Murtfeldt, Mary (1848–1913)

American entomologist. Born in New York City in 1848; died in 1913; studied at Rockford College in Illinois, 1858–60.

Mary Murtfeldt was born in New York City in 1848 but spent most of her life with her father and sister in Kirkwood, Missouri. Ill health forced her to forego much of her schooling, and a debilitating childhood illness resulted in her dependence on crutches throughout her life. In 1868, she developed a deep interest in entomology—the branch of zoology that deals with insects—when her father became editor of Colman'sRural World. Through him, she met Missouri state entomologist Charles Valentine Riley and landed a job as a local assistant in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology. In this capacity, she frequented scientific gatherings and presented many papers.

Murtfeldt made some important contributions to her field while working as Riley's assistant from 1868 to 1877. Astute in both entomology and botany, she discovered how insects affect the pollination of certain plants, and also chronicled the life histories of recently discovered and little-known insects and how they affected their host plants. One of her most noted achievements was her meticulous understanding of the yucca pollination process. When botanist S.M. Tracy published Flora of Missouri in 1885, he noted her extensive collection of many species found in the St. Louis area. Murtfeldt died in 1913.

sources:

Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey. Women in Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.

Lisa Frick , freelance writer, Columbia, Missouri