Rachel Lloyd (chemist)

Rachel Lloyd (January 26, 1839 – March 7, 1900) was an American chemist who focused on the chemistry and agriculture of sugar beets (''Beta vulgaris''). She studied at the Harvard Summer School and received her doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1886. She was the first American woman to earn a doctorate of chemistry and the first woman author in a major chemistry journal.

She worked as a professor of chemistry and head of the chemistry department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work in determining the sucrose concentration of sugar beets helped establish a commercial sugar industry in Nebraska. In 1891, she became the first regularly admitted female member of the American Chemical Society. On October 1, 2014, the Society designated her research and professional contributions to chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln a National Historic Chemical Landmark.

Early life and education

Rachel Abbie Lloyd (''née'' Holloway) was born in Flushing, Ohio to a Quaker couple, Robert Smith Halloway and Abigail Taber. Both of her parents were teachers until her father became the postmaster in Smyrna, Ohio. She underwent loss at a young age; all three of her siblings died in infancy, her mother died when she was five, and her father died when she was 12. She was raised by her father's second wife. At the age of 13, Holloway began attending Friends School in Flushing, Ohio and continued her education at Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Her final year of schooling was completed at Miss Margaret Robinson's School for Young Ladies, where she would also begin teaching.

During her time at Robinson's School she met Franklin Lloyd, a chemist with Powers and Weightman. On May 11, 1859, when she was 20 years old, Rachel and Franklin got married. Lloyd noted that Franklin kept a chemical laboratory in their home, which is where her interest in the field originated. In 1863, the couple moved to Bangor, Michigan where Franklin managed a saw mill, salt works and barrel factory for lumber merchants back in Philadelphia. Together they had two children: Fannie Lloyd (1860–1860) and William C. Lloyd (1865–1865), both of whom died in infancy, Frannie of "disease of the brain" and William of jaundice. Franklin also died in 1865, shortly after William's death. After her husband's death, Lloyd was left with a substantial sum of money and used it to travel Europe from 1867–1872, seeking medical help for rheumatism and neuralgia. However, financial difficulties forced her to return to the United States to look for work. Lloyd supported herself for some time as a science teacher at the Chestnut Street Female Seminary before making the decision to formally pursue her interest in chemistry.

From 1875 to 1883, Lloyd attended seven courses in chemistry and audited several botany courses at the Harvard Summer School. She conducted research with Charles F. Mabery and in 1881, published their research in the ''Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'' and the ''American Chemical Journal''. This was the first time a woman authored a chemical paper in a major publication. She continued her research and coauthored three published papers between the years of 1881–1884. It was in these years that Lloyd met Rachel Bodley, her future colleague in the American Chemical Society, and, in 1880, Hudson Henry Nicholson, her future colleague at the University of Nebraska. Lloyd continued to teach including at the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women in Kentucky.

In 1884, Lloyd decided to study at the University of Zurich, which at the time was the only institution where women were permitted to attempt a doctorate in chemistry. Lloyd was awarded her doctorate in 1886, at the age of 48, and became the first American woman to receive a doctorate degree in chemistry. Her dissertation was on the conversion of phenols to aromatic amines under Professor August Viktor Merz. During this time, she also became interested in the emerging sugar beet industry.

Career

Teaching

Lloyd began teaching immediately after finishing her early education at Miss Margaret Robinson's School for Young Ladies. Her next teaching position would be at the Chestnut Street Female Seminary in 1873 where she taught chemistry following her travels in Europe. During her time as a student Lloyd still held multiple positions at other educational institutions. In 1880 Lloyd held the position of Lady Principal of Foster School for Girls in Clifton Springs, New York. Following this she was an Instructor of Chemistry at both Hampton College for Women and the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women. Lloyd worked for a small period of time at the Normal School of Science and Royal School of Mines in London before her most notable position in 1887 at the University of Nebraska. In 1894 Lloyd was the Instructor of Science at Hillside Home School in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

University of Nebraska

In 1887, the University of Nebraska offered Lloyd an appointment as associate professor of analytical chemistry to join the departmental chair, Hudson Henry Nicholson as the second person in the new Chemistry Department. Lloyd encouraged both young men and young women to enroll and during Lloyd's tenure, the Nebraska section of the American Chemical Society had more women participants than any other section. Between 1888 and 1915, 10 of the 46 chemistry students were women.

Lloyd's scientific impact was based on her pioneering studies of sugars in sugar beets, using analytical techniques such as the saccharometer at the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Stations. Lloyd's studies made use of test plots of sugar beets in various parts of Nebraska. Her scientific reports on sugar production in sugar beets first appeared in 1890, helping establish the economic viability of sugar beet farming in the latter part of the 19th century, critical to Nebraska farmers. According to Lindblom, production of sugar in Nebraska increased from 736,000 pounds to 8,378,000 pounds in just 5 years. The findings of Lloyd and Nicholson's work resulted in investors opening up the third sugar refinery in the United States in Nebraska. It was also the first refinery in the Midwest.

Lloyd rose to full professor in 1888 and was promoted to the head of the department in 1892 while Nicholson was in Europe. However, that summer, she was afflicted with partial paralysis. She continued to teach until 1894, when she resigned due to ill health. After her death, Acting Chancellor Charles E. Bessey said in a memorial lecture at the University of Nebraska, "She was not only an eminent chemist, she was a great teacher, and more than that, she was the beloved advisor and counselor of students". This is further supported by her involvement in the Camera Club and the Scientific Club, through which she connected with students.

Affiliations and memberships

Throughout Lloyd's professional career she was a member of many clubs, associations, and professional societies. Her most notable memberships were in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for the Advancement of Women, and the American Chemical Society. Lloyd was also a member of the following organizations/clubs: the German Chemical Society, English Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Browning Club, the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Lloyd helped found the Hayden Art Club which was the predecessor to the Sheldon Museum of Art.

Final years and death

She lived in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area for the last seven years of her life, to be closer to friends and relatives. Lloyd died on March 7, 1900 in Beverly, New Jersey in Philadelphia.

Legacy

In May 2014, a time capsule was opened at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The capsule came from the cornerstone of the building that had previously housed the Chemistry Department and had been planted there in 1916. The capsule had initially been forgotten but was discovered when a chemistry professor searching for information on Rachel Lloyd discovered a newspaper article about the capsule.
The capsule contained newspapers from the time of its burial, information about what was happening at the school at the time, photos of members of the chemistry department, and other items related to the chemistry department as it had been in 1916. Included in these photos is a high resolution photo of Lloyd, which is often used in articles about her life and work. Arguably the most important item in the capsule was a biography of Lloyd's life, titled "In Memoriam: Rachel Lloyd, Ph.D". The book was written by her brother-in-law, Clement Lloyd, and contained information about her life that was not found elsewhere.

On October 1, 2014, the American Chemical Society designated her research and professional contributions to chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln a National Historic Chemical Landmark.

Published works

Conversion of some Homologues of Phenol into Primary and Secondary Amines
Journal of the Chemical Society, Volume 56, 1889

University of Nebraska, Agricultural Experiment Station of Nebraska, 1890

See also

*Timeline of women in science

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Rachel
1839 births
1900 deaths
19th-century American women scientists
American Quakers
American women chemists
Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
People from Bangor, Michigan
People from Flushing, Ohio
Scientists from Philadelphia
University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty
University of Zurich alumni
Westtown School alumni