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• 1 2016-10-28T13:44:57-07:00 Elizabeth P. Niedringhaus 35 gallery 2017-03-27T09:11:34-07:00
  Elizabeth Niedringhaus began her career at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1963. Though she was officially a part of the Arts and Exhibitions Department, Niedringhaus was a vital component of the later installments in Botany Hall. She prepared the models for the Presque Isle Habitat group (1965), Pennsylvania Hardwood Forest (1973), and the Kitchen of  Herbs Diorama (1976). To help build these dioramas, Niedringhaus created a team of volunteers, many of which came from the women’s university Chatham.
  
  The techniques she developed for creating realistic plant and fungi models were highly innovative. Her efforts soon became known to museums around the world. Museums in India and South Africa invited Niedringhaus to teach her techniques to their staff. Other museums sent representatives to her studio to learn directly from her. Niedringhaus outline these perfected techniques in her book, Second Nature.
  
  Niedringhaus’s case highlights shifts within the museum world and society on the treatment of women working in the sciences. During the early years of the museum, when women like Hanne von Fuehrer began working, opportunities were very limited and gaining recognition for one's work could be difficult. The 1960s was an era where women were rapidly gaining more rights in society and in the workforce. This is what gave Niedringhaus agency within the museum, allowing her to put together teams of volunteers. As time continues, doors will only continue to open up and more opportunities will present themselves for women working in the sciences.
  
  
• 1 2016-10-28T10:21:43-07:00 Women Behind Botany Hall 18 gallery 347716 2017-03-27T09:13:02-07:00
  There were hundreds of women that worked behind the scenes for Botany Hall, both museum staff and volunteers. Three women in particular, Dorothy E.L. Pearth, Hanne von Fuehrer, and Elizabeth Niedringhaus, played an important role within the museum. Through each woman’s work and experiences, I explore women’s relationship with the museum and botany. In their own way, these three women have pioneered through the challenges of working in the Natural History Museum, a typically male-dominated sphere. Their efforts in botanical scholarship and craftsmanship have helped make working in the museum more accessible to women.  
  
  As I learned more about these three women's work and their contributions to the museum, I began to notice three different overarching themes within my findings. Dorothy Pearth contradicted societal expectations on women working in the sciences. Hanne von Fuehrer faced difficulty gaining proper recognition for her efforts but did not falter. Being a working woman in the 60s and 70s allowed Elizabeth Niedringhaus to have more authority inside the museum than the two women before her. These themes make evident the ways in which feminism and growing women's rights altered society.
  
  The next page steps out of chronology and begins with Dorothy Pearth. Though Pearth came to the museum fourteen years after Hanne von Fuehrer, the significance of a woman on the curatorial team of Botany Hall needs great attention.