Harriet Redfield Cobb (September 10, 1866 – February 13, 1958) was an American mathematics educator, a professor at Smith College from 1895 to 1931.
Harriet Redfield Cobb | |
|---|---|
 Harriet Redfield Cobb, from the 1925 yearbook of Smith College | |
| Born | September 10, 1866 Peekskill, New York |
| Died | February 13, 1958 Northampton, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | Mathematics professor |
Early life and education
editCobb was born in Peekskill, New York, the daughter of Elisha G. Cobb and Esther Meroa Redfield Cobb. Her father was a Congregational clergyman. She attended Northampton High School and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Smith College in 1889, and an honorary master's degree, also from Smith College, in 1891.[1] She pursued further studies at Columbia University.[2]
Career
editCobb taught mathematics at schools in Louisiana and Ohio before returning to Smith as a mathematics instructor in 1895.[2] She taught geometry[3] at Smith College[4] until she retired as professor emerita in 1931. Her colleagues at Smith included fellow mathematics professors Eleanor P. Cushing. Ruth Goulding Wood, and Suzan Rose Benedict.[5][6] She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a president of the Western Massachusetts Mathematics Association. She also taught Bible study classes at a Congregational church.[2]
Cobb was a busy traveler. She made an eight-month trip around the world with her friend, Pennsylvania math educator Sarah Gilbert, in 1907 and 1908.[7] She traveled to China several times in the 1920s,[8] and consulted there on math education for Chinese women.[3]
Cobb spent much of her retirement in Florida.[9] She was active in Smith alumnae activities there.[10] In 1936 she spoke to an audience of retired teachers in Florida about "The Pioneer Spirit of Smith College".[11]
Personal life
editCobb died in 1958, aged 91 years, in Northampton, Massachusetts.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Young Women Get Degrees at Smith". New-York Tribune. 1891-06-25. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Leonard, John William (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. American Commonwealth Company. pp. 187–188.
- ^ a b Beery, Janet L.; Greenwald, Sarah J.; Jensen-Vallin, Jacqueline A.; Mast, Maura B. (2017-12-02). Women in Mathematics: Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America. Springer. pp. 310, 315. ISBN 978-3-319-66694-5.
- ^ Green, Judy (2009). Pioneering women in American mathematics : the pre-1940 PhD's. Jeanne LaDuke. Providence, R.I.: American Mathematical Society. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4704-1839-7. OCLC 989866060.
- ^ Official Circular of Smith College. Smith College. 1906. p. 73.
- ^ Smith College (1924). Bulletin. p. 64.
- ^ "Retires after Long Service". Lancaster New Era. 1921-02-07. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ecuador Due Today with 100 Passengers". News-Pilot. 1928-03-08. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Knitting for Bundles for Britain". Tampa Bay Times. 1941-01-25. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Smith Alumnae Entertained". Tampa Bay Times. 1938-02-05. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Miss Harriet R. Cobb to Address Teachers". Tampa Bay Times. 1936-12-04. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Obituary for Harriet Redfield Cobb (Aged 91)". The Boston Globe. 1958-02-14. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.