Gertrude Crotty Davenport facts for kids

Gertrude Crotty Davenport (1866–1946) was an American zoologist. She worked as a researcher and teacher at important science places. These included the University of Kansas and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She studied how living things develop from their earliest stages (called embryology). She also looked at how traits are passed down through families (called heredity).

Gertrude was married to Charles Davenport, who was also a well-known scientist. They wrote several science papers together. They were important figures in a movement called eugenics in the United States. This movement aimed to study human traits and how they were inherited.

Life Story

Gertrude Anna Crotty was born on February 28, 1866. Her birthplace was Asequa, Colorado, near Denver. Her parents were William and Millie (Armstrong) Crotty.

She finished her studies at the University of Kansas in 1889. After graduating, she taught there for three years. Then, she decided to study more and went to Radcliffe College. This college was known as the Society for Collegiate Instruction of Women back then.

There are different ideas about her time at Radcliffe. Some say she was there for two years but did not finish her degree. Others say she studied zoology for five years and wrote a book. This book was called The Primitive Streak and Notochordal Canal in Chelonia (1896). One source even says she earned her PhD in zoology.

While at Radcliffe, she met Charles Davenport. He was one of her zoology teachers. Gertrude and Charles got married on June 23, 1894, in Burlington, Kansas. They had three children together. Their first child, Millia Crotty Davenport, was born in 1895. Jane Joralemon Davenport was born in 1897. Their youngest, Charles Benedict Davenport Jr., was born in 1911.

Gertrude helped Charles a lot with his work. She co-wrote many science papers with him. She also helped manage the Cold Spring Harbor Biological Laboratory. She even looked after their money matters. Gertrude passed away on March 8, 1946. She was 80 years old and died in Upper Nyack, New York.

Scientific Research

Gertrude Davenport worked with her husband on studies about human traits. They were part of the eugenics movement. This movement focused on understanding how human characteristics are passed down from parents to children. Gertrude was interested in how certain traits might appear in children.

At Cold Spring Harbor, Gertrude and Charles bought a house with a large piece of land. This place was used by scientists from the laboratory. They rented rooms there while doing research on human heredity. This research included studying things like eye color, hair color, and skin color in people.

Gertrude also did her own research. She studied how turtles develop from embryos. She also looked at the differences between Sargatia (a type of sea anemone) and starfish. She explored how different living things show variations in their features.

Published Works

Gertrude and Charles Davenport worked well together. They created many scientific works over the years. They wrote two textbooks. The first one was for high school students and was called Introduction to Zoology. The second textbook was titled Elements of Zoology: To Accompany the Field and Laboratory Study of Animals. It was a guide for studying animals in the field and in the lab.

The Davenports also studied human genetics. Their works included Heredity of Skin Pigmentation in Man, Heredity of Eye Color in Man, and Heredity of Hair-Form in Man. In these studies, they explored how human traits like skin color, eye color, and hair type are passed down. They used the ideas of Mendelian genetics, which explains how traits are inherited. Each study also talked about how the traits of two people marrying could affect their children.

Gertrude also wrote some books by herself. These were The Primitive Streak and Notochordal Canal in Chelonia (1896) and Variation in the Number of Stripes on the Sea-anemone, Sagartia luciae (1902).