Maritime Madams: Gloria Hollister

Gloria Hollister (1900-1988) was a marine scientist, conservationist and explorer who made record-breaking dives in a deep-sea submersible called the Bathysphere.

For Further Reading:

• Diving in the Deep with Gloria Hollister | Inside Adams 
• Gloria Hollister Anable, 87, Dies; An Explorer and Conservationist - The New York Times 
• Woman Plumbs Depths of Ocean | Indianapolis Times

This month, we’re talking about Maritime Madams. Whether through scientific study, aquatic exploration, or legendary prowess, they harnessed the power of the bodies of waters that cover our earth. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about maritime Madams. Whether
through scientific study, aquatic exploration, or legendary prowess, these women
harness the power of the bodies of water that cover
our earth. Twenty feet forty feet. It's the summer of

(00:24):
nineteen thirty. A woman named Gloria sits in a steel
sphere as it lowers deeper and deeper into the ocean,
one hundred feet, two hundred feet, then three hundred Finally
the sphere stops, sitting at four hundred and ten feet
below the ocean's surface. Gloria has now set a world record,
the deepest any woman had gone below the waves. Today,

(00:48):
we're telling the story of Gloria Hollister. Gloria Hollister was
born in New York City in nineteen hundred. Her father
was a doctor. Gloria wanted to go into medicine too,
but her father disproved. As a child, Gloria conducted experiments
in the river by their vacation home in upstate New York.

(01:09):
If you've ever cupped your hands around minnows during a
summer vacation, you may understand Gloria's fascination. Where did these
little swimmers actually live? She wanted, maybe even felt that
she needed to see what was at the very bottom
of the river. So Gloria gathered her playmates a rope,
a heavy rock, and a long glass tube. Her friends

(01:30):
took hold of one end of the rope. Gloria tied
the other end to the heavy rock, and then tied
that rock around her waist. She put the glass tube
into her mouth and dove underwater. The tube was meant
to function like a scuba diver's regulator, but it didn't
quite work. Gloria swapped it out for an oil can
over her head. This allowed Gloria to stay under the

(01:54):
water until there was no more breathable air in the can.
Gloria's river experiment was an early predecessor to her deep
sea diving career. Gloria attended Connecticut College and studied zoology.
Following two years of education, she sought out work with
researcher and oceanographer doctor bb Early in her career, Gloria

(02:17):
worked across disciplines, aiding in cancer research and wildlife studies.
In nineteen twenty eight, Gloria finally plunged into her role
as a research assistant for doctor BB with an oceanographic
expedition in Bermuda. While doctor BB dove down into the ocean,
Gloria transcribed what he observed.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Five hundred and fifty feet string of jellyfish. The whole
time thought black forms in the distance, or are coming nearer?
Five hundred feet blackfish went by in the distance, popper
three inches long, something went overhead.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
But Gloria yearned to be the one watching these creatures
swim herself. She had experimented with underwater breathing devices before,
and the one doctor Bbe had co created was top
of the line. This submersible, called the Bathosphere, allowed underwater
explorers to reach new depths. In nineteen thirty Gloria took

(03:13):
her first dive. She reached four hundred and ten feet
and set the depth record for women deep sea diving.
Four years later, the Bathisphere made it possible for Gloria
to descend more than one thousand feet beneath the water.
She broke her own record at twelve hundred and eight
feet below sea level. But not all of Gloria's work
happened underwater. In nineteen thirty six, she traveled to Trinidad

(03:38):
and Guyana to lead an expedition for the New York
Zoological Society's Department of Tropical Research. One of the missions
on this trip was to photograph Kayatar Falls in Guyana
and the surrounding landscape. Gloria and her team ended up
capturing forty different waterfalls by photographing them from a plane.
When the United States officially entered war World War II

(04:00):
in nineteen forty one, Gloria diverted from oceanography. She continued
her work with the natural world through preservation efforts in
her home state of New York. In the nineteen fifties,
the Mianas River forest and habitat came under threat from developers.
Gloria gave lectures and worked with locals to protect the
forest along the river. Through Gloria's work, the area became

(04:23):
the Department of the Interior's first natural National Landmark. Gloria
was Chairman emeritus of the Mianas River Gorge Conservation Committee
until she died in nineteen eighty eight. In twenty twenty one,
a species of fish, Polymyxia hollisterae, was named in Gloria's honor.
All Month We're talking about Maritime Madams. For more information,

(04:46):
find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special
thanks to my favorite sister and co creator Liz Kaplan.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Talk to you tomorrow