Wisconsin Women Library Workers
Designer and Assembler: Christie Brokish
Quilt Coordinators: Kathy Rohde and Mary Knapp
Winner: Donna Marconnet
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) by Victoria Welborn
Rosalind Franklin was an x-ray crystallographer, using x-rays to observe the structure of molecules. Her work on DNA was of Nobel Prize importance. Her photos provided evidence for the helical structure. She also recognized that the sugar and phosphate chains were on the outside of the molecule, not on the inside. Her works in developing x-ray crystallography and defining the structure of large biological molecules establish her as one of the pioneers of molecular biology. I chose the Windblown pattern to translate the three-dimensional spiral of the helix into the two dimensions of a quilt. I used four fabrics in the helix to represent the four nitrogenous bases in DNA. (These are the parts in the center of DNA's double helix that link to each other. The blue and green represent the large purines, adenine and guanine; and the smaller triangles represent the pyramidines, thymine and cytosine.
Barbara McClintock (1902-1992) by Nancy McClements
Barbara McClintock was a pioneering geneticist in the area of inheritance, and winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her mother worried when Barbara failed to develop appropriate feminine behavior and concerns during her adolescence, and opposed her attending college. Barbara educated herself by spending her spare time reading at the library, until her parents relented and she enrolled at Cornell as a Biology major in the College of Agriculture, where she earned her Ph.D. She became a research scientist, but gender discrimination kept her from a faculty position at Cornell. She eventually became assistant professor at the University of Missouri and conducted her later research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Her study of corn led to her "jumping genes" theory that fragments of genetic material move along the chromosome, breaking and recombining in a process known as "crossing over." It took decades for her theory to be understood and accepted, but she was eventually vindicated. McClintock was only the third woman to win an individual Nobel Prize in the sciences, and the third women to be named to the National Academy of Sciences. This quilt square uses appliqué over a patchwork pattern named "Puss in the Corn."
"Nyiramachabelli" Dian Fossey by Cheryl Becker
Dian Fossey first visited Africa in 1963, where the mountain gorillas of Central Africa fascinated her. In 1966 she returned to Africa to study the gorillas' behavior, and add to the research being done by British anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey. She began her research in the Congo, but was soon forced to leave because of political unrest, and set up a new camp, the Karisoke Research Center, in the mountains of Rwanda. There she befriended, studied, lived and worked among the gorillas for the rest of her life. Her research helped her to earn a Ph.D. in zoology from Cambridge University, England in 1974, and provided the material for her book, Gorillas in the Mist, which was published in 1982 and made into a motion picture in 1988. In the last years of her life, Fossey spent less time doing research and more time trying to protect her gorilla friends from poachers. On December 27, 1985, Dian was found murdered in her cabin. Though a research assistant was charged with her murder, many thought poachers killed her, and the crime has never been solved. Fossey is buried at the Karisoke Research Station next to the graves of many of "her" slain gorillas. On her tombstone is the inscription, NYIRAMACHABELLI - the "Lady Who Lives Alone in the Forest."
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) by Marge Loch-Wouters
As a Quaker child, Maria was given an education equal to a boy's and spent much time observing stars with her father. In October 1847, Maria became the first person to find a comet using a telescope. She won a gold medal from the King of Denmark. Maria was librarian as well as an astronomer. She also taught at Vassar College for many years. She worked diligently for women's rights and was elected president of the Women's Congress in 1875. Maria also served as president of the Association for the Advancement of Women.
Ruth Grobstein by Shannon Lang
H is for Hope (the name of the square) and represents Ruth H. Grobstein, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Grobstein is an oncologist and researcher of hormonally-related malignancies such as breast, gynecologic and prostate cancers. She has developed a unique cancer-screening program that requires only two hours. Women from around the world go to Dr. Grobstein and her colleagues at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California in hope of early detection. Dr. Grobstein is the founding director of the Ida M. and Cecil H. Green Cancer Center.
Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964) by Heidi Marleau
Rachel Carson raised worldwide awareness with her publication of Silent Spring (1962) that warned of the toxic effects of chemical pesticides. This marine biologist was educated at John Hopkins University, taught at the University of Maryland, and later worked at the Fish and Wildlife Service from 1936-1952. Carson's publications were scientifically sound but also known for their beautiful use of language and portrayals of nature. Visit the Rachel Carson Homestead at http://www.rachelcarson.org. This quilt square features the graphic from "The Spring", the newsletter from this unique organization.
Admiral Grace Hopper (1906-1992) by Kathy Rohde
Grace Murray Hopper is lovingly and respectfully known as "Amazing Grace, " "Grandma of COBOL," and the "Grand Lady of Software." Her remarkable career as a mathematician began with a Yale MA degree and a teaching position at Vassar. At age 35 in 1943, Grace received special waivers to join the Navy Reserve where she was assigned to work at the Bureau of Ordinance Computation Project, the home of the world's first "computing machine," Mark I. Over the years, she developed many computer languages, most notably COBOL. She has served as consultant to Sperry Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation. She has won many honors and awards including a 1984 induction into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame. She retired from the Navy in 1986 after 43 years of service saying, "most people are scared to death of change and I am not. Some of my most rewarding experiences have been in trying to do something in a new way." At age 79, she was the oldest commissioned officer on active duty and the only woman admiral in the United States Navy. She was still serving as a senior consultant to Digital Equipment Corporation when she died at age 85 in 1992.
"It is easier to get forgiveness than permission."
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Last update: February 10, 2000
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