Women in Microscopy, Chemistry, Dental Training, and Medical Instruction, Photo Archive 1910-1946

Women in Science Medicine Archive

Photograph

[Women's History] Women in scientific and medical laboratories photo archive documenting female participation in laboratory education, microscopy, chemical work, dental training, and technical employment across the first half of the twentieth century, providing concrete visual evidence of how women entered scientific institutions in the years before full professional parity. The group brings together press and non-press photographs with identifiable news-service and reference-file markings that place several images within the public circulation of women’s technical labor. Many of these photographs show women operating microscopes, handling laboratory equipment, conducting demonstrations, and working within instructional and testing settings, making the group especially effective as evidence of women’s participation in scientific education, industrial science, and medical training.

Photo archive of 10 silver gelatin photographs, various sizes, ranging from 2" x 3 to 7 x 10 inches, United States and around the globe, circa 1910-1946. The group includes a 1934 press photograph of Victoria Fischer in a laboratory, identified on the verso as connected to Tokio Girl’s Medical College in Japan, shown standing at a bench with pipette, flask, and rack of test tubes; a 1946 photograph of Kinjian Laboratory, showing a large coeducational classroom of students in white lab coats seated and standing around laboratory tables with test tubes and other equipment in hand; and a circa 1920s non-press photograph of four dental students, all young women in lab coats seated around a table of instruments. Another non-press photograph, circa 1930, identifies the senior female students of Mother Catherine High School and shows an all-female laboratory class with biological and ecological samples in the foreground, bell jars between table and shelving, and additional worktables beyond. A thick matted photograph with black border, circa 1910, shows a skylit laboratory interior with approximately twenty-five men and four women gathered around long benches. Press photographs include a March 4, 1941 Ottawa image of a woman operating a high-powered microscope in a gauge testing laboratory; a 1930s U.S. Testing Company Laboratories image from Hoboken, New Jersey, showing a woman in the fiber analysis section at a microscope bench; a 1933 press image of a woman and man conducting an experiment involving heated metal apparatus; and a 1924 Washington, D.C. press photograph identifying Theresa Karger as chief of the chemical laboratory at Mount Alto U.S. Veterans Hospital, described as one of the women in unusual employment.
The archive aligns with a long period in which women entered scientific and medical work through segregated colleges, women’s schools, wartime necessity, industrial laboratories, and specialized technical training, often gaining access first in educational or auxiliary settings before achieving broader professional recognition. Its international scope is a particular strength: the photographs place women in laboratory systems from the the beginning of the century through World War II and the immediate postwar period, showing how female students, technicians, and researchers across studied and contributed to science. Minor corner and edge wear, and residue on versos from press filing, stamps, and caption mounts; overall good condition. A concise and materially grounded record of women’s scientific labor and educational access as women's presence in STEM moved from exceptional visibility into institutional practice.

Item #23128

Price: $550.00