Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) was the first woman to be admitted to MIT. She founded the home economics movement and ignited the study of ecology to create life-saving environmental health standards.
Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) was the first woman to be admitted to MIT. She founded the home economics movement and ignited the study of ecology to create life-saving environmental health standards.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m environmental activist Erin Brockovich. This is Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about eco-warriors. Women who have changed the way we live, work, and survive in our changing world.
Today, we’re exploring the life of the first woman to be admitted to MIT. She founded the home economics movement, and ignited the study of ecology to create life-saving environmental health standards.
Let’s talk about Ellen Swallow Richards.
Ellen was born on a farm in Massachusetts in December 1842. Her parents were well-educated for the time, and worked as teachers before her birth.
As a child, Ellen was often sick. Doctors’ orders were to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and in the rural environment, she grew healthier and stronger. Being outside so much also inspired Ellen’s early interest in nature, and the ways in which air and water affected people.
Since her parents were teachers themselves, they were skeptical about the local schools’ quality. At the time, public education hadn’t taken hold as a necessity, especially for girls. So, Ellen was homeschooled. Her parents taught her cooking and sewing. But she also learned history, logic, mathematics and literature.
By 1859, when Ellen was sixteen, her parents decided to move, so she could attend the Westford Academy. It was one of the few schools in the area that accepted female students.
Ellen flourished in her teens, working at the family store in town, collecting plants and fossils from the nearby woods, and reading – “too much” according to an uncle of hers.
She also was keenly focused on the quality of her environment. One day, when she was working in the general store, some customers decided to smoke their pipes in the shop, after buying their tobacco there. Ellen asked them to go outside to smoke.
When a man objected – hey, he bought that tobacco here, why not smoke it?
She responded: “We sell molasses too, but we don’t expect you to stay here and cook it up.”
Ellen worked and saved up so she could attend Vassar College. She enrolled at the age of 26, and graduated in 1870.
After graduating, Ellen wanted to work in a chemical lab, but faced rejection, after rejection, because she was a woman. One of the labs she applied for suggested she try applying to a new “Institute of Technology” in Boston. She wasn’t the first woman who tried, but she was the first woman to be admitted to MIT.
But her admittance wasn’t straightforward. MIT hadn’t allowed women before, and didn’t really want to open their doors to women yet. So, after months of deliberation, Ellen was allowed to enroll as a “special student.” She didn’t have to pay tuition, which was a boon for Ellen, who was broke. But, she also wasn’t included in class rosters. Nor was she offered the same mentoring as the male students.
As the first and only woman, Ellen was in a precarious position: she was enthusiastic, but didn’t want to appear too competitive. She dressed plainly, and emphasized her usefulness, helping professors whenever she could.
Attending MIT also meant Ellen moved to Boston – a huge city in comparison with her upbringing. This exposed her to the difficulties of denser living. This included disease, epidemics, and dirty, polluted conditions.
Ellen graduated from MIT with a bachelor’s degree in science in 1873. She was the first woman to receive a degree from MIT, and perhaps the first to earn a science degree in the country. It was a huge accomplishment, but Ellen wasn’t satisfied. She had always wanted to get a doctorate, but at the time, MIT wouldn’t grant PhDs to women.
As a student, Ellen had become particularly interested in a professor of mining: Robert Hallowell Richards. Robert held some influence with the University, and he and Ellen had frank discussions about women and co-education. By 1875, they were married.
A year later, after raising thousands of dollars in funds and much convincing, Ellen pioneered a brand new lab for women at MIT. She first worked there as an assistant instructor – unpaid.
The lab was only around for seven years, but it educated more than 500 students. MIT may not have formally accepted women, but Ellen’s lab did, teaching them chemistry, mineralogy, and chemical analysis. By the time the lab closed in 1883, MIT had finally opened its doors to female students.
Ellen continued working at MIT, as an assistant chemist at the country’s first lab of sanitary chemistry. In 1887, the lab conducted a historic survey of drinking water in Massachusetts, which Ellen led. Over the course of two years, Ellen and her lab analyzed tens of thousands of water samples for chlorine pollution. The findings led to the first water-quality standards and the first modern municipal sewage treatment plant in the U.S.
Ellen continued to work at the lab, up until her death. But she also pursued another big passion: Home Economics. At first glance, it might sound incongruous. But actually, Ellen’s passion for a healthy environment was mirrored in her home life. She thought it was important to understand the chemicals in your food, in your home, and how to cook and clean most efficiently. That way, women could have time for other things.
Ellen served as the first president of the Home Economics Association in 1908, founded conferences, and even published what is thought to be the first health-food cookbook in the U.S.
In 1910, Ellen finally achieved her goal of receiving a doctorate – she was conferred an honorary degree from Smith College.
Ellen died in 1911, lecturing, writing technology papers, and working up until the very end.
All month, we’re highlighting eco-warriors. For more information find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Thank you to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me host this week.
Talk to you tomorrow!