Sinah Estelle Kelley (April 23, 1916 – December 21, 1982) was an American chemist who worked on the mass production of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

Early life and education

Sinah Estelle Kelley was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 The Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also known more simply as Fieldston or Ethical Culture, is a private pre-K through twelfth grade coeducational school in New York City with two campuses, in Manhattan and in the Bronx. The school is ...

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 colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

, under

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

professor

Louis Fieser Louis Frederick Fieser (April 7, 1899 – July 25, 1977) was an American organic chemist, professor, and in 1968, professor emeritus at Harvard University. His award-winning research included work on blood-clotting agents including the first ...

, and during summer internships at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 282-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded on April 18, 1887. ...

.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 university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She stayed in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

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

for the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 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, 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 university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

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 20th-century African-American scientists 20th-century American academics African-American chemists 1916 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American chemists Chemists from New York (state)