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Bertha Lamme Feicht (December 16, 1869 – November 20, 1943) was an American
She graduated in 1893 with a degree in
Some of her personal effects, including her
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
. In 1893, she became the first woman to receive a degree in engineering from the Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. She is considered to be the first American woman to graduate in a main discipline of engineering other than civil engineering.
Early life and education
She was born Bertha Lamme on her family's farm in Bethel Township nearSpringfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...
on December 16, 1869.
After graduating from Olive Branch High School Olive Branch High School may refer to:
*Olive Branch High School (Olive Branch, Mississippi)
*Olive Branch High School (New Carlisle, Ohio)
Olive Branch High School was a public high school near New Carlisle, Ohio.
History
In 1873, a brick struc ...
in 1889, she followed in her brother, Benjamin G. Lamme
Benjamin Garver Lamme (January 12, 1864 – July 8, 1924) was an American electrical engineer and chief engineer at Westinghouse, where he was responsible for the design of electrical power machines. Lamme created an efficient induction motor ...
's footsteps and enrolled at Ohio State that fall.
She graduated in 1893 with a degree in mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
with a specialty in electricity. Her thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
was titled "An Analysis of Tests of a Westinghouse Railway Generator." The student newspaper reported that there was an outbreak of spontaneous applause when she received her degree.
Career
She was then hired by Westinghouse as its first female engineer. She worked there until she married Russell S. Feicht, her supervisor and fellow Ohio State alumnus, on December 14, 1905.Personal life
She had one child, Florence, born in 1910, who became a physicist for the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Bertha Lamme Feicht died inPittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
on November 20, 1943 and was buried in Homewood Cemetery
Homewood Cemetery is a historic urban cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Point Breeze and is bordered by Frick Park, the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, and the smaller Smithfield Cemetery.
It was established i ...
.
Her husband Russell died in April 1949.
Legacy
Some of her personal effects, including her slide rule
The slide rule is a mechanical analog computer which is used primarily for multiplication and division, and for functions such as exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is not typically designed for addition or subtraction, which is ...
, T-square
A T-square is a technical drawing instrument used by draftsmen primarily as a guide for drawing horizontal lines on a drafting table. The instrument is named after its resemblance to the letter T, with a long shaft called the "blade" and a sho ...
, and diploma, are housed in the collections of the Heinz History Center
The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsy ...
in Pittsburgh.
The Westinghouse Educational Foundation, in conjunction with the Society of Women Engineers
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an international not-for-profit educational and service organization. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in the United States, the Society of Women Engineers is a major advocate for women in engineering and ...
, created a scholarship named for her in 1973.
References
Further reading
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feicht, Bertha Lamme 1869 births 1943 deaths Ohio State University College of Engineering alumni People from Clark County, Ohio American women engineers American electrical engineers Burials at Homewood Cemetery Human computers