Harriet Redfield Cobb

Harriet Redfield Cobb
A middle-aged white woman with her greying hair dressed back to the nape; she is wearing a dark top with a white collar
Harriet Redfield Cobb, from the 1925 yearbook of Smith College
BornSeptember 10, 1866
Peekskill, New York
DiedFebruary 13, 1958
Northampton, Massachusetts
OccupationMathematics professor

Harriet Redfield Cobb (September 10, 1866 – February 13, 1958) was an American mathematics educator, a professor at Smith College from 1895 to 1931.

Early life and education

Cobb 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

Cobb 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

Cobb died in 1958, aged 91 years, in Northampton, Massachusetts.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Young Women Get Degrees at Smith". New-York Tribune. 1891-06-25. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Official Circular of Smith College. Smith College. 1906. p. 73.
  6. ^ Smith College (1924). Bulletin. p. 64.
  7. ^ "Retires after Long Service". Lancaster New Era. 1921-02-07. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Ecuador Due Today with 100 Passengers". News-Pilot. 1928-03-08. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Knitting for Bundles for Britain". Tampa Bay Times. 1941-01-25. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Smith Alumnae Entertained". Tampa Bay Times. 1938-02-05. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Miss Harriet R. Cobb to Address Teachers". Tampa Bay Times. 1936-12-04. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Obituary for Harriet Redfield Cobb (Aged 91)". The Boston Globe. 1958-02-14. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-10-11 – via Newspapers.com.