Christine Ladd-Franklin (1847-1930)
Christine Ladd was born in 1847 in Windsor, Connecticut. She attended Vassar College, graduating in 1869, and sought to continue her academic interests in logic and mathematics at the Johns Hopkins University. Although the University did not admit women at the time, she was permitted to take classes from James J. Sylvester— so long as her name did not to appear on the roster of students. She completed the requirements for a PhD in mathematics and logic in 1882, but was not awarded the degree until 1926 because of her gender. Nevertheless, the university allowed her to teach courses in logic and psychology from 1904-1909, after which she became an unpaid lecturer at Columbia University betwen 1910 and her death in 1930. Ladd married fellow graduate student Fabian Franklin, and when she became a founding member of the WLCB, she became known in the minutes as “Mrs. Fabian Franklin.” As a member of the Club, she contributed many pieces on both scientific and literary subjects. She regularly published her scientific work in Science and the American Journal of Psychology, and her work on cognition remained academically relevant throughout the twentieth century.
Relation
Fabian Franklin
Sources
“Christine Ladd-Franklin.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed Apr. 22, 2018.
Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore. Meeting Minutes, Mar 4, 1893. Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore Papers, MS 988, Box 3, Book 1, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD.
“Christine Ladd-Franklin.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., accessed Feb. 26, 2018.
Contributors
Sydney Johnson