DARING TO DIG: A TRAVELING EXHIBITION ON THE HISTORY OF WOMEN IN AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY

For hundreds of years, American women have contributed to the field of paleontology. In the early 19^th century, wives created detailed paleoart in support of their husbands’ research. Once women’s colleges opened their doors, women fought to enter the field professionally, publishing groundbreaking research on many subjects. By the beginning of the 20^th century, women played an enormous role in the new science of micropaleontology. Unfortunately, however, these contributions have never received the wide recognition of those made by men. Women’s paleontological work was frequently unpublished, or published without adequately acknowledging their contribution. Even after the idea of women pursuing higher education and careers was considered socially acceptable, women were frequently discouraged from entering science in general, and the Earth sciences in particular.

The Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) is an 18,000 square foot facility that offers a unique mix of natural history exhibits, art exhibitions, and public programs, all with a focus on Earth science. Based on a multi-year process of research and development, funded in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities planning grant, PRI and a team of paleontologists, historians, and museum staff have developed a traveling exhibition that will examine the challenges and successes of women paleontologists – past and present – as they strived towards scientific discovery in a male-dominated field.

Currently in its design phase, the exhibition will open at PRI’s Museum of the Earth in the fall of 2018. Visitors to the exhibition will explore the historical, social, and political frameworks within which these women nurtured their scientific ideas and pursued their careers. Visitors will leave the exhibition with the realization that despite facing gender-based prejudices, women in paleontology have long been and continue to be integral to building our understanding of the history of life on Earth.