Women in Agriculture A guide to the some of the women who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Harriet Williams Russell Strong Born: 1844 in Buffalo NY Died: 1926 Inventor of dry land irrigation techniques Known as the Walnut Queen

Harriet Williams Russell Strong After widowed with four daughters, Harriet invented a system of irrigation to improve her walnut and olive production to support her family. She was soon the top walnut producer in the country and was deemed as the “Walnut Queen:

Harriet Williams Russell Strong She spent most of her life fighting for the conservation of water and women’s rights. Traveled across the US with Susan B. Anthony to promote women’s freedom Became the first woman trustee at USC law school

Mary Engle Pennington Born: 1872 in Nashville Tennessee Died: 1952, New York, New York Important discoveries in milk handling and storage as well as refrigeration.

Mary Engle Pennington Education 1892 Certificate of Proficiency (the university did not award degrees to women at that time) from the University of Pennsylvania. Major: Chemistry and minors in zoology and botany. In 1895 she was awarded her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania

Mary Engle Pennington Pioneer in refrigerator engineering and safe handling, transportation and storage of foods through her work as a bacterial chemist. Elected to the American Society of Refrigeration engineers Awarded Notable service medal from President Hoover in 1915 Became the Head of Philadelphia's municipal bacterial lab. She built a reputation for creating a system to inspect cattle and dairies in the city thereby ensuring that the city’s mild supply was safe. She subsequently target the city's ice cream peddlers, and persuaded them to employ sanitary methods such as cleaning their utensils in boiling water.

Rachel Carson Born: 1907 in Springfield Pennsylvania Died: 1964 in Silver Springs, Maryland Known For: Novel, Silent Spring Writer, Scientist, Ecologist

Rachel Carson B.A. from Pennsylvania College for Women in Marine Biology M.A. from John Hopkins in Zoology Editor and Chief of US Department of Fisheries and wildlife publications

Rachel Carson Attacked the chemical industry about the long term effects of pesticides on the environment Wrote Silent Spring to call the publics attention to the dangers of pesticides

Temple Grandin Born on August 29, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts Known for: inventions which reduce animals stress levels when being put in chute systems. Her gift of autism has given her the ability to visualize situations as an animal would

Temple Grandin B.A. from Master Pierce College in Animal Science M.S. from Arizona State in Animal Science Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Animal Science

Temple Grandin Created a device to help to calm autistic patients through slow pressure and desensitize them to touch so that they feel comfortable interacting with people She has also redesigned slaughter houses and packaging plants to reduce the stress level in animals before slaughter.

Temple Grandin She has been awarded countless awards for her inventions and has written many publications to aid both livestock and autistic individuals She currently works as an assistant professor of animal science at Colorado State University

Fannie Lou Hamer Born: 1917 Died: 1977 Known for: Civil rights actions and Freedom Farms Cooperation

Fannie Lou Hamer Youngest child of twenty, daughter of a Sharecropper Received six years of education Received many honorary degrees form colleges and universities

Fannie Lou Hamer In 1962 Fannie was swept into the civil right movement as it came into town, with the help of a local organization she became trained in nonviolent protesting techniques Her first act was to join a group of other citizens to register to vote, but was not admitted. For her attempt she was fired from her job, received countless death threats and was even shot at.

Fannie Lou Hamer These acts of violence did not discourage her, she became a field secretary for the local civil rights group and traveled the country encouraging others to register to vote Later in her life she created Freedom Farms Cooperation, a cooperative of land for poor farmers to live off of and eventually purchase themselves