On Her Own Terms

[Peter Rauch]

Taxacom-ers, You might be interested in watching for the
October publication of this book.
 Peter

Linkname: On Her Own Terms
     URL: http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9229.html

   On Her Own Terms
   Annie Montague Alexander and the Rise of Science in the American West
   by Barbara R. Stein
   ______________________________________________________________________
   
   Publication Date: October 2001
     435 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 46 b/w photographs, 2 line illustrations, 3
   maps.
   Subjects: Science; History & Philosophy of Science; Autobiographies
   and Biographies; California & the West; Women's Studies
   Rights: World
   Clothbound: $35.00  0-520-22726-3  £22.95 Add To Cart 
   
     "A thorough and insightful account of a remarkable individual who,
     as an important patron and an amateur contributor, influenced the
     course of early twentieth-century science. Alexander's life is also
     important simply as a human story of how an intelligent, active,
     and strong-minded woman coped with the problems of identity and
     work in the post-Victorian era. It's a great story of a complex and
     admirable woman, and a significant contribution to California
     history and the history of field science."--Robert E. Kohler,
     University of Pennsylvania
     
   At a time when women could not vote and very few were involved in the
   world outside the home, Annie Montague Alexander (1867-1950) was an
   intrepid explorer, amateur naturalist, skilled markswoman,
   philanthropist, farmer, and founder and patron of two natural history
   museums at the University of California, Berkeley. Barbara R. Stein
   presents a luminous portrait of this remarkable woman, a pioneer who
   helped shape the world of science in California, yet whose name has
   been little known until now.
   
   Alexander's father founded a Hawaiian sugar empire, and his great
   wealth afforded his adventurous daughter the opportunity to pursue her
   many interests. Stein portrays Alexander as a complex, intelligent,
   woman who--despite her frail appearance--was determined to achieve
   something with her life. Along with Louise Kellogg, her partner of
   forty years, Alexander collected thousands of animal, plant, and
   fossil specimens throughout western North America. Their collections
   serve as an invaluable record of the flora and fauna that were
   beginning to disappear as the West succumbed to spiraling population
   growth, urbanization, and agricultural development. Today at least
   seventeen taxa are named for Alexander, and several others honor
   Kellogg, who continued to make field trips after Alexander's death.
   
   Alexander's dealings with scientists and her encouragement--and
   funding--of women to do field research earned her much admiration,
   even from those with whom she clashed. Stein's extensive use of
   archival material, including excerpts from correspondence and diaries,
   allows us to see Annie Alexander as a keen observer of human nature
   who loved women and believed in their capabilities. Her legacy endures
   in the fields of zoology and paleontology and also in the lives of
   women who seek to follow their own star to the fullest degree
   possible.
   
   CONTENTS
   Acknowledgments
   Introduction
   1. Samuel Alexander and Henry Baldwin
   2. Life in Oakland
   3. A Passion for Paleontology
   4. Africa, 1904
   5. Meeting C. Hart Merriam
   6. Alaska, 1906
   7. Meeting Joseph Grinnell
   8. Founding a Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
   9. An Unusual Collaboration
   10. Louise and Prince William Sound
   11. Support for Paleontology
   12. Hearst, Sather, Flood
   13. Innisfail Ranch
   14. Vancouver Island and the Trinity Alps
   15. The Team of Alexander and Kellogg
   16. From "A Friend of the University"
   17. Founding a Museum of Paleontology
   18. A Restless Decade
   19. Europe, 1923
   20. The Temple Tour
   21. The "Amoeba Treatment"
   22. Fieldwork--The Later Years
   23. Saline Valley
   24. The End of an Era
   25. Hawaii--"My Only Real Home"
   26. The Switch to Botany
   27. Baja California--Tres mujeres sin miedo
   28. Investing in the Future
   29. An Enduring Legacy
   Epilogue
   Appendix
   Notes
   Index
   
   From 1985 to 2000, Barbara R. Stein was Curatorial Associate and
   Researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of
   California, Berkeley. Her book about Alexander grew out of a 1994
   symposium on the history of women at the Berkeley campus.