Clapp, Cornelia Maria (1849–1934)

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Clapp, Cornelia Maria (1849–1934)

American zoologist. Born Mar 17, 1849, in Montague, Massachusetts; died Dec 31, 1934, at Mount Dora, Florida; dau. of Richard and Eunice Amelia (Slate) Clapp (both teachers); graduate of Mount Holyoke, 1871; Syracuse University, PhB, 1888, PhD, 1889; University of Chicago, PhD, 1896; never married; no children.

Served as faculty member at Mount Holyoke (c. 1873–1916); attended Anderson School of Natural History established by Louis Agassiz; made several walking trips in 1870s; studied chick embryology at MIT (1880s); at Woods Hole, MA, served as investigator, teacher and librarian (1893–1907), corporation member and trustee (1897–1901, 1910); helped organize department of zoology at Mount Holyoke (1896) and became professor of zoology (1904); was one of few women among the 150 most important American zoologists in American Men of Science (1906); as professor emeritus, retired from Mount Holyoke (1916). Cornelia Clapp Laboratory at Mount Holyoke was named in her honor.

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