Sinah Estelle Kelley (April 23, 1916 – December 21, 1982) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

chemist who worked on the mass production of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

Early life and education

Sinah Estelle Kelley was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1916. Her father was the managing editor (1922–1934) of the ''

New York Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...

'', William Melvin Kelley Sr., and her mother was Gladys Caution Kelley, a probation officer. Her much younger brother (from her father's second marriage) is author William M. Kelley Jr.Finding aid, William Melvin Kelley Family Papers, Emory University Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.
/ref> Kelley attended the

Ethical Culture Fieldston School Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facult ...

of New York City, and was a 1934 graduate of the high school there. Kelley began her scientific studies at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

, under

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

professor Louis Fieser, and during summer internships at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

.Jeannette Brown, "Sinah Estelle Kelley," in ''African American Women Chemists'' (Oxford University Press 2012): 108–111.

Career

After graduating from Radcliffe in 1938, Sinah Kelley took some graduate courses at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and worked at federal laboratories in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Illinois during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She stayed in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

after the war, with a team working on the mass production of

for the

U. S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

. More specifically, she worked in the lab as part of the Fermentation Division, where she performed chemical analyses on sugar and other products of fermentation. Though Kelley did not hold an advanced degree, she was listed an author on several scientific papers from this group, with titles such as "Production of Fumaric Acid by ''Rhizopus arrhizus''" (1959) and "Production of Itaconic Acid by ''Aspergillus terreus'' in 20-Liter Fermentors" (1952). In 1958, she returned to New York to work on the effects of

strontium 90 Strontium-90 () is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission, with a half-life of 28.8 years. It undergoes β− decay into yttrium-90, with a decay energy of 0.546 MeV. Strontium-90 has applications in medicine and i ...

, working with how to stabilize it with flame photometry at an Atomic Energy Commission laboratory. She retired from that work in the 1970s.

Personal life and legacy

While she lived in Peoria, Kelley was the only African-American member of the Mayor's Interracial Committee."Peoria," ''Chicago Defender'' (March 16, 1946): 11.
/ref> Sinah Estelle Kelley died in 1982, age 66. Her papers are part of the William Melvin Kelley Family Papers, at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Sinah Estelle Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni New York University alumni Radcliffe College alumni American women chemists African-American women academics American women academics African-American academics African-American scientists 1916 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American chemists Scientists from New York (state)