Elizabeth Jane Letson Bryan

Elizabeth Letson Bryan (April 9, 1874 – February 28, 1919) was an American malacologist and director of the museum of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, now the Buffalo Museum of Science[1] in Buffalo, New York. She was one of the first female museum directors in the United States.

Elizabeth Jane Letson Bryan
BornApril 9, 1874
Griffins Mills, New York, US
DiedFebruary 28, 1919 (age 44)
Burial placeOakwood Cemetery, East Aurora, New York
Alma materAlfred University
Known forDirector of the Buffalo Museum of Science

Early life and education

Elizabeth "Jennie" Letson was born on April 9, 1874, in Griffins Mills, New York. She was the only child of Augustus Franklin Letson (1841-1900) and Nellie Webb Letson (1850-1924). Her mother was an 8th-generation direct descendant of Puritan colonist William Bradford, who came to North America on the Mayflower.[2][3]

Bryan attended schools in Buffalo, New York. At an early age, she became interested in natural history, particularly conchology. After graduating, Bryan continued her education at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia[3] after receiving the Jessup fellowship. She spent two years working with Henry Augustus Pilsbry.[4] Later, Bryan studied at the United States National Museum in Washington, D.C.[3] In 1906, Alfred University conferred upon her the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.[5]

Career

At the age of 18, Bryan started working at the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences in 1892, where she would remain for 17 years.[3] At first, she volunteered to clean the museum and arrange the library.[4] She eventually rose to the position on Director of the Museum of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences in 1899. Elizabeth married William Alanson Bryan on March 16, 1909, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Buffalo, New York. They moved to Hawaii in May 1909, where her husband was a professor at the College of Hawaii. She worked as the librarian at the college. While living in Hawaii, she continued to collect marine shells and assist her husband with his research publications.[3]

Bryan was a member of the American Anthropological Society, the National Geographic Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Audubon Society of Pennsylvania, the New York State committee for the Women's Out-of-door Art League, the American Civic Association, the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Buffalo Society, and the Mayflower Society of New York State.[5]

Death

Bryan died at 11:20 PM on February 28, 1919, in Honolulu, Hawaii of heart disease.[5] Her mentor, Henry A. Pilsbry wrote her obituary in The Nautilus, a journal of malacology.[3]

Species named in honor of Elizabeth Letson
  • Amnicola letsoni (Walker, 1901)[6]
  • Tellina (Arcopagia) elizabethae (Pilsbry, 1917) type number 80253 stored at Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia[7]
  • Turbonilla (Evaletta) elizabethae (Pilsbry, 1917) type number 117596 at Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia[7]

Publications
  • Sinstral ampullaria (1897)[8]
  • Description of a New Tethys (Aplysia) (1898)[9]
  • Post-pliocene fossils of the Niagara river gravels (1901)[10]
  • Check List of the Mollusca of New York (1905)[11]
  • A Partial List of the Shells Found in Erie and Niagara Counties and Niagara Frontier (1909)[12]

Species named by Elizabeth Letson
  • Tethys pilsbryi  (Letson, 1898)[9]

References
  1. "About Us". Buffalo Museum of Science. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  2. Fifth Record Book, September 1922. New York: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of New York. 1922. p. 88.
  3. Pilsby, Henry (April 1919). "ELIZABETH LETSON BRYAN, SC. D." The Nautilus. XXXII (4): 142–143 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. Kohlstedt, Sally (2013). "Innovative Niche Scientists: Women's Role in Reframing North American Museums, 1880–1930". Centaurus. 55 (2): 164. doi:10.1111/1600-0498.12017 – via Wiley Online Library.
  5. "Dr. Elizabeth Letson Bryan, Former Buffalonian, Noted for Scientific Work, Dies in Hawaii". The Buffalo Evening Times. March 22, 1919. p. 9.
  6. Walker, Bryant (February 1901). "A New Amnicola". The Nautilus. XIV (10): 113–114 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  7. Pilsbry, Henry (1917). "Marine Mollusks of Hawaii". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. LXIX: 207–333 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  8. Letson, Jennie (July 1897). "Sinstral ampullaria". The Nautilus. XI: 33–34 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  9. Letson, E (1898). "Description of a New Tethys (Aplysia)". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 50: 193. JSTOR 4062402 – via JSTOR.
  10. Grabau, Amadeus (1901). Guide to the Geology and Paleontology of Niagara Falls and Vicinity. Albany: University of the State of New York. pp. 238–252.
  11. Letson, Elizabeth (1905). Check List of the Mollusca of New York. Albany: New York State Education Department. pp. 1–112.
  12. Letson, Elizabeth (1909). "A Partial List of the Shells found in the Erie and Niagara Counties, New York, and the Niagara Frontier". Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. IX (2): 239–245 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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