Allieva dell'entomologo e aracnologo James Henry Emerton, scoprì dai primi anni una predilezione per le ricerche sul campo e per il mondo dei ragni.[1]
Ha lavorato al Museum of Comparative Zoology di Cambridge[2], dove scrisse il suo primo lavoro nel 1908[3]. A consacrarla come osservatrice diligente e scrupolosa nel variegato mondo dei ragni fu la relazione sulla spedizione ad Antigua e Barbados del 1923[1][4].
Pur con mezzi non proprio all'altezza degli studi da compiere (l'illuminazione del microscopio proveniva da un faretto di automobile modificato), la sua diligenza e precisione nel riportare i dettagli ne fecero ben presto un punto di riferimento nel campo[1].
1908 List of Araneina in Fauna of New England, 9. Occ. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, pp. 1–105.
1923 Report on the spiders collected by the Barbados-Antigua Expedition from the University of Iowa in 1918. Univ. Iowa Stud. in Nat. Hist., vol. 10, pp. 10–16.
1930 A revision of the American species oi the genus Ozyptila. Psyche, vol. 37, pp. 375–391.
1930 New species of the genus Xysticus, (Arachnida). Ibid., vol. 37, pp. 132–140.
1931 Notes on North American Anyphaeninae in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ibid., vol. 38, pp. 102–126.
1933 New and little known spiders from the United States. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 74, pp. 171–193.
1933 Notes on types of Urquhart's spiders. Rec. Canterbury Mus., vol. 4, pp. 1–27.
1934 New Lycosidae from Florida. Psyche, vol. 41, pp. 38–41.
1935 Notes on some of Urquhart's species of spiders. Rec. Canterbury Mus., vol. 4, pp. 53–70.
1935 Some new and little known species of New Zealand spiders. Ibid. vol. 4, pp. 71–94.
1935 A few southern spiders, Psyche, vol. 42, pp. 73–83.
1935 A rare spider. Ibid. vol. 42, pp. 163–166.
1936 New species of southern spiders. Ibid., vol. 43, pp. 87–100.
1936 Descriptions of some new species of Cuban spiders. Mem. Soc. Cubana Hist. Nat., vol. 10, pp. 325–332.
1938 Spiders in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Alumni Bull., Feb. 25.
1940 Notes on Epeira pentagona Hentz. Psyche, vol. 47, pp. 60–65 (with A. F. Archer).
1940 Cuban spiders in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 86, pp. 247–532.
1941 Notes on he spider fauna of New England. Psyche, vol. 48, pp. 129–146.
1942 Notes on the spiders of the Virgin Islands. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 89, pp. 317–363.
1942 Additions to the spider iauna of Puerto Rico. Jour. Agr. Univ. Puerto Rico, vol. 26, pp. 1–19.
1942 Descriptions of certain North American Phidippus (Araneae). Amer. Midland Nat., vol. 28, pp. 693–707.
1943 The salticid spiders of Hispaniola. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 92, pp. 443–522.
1943 Notes on Dictyolathys maculata Banks (Araneae: Dictynidae). Psyche, vol. 50, pp. 83–86.
1944 Three species of Coleosoma from Florida (Araneae: Theridiidae). Ibid., vol. 51, pp. 51–58.
1945 The Argiopidae of Hispaniola. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol 95, pp. 357–418.
1945 Notes on some Florida spiders. Trans. Connecticut Acad. Sci., vol. 36, pp. 199–213.
1945 Some new and little known southern spiders, Psyche, vol. 52, pp. 178–192.
1946 The genotype of Mimetus Hentz. Ibid., vol. 53, p. 48.
1947 A list of spiders from Mona Island with descriptions of new and little known species. Ibid., vol. 54, pp. 86–89.
1947 Notes on spiders from Puerto Rico. Ibid., vol. 54, pp. 183–193.
1948 The spiders of Hispaniola. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 100, pp. 329–447.
1948 Some spiders from Acapulco, Mexico. Psyche, vol. 55, pp. 55–77.
1949 The male of Prodidomus rufus Hentz (Prodidomidae, Araneae). Ibid., vol. 56, pp. 22–25.
1949 A new genus and species of Theridiidae rom eastern Texas (Araneae). Ibid., vol. 56, pp. 66–69.
1949 The "Iris spider" of Kent Island. Bull. Ninth Annual Rep., Bowdoin Sci. Sta. no. 11, pp. 14–15
1949 Acanthepeira venusta (Banks) (Araneae). Psyche, vol. 56, pp. 175–179.
1950 The salticid spiders of Jamaica. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 103, pp. 161–209.
1951 Redescription of Cheiracanthium mildei L. Koch, a recent spider immigrant from Europe. Psyche, vol. 58, pp. :20-123.