
A middle-aged white woman with dark hair in an updo, wearing pince-nez glasses and a high-collared lacy dress
Maude Gilchrist, from a 1915 publication
BornDecember 29, 1861
California, Pennsylvania
DiedFebruary 28, 1952
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Occupation(s)Botanist, college professor, college administrator
RelativesFred C. Gilchrist (brother)

Maude Gilchrist (December 29, 1861 – February 28, 1952) was an American botanist and college professor. She was dean of women at Illinois Women's College from 1897 to 1901, the first dean of home economics at Michigan Agricultural College from 1901 to 1913, and taught botany at Wellesley College and Iowa State University.

Early life and education

Gilchrist was born in California, Pennsylvania, the eldest of nine children born to James Cleland Gilchrist and Hannah Cramer Gilchrist. Her father was the first principal of the Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa).[1] Her younger brother Fred C. Gilchrist was a Congressman.[2]

She was the first woman to graduate from the Iowa State Normal School, when she completed the requirements for a Bachelor of Didactics degree in 1878, at age 17; she earned a second degree in 1880.[3] She pursued summer studies at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in 1895, and at Göttingen University in 1896 and 1897. She earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1907.[4]

Career

Gilchrist taught botany at Iowa State Normal School and at Wellesley College in the 1880s and 1890s. She organized a gymnastics club Iowa State Normal School in the mid-1880s.[5] She was dean of women at Illinois Women's College from 1897 to 1901. From 1901 to 1913, she was the first dean of home economics at the Michigan Agricultural College.[6][7] She left Michigan to be a botany professor at Wellesley College.[8] From 1926 to 1928 she taught at Iowa State University.[4] She spoke about her campus work to women's clubs.[9]

Gilchrist was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[4] She was one of the founders of Omicron Nu, an honors society for students in home economics, at Michigan State in 1912.[10] Also in 1912, she was founder of the Lansing-East Lansing chapter of the American Association of University Women; the chapter named a scholarship fund in her honor in 1948.[11][12]

Publications

  • "Effect of swaying by the wind on the formation of mechanical tissue" (1908)[13]
  • "The first three decades of home economics at Michigan State College (1896-1926)" (1947)[14]

Personal life and legacy

Gilchrist died in 1952, at the age of 90, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.[15] Gilchrist Hall, a dormitory at Michigan State University, was named in tribute to her.[12] A historical marker at Michigan State describes her work there.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Wright, David Sands (1926). Fifty Years at the Teachers College: Historical and Personal Reminiscences. Iowa State Teachers College. p. 47.
  2. ↑ "She is 92 Years Old Today". Des Moines Tribune. 1925-04-01. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Christensen, Caroline. "The women who made UNI". Northern Iowan. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  4. 1 2 3 "Maude Gilchrist". Special Collections & University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  5. ↑ Peterson, Gerald L. (2000). University of Northern Iowa. Arcadia Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7385-0722-4.
  6. ↑ Rohan, Liz (2006). "A Material Pedagogy: Lessons from Early-Twentieth-Century Domestic Arts Curricula". Pedagogy. 6 (1): 79–101. ISSN 1533-6255.
  7. ↑ Beal, William James (1915). History of the Michigan Agricultural College and Biographical Sketches of Trustees and Professors. Agricultural College. p. 444.
  8. ↑ "Officers of the Administration" Wellesley College News (January 20, 1914): 1.
  9. ↑ "Women's Clubs Meet Friday". St. Joseph Daily Press. 1910-11-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Our Centennial". Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  11. ↑ Lusk, Kathie M. (1948-12-15). "University Women Vote $500 Study Grant in Honor of Miss Maude Gilchrist, Founder". Lansing State Journal. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 "Former MSC Dean to Observe her 90th Birthday December 29". Lansing State Journal. 1951-12-11. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Gilchrist, Maude. "Effect of swaying by the wind on the formation of mechanical tissue." Michigan Academy of Science Report 10 (1908): 45.
  14. ↑ Gilchrist, M. (1947). The first three decades of home economics at Michigan State College [1896-1926]. College of Human Ecology Records, Box 360, Folder 18, Michigan State University Historical Collections, East Lansing; referenced in Rohan, above.
  15. ↑ "Miss Maude Gilchrist, Former Home Economics Dean at MSC, Dies at 90". The Herald-Press. 1952-03-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "'That a Ladies Course be Organized'". Historical Marker Database (HMDB). Retrieved 2023-10-11.
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