Apparatus XY

Fellowships

31Sabin herself had benefited from fellowships and awards at crucial periods in her life, and when she had become established, she helped administer fellowships for others. The financial support for Sabin began immediately after her internship when the Baltimore Association for the Advancement of University Education for Women arranged for a special fellowship for her in the Department of Anatomy at Hopkins Medical so that she could continue the research she had begun under her mentor, Dr. Franklin Paine Mall (McMaster and Heidelberger, 277). Sabin later joined the Association and supported the application of a fellowship to Helen Connet to work in physiology at University College London in 1920-21 (24 Jan. 1920, Women's Association [Misc] Box Wi-Z, APS). The year following Sabin's fellowship, she received a prize in the significant sum of $1000 from the Naples Table Association for her research on the Origin of the Lymphatic System (Richards, Ellen, Research Prize, Box Richa-Ru, APS). Ellen Richards headed the prize committee and after her death the prize came to be named for her. Sabin was the first recipient of this prize, established for recognizing "laboratory research involving experimental work, leading to new conclusions by new methods" (28 Mar. 1928 Lilian Welsh to Sabin summarizing the history, Naples Table Correspondence 1928 #2, Box Naples Table 2-National Travel, APS). Between its beginnings and 1924, thirteen prizes were awarded, in addition to a special one for Marie Curie in 1921, which Sabin presented at Carnegie Hall (Naples Table Correspondence 1928 #2, APS and Naples Table-Gen. Committee Minutes #2, Box Naples Table 2-National Travel, APS).

32 In 1915, Sabin herself received notice from M. Carey Thomas that she had been appointed to the Naples Table Association as the representative of the women of the Johns Hopkins University Medical School (16. Oct. Naples Table Correspondence, 1919, Box Mi-Naples Table 1, APS). The Naples Table Association went back to 1898, and existed in order to support the work of women scientists there. Since the organization at times had more money than they needed to support the Table, they established the Richards Prize. Sabin, therefore, was involved with both the Table and the Prize.

33 By the late 1920s, the format of the prize changed from one granted based on submitted research papers, to one presented in recognition of women of scientific renown. Among the recipients of the award in its later form were Prof. Lise Meitner of Berlin and Prof. Ramart-Lucas of Paris for physics and chemistry. The justification for this change according to Sabin was two-fold: there were a number of research fellowships available for women beginning their careers in research, and perhaps awards such as these would help women gain the necessary recognition to achieve positions as full professors and department directors (1 Nov. 1927 Sabin to Robert S. Cunningham on planned reorganization, Cunningham #8, Box Cu-Doan #5, and 29 Oct. 1929 Sabin to Dr. Hague, Naples Table Correspondence 1929, Box Naples Table 2-National Travel, APS). The change demonstrated what the committee members saw by this time as the greater need to help those established in their careers to gain more recognition, status and institutional power. Meanwhile the Association continued to fund scientists to work at the Zoological Station at Naples until 1932, when the organization disbanded with the following resolution:

WHEREAS, the objects for which this Association has worked for thirty-five years have now been achieved since women are given opportunities to engage in scientific research on an equality with men, and to gain recognition for their achievements, be it RESOLVED, that the Association cease to exist after the adjournment of this meeting. (30 Apr. Naples Table Application 1932 #1, Box Mi-Naples Table 1, APS)

While the resolution might have been overly optimistic in its assessment, given that Sabin herself had elsewhere recognized the ongoing challenges for women researchers, the women of the Association clearly felt that significant gains had been made.

34 There were three other fellowships in which Sabin was heavily involved. One was established by her friend Mrs. Denison in memory of her son Henry Strong Denison. The fellowship was meant to support promising research students. While the Board was run by Mrs. Denison's two daughters, Sabin had the responsibility of recommending promising students to the Board. Although the awards were not specifically for either sex, women scientists received equal consideration and the main factor influencing the awarding of a grant appears to have been the school one attended. The Foundation was established in 1924, and within its first ten years of existence twenty of the seventy-three recipients were women (Henry Strong Denison Medical Foundation #2, Box H-Hol, APS). In 1927 Sabin noted that twelve students had received the grants, with three out of four of the Hopkins recipients women, as well as another woman in Chicago (6 May to Robert Cunningham, Box Cu-Doan #5, APS). Nonetheless, Sabin was fearful that her 10 year report to the Board showed that proportionally more women than men recipients had dropped out of research and there might therefore be more difficulty in gaining such awards for women in the future (1 Mar. 1934 Sabin to Robert Cunningham, Denison Memorial Library).

35Similarly as a member of the Guggenheim Foundation, while Sabin never advocated for a woman specifically as a woman, she made certain that they would receive proper consideration. Among the grateful recipients was the scientist Florence Seibert. Seibert had come to know Sabin when they both attended National Tuberculosis Association meetings and were often the only women there. She would visit Sabin at Rockefeller to discuss work. At one of these visits Seibert confided to Sabin that she had intended to apply for a Guggenheim fellowship but that her mentor who had been encouraging the application had died. Sabin was now on the Guggenheim Board and encouraged Seibert to continue with her application since Sabin herself could attest to the value of her work (19 Sep. 1955 Siebert to Bluemel, Series I, Folder 3, SSC). Upon receiving her fellowship to study in Sweden, Seibert wrote Sabin "I must tell you how much I appreciate your efforts and success in obtaining the fellowship for me" (20 Mar.1937, Seibert Florence #2, Box S-Smith, APS). The story is significant for indicating what could be accomplished by a woman in a prominent position and, by implication, how the scarcity of such women had broader implications.