ELIZABETH H. BELLMER
(Sister Elizabeth Henry Bellmer,
Sister of Notre Dame)
Place of birth: Brooklyn,
New York, U.S.A
Higher Education:
1959 B.A. Trinity College, Washington, D. C. (Biology major, Chemistry
minor)
1962 M.S. The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. (Zoology
major; Botany minor) Thesis: "The time of embryonic fusion
of the malleus and incus of the guinea pig"
1968 Ph.D. The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
(Botany major; Ecology & Zoology minors) Thesis: "Distribution,
variation, and chromosome number in the Appalachian shale barren
endemic Eriogonum allenii Watson"
Professional Life:
1948-1952, 1953-1955: grade school teacher at SS. Joachim and Anne
Parish School, Queens Village, New York
1952-1953: grade school teacher at Our Lady of Victory Parish School,
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1955-1957: high school biology teacher at St. Maria Goretti High
School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1959-1961: Laboratory instructor, Biology Dept., Trinity College,
Washington, D.C.
1963-1965: Lecturer, Biology Dept., Trinity College, Washington,
D.C.
1970-1984: Assistant Professor, Biology Dept., Trinity College,
Washington, D.C.
1984-1994: Professor, Biology Dept., Trinity College, Washington,
D.C. (Chair 1971-72; 1978-80;1982-90)
1995 - present: Professor Emerita, Trinity University, Washington,
D.C.
Fellowship:
1962-1963; 1963-1964: National Science Foundation Cooperative Graduate
Fellowship, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Research Grant:
1982: American Philosophical Society, Penrose Fund, #9293, research
in England on f19th centure Catholic attitudes towards Darwinism,
notabley on the papers of John Henry Cardinal Newman in Birmingham.
Professional Training Grants:
1960: NSF Summer Institute in radiation biology for high school
& college teachers, Florida State University, Tallahassee
1968: NSF History of biology summer institute for college teachers,
Ohio State University, Columbus
1972: NSF Summer institute in field biology, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins (Pingree Park Campus)
Directorships:
1991, 1993, 1995: National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars
for School Teachers " The Origin of Species: The Victorian
Milieu of Science and Religion" co-director with Dr. Susan
H. Farnsworth, Trinity College, Washington, D.C.
Honors:
Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa
Research Projects:
July 1974 - June 1975: Sabbatical Leave. Visiting Associate Professor
of Botany, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. "Reaction
of various Christian denominations, and of leading Roman Catholics,
in 19th century England to Darwinism"
Summer 1982: American Philosophical Society
Research Grant, England. "19th century Roman Catholic attitudes
toward Darwinism: papers of John Henry Newman at the Oratory, Birmingham"
June - December, 1988: Sabbatical leave,
England. "19th century attituted towards Darwinism, principally
those of Gladstone" (research conducted in St. Deiniol's Library,
Hawarden, Wales; Bodleian Library, Oxford; British Museum, London;
Colindale Newspaper Library, London)
January 1994-January 1995. Terminal sabbatical,
Wales & England. "Gladstone's 'colour-sense' and Mivart's
life"
Papers Presented:
1975. "The reaction of the Catholic
Church to Darwinism in 19th century England" Tenth Annual History
of Science Meeting of the Ohio Academy of Science, Columbus, Ohio
(March 8, 1975).
1975. "Mivart's Genesis of Species
and Darwinism" Midwest Junto of the History of Science Society,
18th Annual Meeting, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
(April 10-12, 1975).
1975. "... And That's the Way It Was:
A Glimpse into the History of Science" Trinity College Sigma
Xi Bicentennial Program on SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, Part I -- The History,
Philosophy, and Sociology of Science, Trinity College, Washington,
D.C. (October 8, 1975).
1975. "Agassiz, Gray, and Huxley: Reaction
to Darwinism" Trinity Scholar Lecture, Trinity College, Washington,
D.C. (December 2, 1975).
1982. "St. George Jackson Mivart, Darwin's
Supporter/Opponent" Catholic Universty of America Graduate
Seminar, (Spring, 1982).
1984. "John Henry Newman and Darwinism"
Seventh Annual Mini-Symposium of the Washington Area Consortium
of Universities. George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia (Spring
1984).
1985. "Mivart and Natural Selection"
Eigth Annual Mini-Symposium of the Washington Area Consortium of
Universities. University of the District of Columbia, Washington,
D.C. (Spring 1985).
1986. "Mivart and Darwinism" Faculty
Colloquium, Trinity College, Washington, D. C. (Spring 1986).
1987. "Comments on Darwinism in the
Letters of John Henry Newman" Faculty Colloquium, Trinity College,
Washington, D. C. (Spring 1987).
1989. "Gladstone, Homer, and Darwin:
the Colour-Sense" Biology Seminar, Trinity College, Washington,
D.C. (February 1989).
1992. "The Darwinian Debate in Victorian
England" Guest lecturer in Interdepartmental 381, Victorian
Studies, Trinity College, Washington, D.C.
1993. "Gladstone, Homer, and Evolution:
Gladstone's Colour Sense " Annual Meeting, Southern
Conference on British Studies, Orlando, Florida (November 1993).
1995. "The Hiestorical Context of Darwin's
Ideas" with Dr. Susan H. Farnsworth. One-day Symposium at Trinity
College for area school teachers, sponsored by the Washington, D.C.
Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (June 1995).
Publications:
Bellmer, Elizabeth Henry (1963) The time
of embryonic fusion of the malleus and incus of the guinea pig.
American Midland Naturalist 69: 426-434.
Bellmer, Elizabeth Henry (1969). Distribution,
variation and chromosome number in the Appalachian shale barren
endemic Eriogonum allenii Watson. Biological
Studies #132. The Catholic University of America, Washington,
D.C.
1999. The statesman and the opthalmologist:
Gladstone and Magnus on the evolution of human colour vision, one
small episode of the 19th century Darwinian debate. Annals
of Science 56: 25-45.
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Special Thanks to:
Mary Hayes, S.N.D., Archivist and Professor of History, Trinity
University, Washington D.C. for providing the photograph and resume
of Elizabeth Bellmer.
