Cultivators: Margaretta Morris and Elizabeth Carrington Morris

Margaretta Morris (1797-1867) and Elizabeth Carrington Morris (1795-1865) were sisters from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who worked in botany, entomology, and the natural sciences. They have been credited with helping transform American science in the 19th century, but their impact has been largely forgotten. 

For Further Reading:

• Mischievous Creatures: The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science
• The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science
• Women’s Work: Female Science Pioneers in 19th Century Philadelphia
• The Mischevious Morris Sisters

This month, we’re talking about cultivators — women who nurtured, cross-pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the natural world.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello. My name is Vanessa Handy. I'm a producer at
Wonder Media Network, and I'm so excited to be guest
hosting this episode of Womanica. This month, we're talking about cultivators,
women who nurtured, cross pollinated, experimented, or went to great
lengths to better understand and protect the natural world. Today,

(00:25):
we're talking about not one, but two highly successful scientists.
This pair of sisters dedicated their lives to botany and entomology,
but despite their scientific prowess, their names are often left
in the footnotes of history. Please welcome Margaretta Morris and
Elizabeth Carrington Morris. Elizabeth and Margaretta were born two years apart,

(00:54):
in seventeen ninety five and seventeen ninety seven in Philadelphia,
the perfect birthplace for two future natural scientists. During the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Philadelphia was an epicenter
of scientific discovery. Their father passed away when they were young,
leaving them in the care of their great aunt. Her

(01:15):
sprawling estate in Germantown included its own botanical garden, one
of the first in the United States. This was Margaretta
and Elizabeth's own personal universe to explore the sisters came
from a Quaker background, so, although it was against the
grain of mainstream culture, they believed women should be educated

(01:35):
just like men. Margaretta and Elizabeth received tutoring from leading
naturalists of the time, then spent their free hours exploring
their backyard garden or the nearby Wissahickon Creek. As Margaretta
and Elizabeth grew older, their adolescent interests turned into professional pursuits.

(01:55):
Each sister had their own specialty. Margaretta's was entomology and
Elizabeths was botany. Margaretta wasn't interested in beautiful insects like butterflies.
She liked the bugs that most people considered bothersome, like mosquitoes, flies,
and cicadas. In the summer of eighteen thirty six, wheatflies

(02:17):
ruined harvests across Pennsylvania and drove up flower prices around
the country. Margaretta decided to get to the bottom of
the problem By sitting in her neighbour's wheat fields. She
figured out where the flies laid their eggs and how
they behaved. She realized that the best way for farmers
to stop losing their crops was to avoid purchasing seeds

(02:39):
from places that had experienced fly infestations. Since the seeds
themselves could be infested, her cousin urged her to publish
her findings after several years of continued observation. She did,
and her findings were so meaningful they were immediately circulated
in agricultural journals as well, but Margaretta was quickly met

(03:00):
with lots of gendered criticism. Farmers and scientists alike struggled
to take a women's research seriously. Elizabeth meanwhile, focused on
studying ferns. She identified and collected specimens of a rare
variety of spleenworts and then sent them to researchers at Harvard,
Hugh Gardens, and even the Imperial Gardens in Russia. In

(03:23):
addition to supplying specimens to the era's leading botanists, including
celebrated researcher Asa Gray, she also illustrated scientific books and articles.
Despite their contributions to their respective fields, Margaretta and Elizabeth
were not exactly welcomed in the world of science. Most
academic and scientific institutions excluded women from membership. Margaretta did

(03:47):
get some of her research papers accepted by academic organizations,
but they had to be read by men on her behalf,
and while Elizabeth was a well published science writer in
agricultural and horticul journals, she wrote under a pseudonym. But
while Margaretta and Elizabeth may not have had access to

(04:08):
all of the universities and libraries and scientific associations that
men did, they did have access to nature. They didn't
need fancy institutions to learn and discover. They just needed
the great outdoors and each other. And they weren't the
only women using the local landscape to their educational advantage.

(04:30):
The sisters were involved in large groups of female scientists
who essentially formed an informal academy of sciences for women.
They'd go on group excursions through the forests of Pennsylvania
to search for insects and orchids, magnifying glasses in their
hands and big rubber boots under their petticoats. Later in
her career, Margaretta finally received some hard won recognition. In

(04:54):
eighteen fifty, she became one of the first women to
be elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Elizabeth and Margaretta never married or had children. Instead, they
lived together until they passed away two years apart, Elizabeth
in eighteen sixty five and Margaretta in eighteen sixty seven.

(05:17):
As time passed, their legacies eroded. Elizabeth received an obituary,
but Margaretta did not. Not maintained by next of kin,
their collections and specimens mostly disappeared. When their works or
correspondences did pop up in natural science collections, curators named
them after more famous scientists instead. Margaretta and Elizabeth weren't

(05:40):
interested in science for fame or fortune. Their pursuit was
about the love of nature. Their favorite way to spend
a day was in the dappled sunlight at Wissahickon Creek,
marveling at bugs and ferns. Recognition wasn't required, but it
was certainly deserved. All month, we're talking about cultivators. For

(06:02):
more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast.
Thanks to co creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for letting
me guest host. Talk to you tomorrow