Keith, Marcia (1859–1950)
Keith, Marcia (1859–1950)
American physicist . Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1859; died in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1950; daughter of Arza Keith and Mary Ann (Cary) Keith; Mount Holyoke, B.S., 1882; attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute as a special student, 1887 and 1889; attended the University of Berlin, 1897–1898; attended the University of Chicago, summer, 1901.
A noted teacher of physics, Marcia Keith received her B.S. from Mount Holyoke College in 1882. She was a science instructor at the Michigan Seminary from 1883 to 1885, then returned to her alma mater, Mount Holyoke, as a mathematics instructor. In 1889, Keith became the first full-time instructor in the physics department at Mount Holyoke and also chaired the department from 1889 to 1903. In this position, she had both the opportunity to instruct young women in physics and to serve as a role model where few existed.
In 1899, along with one other woman, Isabelle Stone of Vassar, Keith was among the 36 founders of the American Physical Society. The group met in Fayerweather Hall at Columbia, the home of the APS for the next 60 years. Keith later left education to become an engineer with the firm Herbert Keith in New York City.