Jennie Maria Arms Sheldon (July 29, 1852 – January 15, 1938) was an American

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

, educator, historian, author, and museum curator. She worked closely with

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Alpheus Hyatt Alpheus Hyatt (April 5, 1838 – January 15, 1902) was an American zoologist and palaeontologist. Biography Alpheus Hyatt II was born in Washington, D.C. to Alpheus Hyatt and Harriet Randolph (King) Hyatt. He briefly attended the Maryla ...

at the

Boston Society of Natural History The Boston Society of Natural History (1830–1948) in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the s ...

, and she was the curator of the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts, for a quarter of a century.

Biography

Jennie Maria Arms was born in 1852 in

Bellows Falls, Vermont Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the ...

, to Eunice Stratton (Moody) Arms and George Albert Arms, who ran a hardware store. She attended high school in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and went on to study at Mrs. Badger's School in Boston (1873–76) and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(1877–79). She entered MIT the year that the Woman's Laboratory opened under the direction of chemist

Ellen Swallow Richards Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (December 3, 1842 – March 30, 1911) was an American industrial and safety engineer, environmental chemist, and university faculty member in the United States during the 19th century. Her pioneering work in ...

. Although she entered with the class of 1881, she did not finish her degree. For two years beginning in 1879 she was a special student to the

and

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

at the

(the precursor to the Boston Museum of Science). Thereafter, she continued as his assistant for another quarter of a century. For some thirteen years she also taught at

Pauline Agassiz Shaw Pauline Agassiz Shaw (February 6, 1841 – February 10, 1917) was an American philanthropist and social reformer who opened day nurseries, settlement houses, and other establishments in Boston to help new immigrants and the poor. She financed pub ...

's school in Boston. Sheldon published on zoological, geological, and historical subjects, including ''Insecta'' (1890), a survey of the insects coauthored with her mentor Alpheus Hyatt. Hyatt and Sheldon were the first to describe the scorpion flies (''

Mecoptera Mecoptera (from the Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their lar ...

'') and mayflies ('' Ephemeroptera''). In 1897, she married George Sheldon, a politician, judge, and historian, after which she divided her time between Boston and George's home town of

Deerfield, Massachusetts Deerfield is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. ...

. Together they catalogued the collections at Deerfield's Memorial Hall Museum—housed in a building that was formerly the home of

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

—and Sheldon served as the museum's curator from 1913 until his death. She published several pamphlets on subjects related to the museum collections, as well as an historical biography, ''The Life of a New England Boy'', based on her father's early life. Sheldon belonged to several scientific organizations, including the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and the National Science Club. She was also involved in women's rights organizations such as the Naples Table Association for Promoting Lab Research by Women, the

Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association The Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was an American organization devoted to women's suffrage in Massachusetts. It was active from 1870 to 1919. History The MWSA was founded in 1870 by suffrage activists Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone, ...

, and the Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government. She died in Deerfield in 1938. One of her bequests was to Deerfield Academy to found the George Albert Arms Science Building in memory of her father.

Publications

;Solo authored *''Life of a New England Boy'' (1896) *''Concretions from the Champlain Clays of the Connecticut Valley'' (1900) *''Guide to the

Invertebrata Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

of the Synoptic Collection in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History'' (1905) *''Deerfield Memorial Stones'' (pamphlet, 1905) *''John Sheldon and the Old Indian House Homestead'' (pamphlet, 1911) *''Walter Titus Avery'' (pamphlet, 1912) *''The Old Indian House at Deerfield, Mass.: And the Effort Made in 1847 to Save It from Destruction'' (1922) *''Pitted Stones'' (1925) *''The Sycamore, Elms, and Maples of Old Deerfield'' (1930) *''Observation Lessons on Animals: Including Drawings and Descriptive, Comparative, and Inferential Work of Children, for the Use of Teachers of Primary and Grammar Schools'' (1931) ;Co-authored *''Insecta'' (1898, with Alpheus Hyatt) *''Newly Exposed Geologic Features Within the Old "8000 Acre Grant"'' (1903, with George Sheldon) *''The Rev. John Williams House'' (1918, with George Sheldon)

References

External links

Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, Massachusetts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Jennie Maria Arms American entomologists American women scientists 1852 births 1938 deaths American curators American women curators Women entomologists Educators from Massachusetts American women educators Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Bellows Falls, Vermont 20th-century American historians 19th-century American zoologists 20th-century American zoologists American women historians 19th-century American women 20th-century American women scientists