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Title: Mary Isabel McCracken papers
Dates: 1866-1955
Collection Number: MSS-317
Creator/Collector:
McCracken, Mary Isabel, 1866-1955
Extent: 8 boxes (2.8 cu. ft.)
Repository:
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco, California 94118
Abstract: The papers of Mary Isabel McCracken, an entomologist, Stanford University professor, Research Associate, and Fellow of the
California Academy of Sciences. Included are her correspondence, manuscripts, notebooks, and card files.
Language of Material: English
Access is unrestricted
Mary Isabel McCracken papers. California Academy of Sciences
Biography/Administrative History
Mary Isabel McCracken was born in 1866 in Oakland, California. She taught in Oakland's public schools for a decade before
enrolling in Stanford University, where she became interested in natural history, particularly in entomology. She received
her A.B. Degree in 1904, M.A. in 1905 and Ph.D. in 1908. As a graduate student Dr. McCracken began field observation and laboratory
experiments on the genetics of beetles and published several papers based on these investigations. She also conducted field
observation on numerous birds in the Sierra Nevada.
After serving as Assistant Professor in Entomology at Stanford University, Dr. McCracken was Professor of Zoology at the same
university until her retirement in 1931. She was a Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences from 1931 through
1945 and worked on the birds and insects in the collections of the Academy.
Dr. McCracken spent some of her time volunteering in organizations such as the Children's Museum in Palo Alto, the Stanford
Convalescent Home and other organizations that cared for the unfortunate. She also assisted both students and colleagues by
opening her home and garden for their research and studies in entomology. She was also a member of the California Academy
of Sciences (since 1915) and named a Fellow in 1929. Dr. Mary Isabel McCracken died on October 29, 1955.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Mary Isabel McCracken, an entomologist, Stanford University professor, Research Associate, and Fellow of the
California Academy of Sciences. Included are her correspondence, manuscripts, notebooks, and card files.
Entomology
Women entomologists
Beetles