Apparatus XY

16 In a letter to Ann Morgan of Mt. Holyoke, Sabin mentioned Professor Robert Bensley's Department of Anatomy at the University of Chicago as a place friendly to women, adding that "It is probably true that the universities in the middle west are more liberal toward women than the ones in the east" (18 Apr. 1932, Box Mi-Naples Table 1, APS). In advising Marion Hines, a talented researcher whom she mentored, on whether to leave Chicago for a position in China, Sabin warned, "In regard to the outlook in this country, it goes without saying that there are still and will be for some time fewer chances for a woman to move from one laboratory to another so that you would need to try to judge the opportunities in Chicago more carefully as a woman than if you were a man" (17 Oct. 1919, Box H-Hol, Hines, Marion #2, APS). Hines did stay at Chicago until an opportunity arose at Hopkins. Once again advising Hines when she was considering the move to Hopkins, Sabin wrote, "I do not think any prejudice against women would hinder your getting an associate professorship in a time that would be reasonable to you." However, she went on to add, "The outlook for women higher than that is the same here as elsewhere very difficult. There have been only a very few full professorships here and they are more honorary than otherwise. I think it will be a real struggle for a woman to get to be the head of a department in a fine medical school; you may make it" (23 Apr. 1925, Box H-Hol, APS).[8]Sabin herself had been passed over for department head and then was made a full professor of histology in compensation. Hines eventually moved to Emory University. She was also called upon to give advice to Helen Taussig who was concerned about her possibilities of promotion at Hopkins Medical and the lack of support for publication she was receiving from her mentor Dr. Park. Sabin reassured Taussig of Park's support for her, noting that "the adjustment in salary will come in the long run." On the other hand, when it came to publishing, she advised Taussig to present all her data to Dr. Park but that if he still hesitated, she should express her willingness to take on the responsibility of publishing herself (15 Apr. n.d. Taussig to Sabin, Sabin response 16 Apr. 1936, Ste-Thomas, APS).

17 As a researcher herself, Sabin was greatly concerned about the limited research opportunities for women. Women's colleges had fewer resources than men's and they were major employers of women. In 1929 Sabin wrote to support a research grant for Dr. Christianna Smith of Mt. Holyoke, noting that "the college has very limited funds which can be devoted to research. It seems to me so important to help those in the colleges who are eager to do research" (20 Nov. 1929 to Burton E. Livingston, Box Li-Mall, F.P. 1, APS). Nor did that situation improve with time. In 1941 Sabin wrote to a Smith College sophomore interested in research that "it seems to me that there are not as many chances to do research on the faculties of the women's Colleges as I think there should be. Your generation should see to it that there are more. In industry, opportunities are certainly expanding" (22 Apr. to Betty G. Davies, Box Cu-Doan #5, APS). This is one reason that Sabin was particularly excited when Margaret Washburn of Vassar was elected in 1931 to the National Academy of Sciences. She commented in a letter to her friend Mrs. Mabel Mall "I think that was a great thing for the women's colleges as showing that research can really be carried on in them if the person has enough force of character and enough interest. Vassar is now the most popular of the colleges it seems to me" (30 May 1931, Sabin Papers Box 2 , #73, AMC).

18 An article in 1937 in the New York Times confirmed the ongoing nature of the problem of too few resources. The author investigated why the members of women's colleges contributed relatively few scientific papers and found that men's colleges also had low rates due to institutional poverty. He noted that everything from a cyclotron to rats cost money and that the large teaching loads, committee and advising work made women's colleges primarily teaching institutions. Even Bryn Mawr, which had a graduate school and emphasized research, lacked the endowment to release its faculty from undergraduate teaching (11 Apr. "Women in Science," Series I, Box 1, Folder 4, SSC).

19 Coeducational medical schools, often the center of medical research, were hesitant to hire women (Morantz-Sanchez 160). The result was that even promising and eager researchers found themselves ill equipped to do their work, and often what work they did report was not accepted by the major journals. One individual for whom Sabin advocated was Jane Sands Robb, who was working at Syracuse. Sands had submitted two papers to the well-known Wistar Institute, but they required that she pay $200 out of her own pocket for illustrations, which she could not do. The result was that she submitted the work to the far less prestigious Woman's Medical Journal, which according to Sabin, "buries the work completely." Another time, Robb needed an electrocardiogram for her animal research, but had to take the animals over to Rochester since Syracuse lacked the equipment. Sabin sought to get her funds for equipment as well as to have her work presented to the Anatomists at their meeting (8 June 1934 Sabin to George L. Streeter, Box St.-Thomas, Streeter, George L. #2, APS and 8 June 1934 in George L. Streeter Correspondence, Sabin, Florence, Apr.-Jul. 1934, Box 37, Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Embryology, AMC).

20Even when women achieved research positions there was a problem with salary and advancement. Sarah Tower was a highly promising researcher at Johns Hopkins, who, due to the health needs of a son, felt she had to switch from neurology to psychiatry. In explaining her decision to Sabin, who had always supported and admired her work, Tower wrote that her salary was only $2200 after fourteen years (Christmas 1944, Howe, Mrs. Howard, Series II, Box 11, Folder 2, SSC). This was in 1944, yet as early as 1917, when she became a full professor, Sabin earned $2550 (Series I, Box 3, Folder 1, SSC). Furthermore, the more women achieved the fewer places were available to them should they want to move or advance further. Edna Tompkins and Sylvia Bensley both experienced this first hand. Bensley, who was the daughter-in-law of the well-known Dr. R.R. Bensley, was an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at the University of Chicago but was finding her opportunities there limited. Sabin made inquiries on her behalf and Bensley felt it beneficial for people to know she was looking for a new position. She wanted one which combined research and teaching but knew the opportunities were limited for "a woman of my age" (27 Nov. 1946, Series II, Box 9, Folder 4, SSC).[9]Bensley did eventually succeed in getting a position at the University of Toronto Department of Anatomy. See 24 Jan. 1952 Bensley to Sabin, Series II, Box 9, Folder 4, SSC.Edna Tompkins was a well-respected researcher working at Vanderbilt University. While happy with her work she wanted to move back to the Boston area for family reasons (12 Mar. 1942 Tompkins to Sabin, Series II, Box 14, Folder 2, SSC). She noted that "The higher you go, the fewer openings there are for you; and if you are a woman there are still fewer, since the highest are not open" (12 Feb. 1943, Series II, Box 14, Folder 2, SSC). Sabin wrote on her behalf to her friend George Wislocki at Harvard, who reported that he had made inquiries "about the possibility of inducting her into the Harvard hospitals or schools in some capacity" but nothing developed at that time (21 Mar. 1942 Series II, Box 13, Folder 11, SSC).[10]By 1947 Tompkins had made it East by accepting a position at the Yale University Lab of Applied Physiology and by 1951 she finally made it to Boston by affiliating with the Cancer Research Institute of the New England Deaconess Hospital although she had to switch her research to cancer from her preivous work on lipids. See 24 Nov. 1947 Tompkins to Sabin and 12 Jul. 1951 Tompkins to Sabin, Sabin Papers, Series II, Box 14, Folder 2, SSC.