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Abby Howe Turner

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Abby Howe Turner
Turner at work, in an image from the Smithsonian Institution
BornFebruary 21, 1875
Nashua, New Hampshire, United States
DiedNovember 26, 1957 (age 82)
Other namesAbbie Howe Turner, Abbey Howe Turner, A. H. Turner
Alma materRadcliffe College
Known forExploring colloid osmotic pressure and gravity's effect on the circulatory system
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsMount Holyoke College

Abby Howe Turner (February 21, 1875 – November 26, 1957) was a noted professor of physiology and zoology who founded the department of physiology at Mount Holyoke College. She specialized in colloid osmotic pressure and circulatory reactions to gravity.

Early life and education

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Turner was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. She was the daughter of Emeline Mehitabel Cogswell and George Turner. She received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke in 1896. She then studied at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and the Harvard Medical School.[1][2] She received her Ph.D. from Radcliffe College in 1926, with a dissertation titled "Respiratory and Circulatory Tests of Physical Fitness in Healthy Young Women".[3]

Career

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Turner was head of the physiology department from 1922 to 1940.[2][4] She did research on students while she both taught and worked in a lab at Mount Holyoke from 1896 until her retirement in 1940.[5] She specialized in colloid osmotic pressure and circulatory reactions to gravity.[1] In one of her studies, Turner worked with student majoring in physiology and physical education to study the effects of posture on blood flow on the female body.[6] She attended international conferences, mostly in Europe, and spent a year as a fellow at the University of Copenhagen, sponsored by the AAUW.[7] She spent several summers at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory.[2][8]

In 1928, Turner was elected to membership in the American Physiological Society.[9] From 1943 to 1944, she was interim head of the physiology department at Wilson College. She also taught in the Bryn Mawr nursing program during World War II.[2] In 1945, Wilson College gave Turner an honorary doctorate, in recognition of her contributions to the school.[10] In 1946, she received the Alumnae Medal from the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association.[11]

Personal life and legacy

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Turner was an intimate friend of the psychiatrist and author Esther Loring Richards, and they engaged in a long exchange of written correspondence, which is physically and digitally archived by Mount Holyoke College.[12][13]

Abby Howe Turner died in 1957.[2] Mount Holyoke College named the Abbey Howe Turner Award for Excellence in Biology in her memory.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abby Howe Turner.
  1. ^ a b Abby Howe Turner papers, Retrieved November 2016
  2. ^ a b c d e "Dr. Turner, 82, Mount Holyoke Professor, Dies". Transcript-Telegram. November 27, 1957. p. 26. Retrieved August 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Turner, Abby Howe. "Respiratory and Circulatory Tests of Physical Fitness in Healthy Young Women." PhD diss., Radcliffe College, 1926.
  4. ^ Appel, Toby A. (March 1994). "Physiology in American Women's Colleges: The Rise and Decline of a Female Subculture". Isis. 85 (1): 26–56. doi:10.1086/356726. ISSN 0021-1753. PMID 8194959.
  5. ^ "Will Retire in June at Mount Holyoke". The Springfield Daily Republican. March 9, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved August 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Howe Turner, Abby (1930). "The Circulatory Reaction in Standing". Research Quarterly.
  7. ^ "Dr. Abby H. Turner Wins Fellowship". The Morning Union. April 9, 1930. p. 32. Retrieved August 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Abby Howe Turner". History of the Marine Biological Laboratory. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  9. ^ Appel, Toby A.; Cassidy, Marie M.; Tidball, M. Elizabeth (1987), Brobeck, John R.; Reynolds, Orr E.; Appel, Toby A. (eds.), "Women in Physiology", History of the American Physiological Society: The First Century, 1887–1987, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 381–390, doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7576-7_14, ISBN 978-1-4614-7576-7, retrieved August 31, 2024
  10. ^ "College Names Dr. Turner for Science Award". The Republican. May 21, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved August 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Alumnae Give Medals to Six". Springfield Evening Union. June 1, 1946. p. 1. Retrieved August 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "The Esther Richards Letters, 1921-1932". Mount Holyoke College.
  13. ^ Cottle, Katherine E. "Baltimore's desires: Mapping intimacy through letters from slavery to civil rights" (PhD dissertation, Morgan State University 2015): 282-306; via ProQuest.
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