SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — During this Women's History Month, the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park is highlighting significant contributions by women, both past and present.
The museum's research library director shared insights about pioneering women at the NAT.
Rosa Smith Eigenman joined the San Diego Society of Natural History at age 19 in 1879, shortly after its founding in 1874. She discovered and described a new species of fish and documented the early history of the museum through her meticulous note-taking, which was published in newspapers.
Kate Stevens, the museum's first employee, was a curator of collections who specialized in paleoecology, the study of fossilized shells. Despite her husband's role as the curator of birds and mammals, it was her driving skills and support that facilitated many of his expeditions.
Ethel Bailey Higgins became the curator of botany in her late 60s during the Great Depression after being widowed. With minimal financial resources, she leveraged her plant photography and identification skills to build a new career. She continued her botanical expeditions into her 90s.
Moreover, the museum is currently running an all-female-led project focused on preserving San Diego's canyons.
"We are trying to understand what is the health status, if you will, of our canyons. How many different kinds of plants and animals are there?" a team member explained. "Is it mostly plants and animals that originally came from California, or is it stuff that has, as I said before, escaped into the canyons? How are these animals interacting with each other? And is that happening on a normal time frame?"
The team is also examining whether these spaces can be used for public recreation and mental health opportunities. She emphasized the significance of having more women in the ecology and conservation fields.
"There's this very much this drive, like I said before, to make sure that people who come after us also get to have the same experiences and feel a sense of stewardship over the nature. We are its caretakers — we are its conservators to help make sure it stays here for as long as it possibly can."
The Natural History Museum at Balboa Park is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
