Queer Places:
Wellesley College (Seven Sisters), 106 Central St, Wellesley, MA 02481
University of Cambridge, 4 Mill Ln, Cambridge CB2 1RZ
Yale University (Ivy League), 38 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven, CT 06520
Green River Cemetery, 56 Wisdom Way, Greenfield, MA 01301, United States
Charlotte Fitch "Lottie" Roberts (February 13, 1859 - December 5, 1917) was born on February 13, 1859, in New York City, the daughter of Horace Roberts and Mary Roberts (née Hart),
and was raised in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Demonstrating an early and rare interest in science during a time when higher education options for women were severely limited,
she enrolled at Wellesley College in 1880 to pursue her studies. Her career at Wellesley began almost immediately after her graduation; she served as a graduate assistant in
1881, became an instructor in 1882, and was appointed as an associate professor by 1886. Committed to advancing her expertise, she spent the academic year of 1885 at
Cambridge University working alongside the noted chemist and physicist Sir James Dewar.
Roberts continued her postgraduate education at Yale University, where she earned her Ph.D. in chemistry in 1894, a historic milestone as one of the first women to
receive a doctorate from Yale and the very first female Ph.D. graduate in the field of chemistry. Her doctoral dissertation and subsequent 1896 publication, The Development
and Present Aspects of Stereochemistry, was widely praised by her peers as a brilliantly clear exposition on the principles and conditions of stereochemistry. Building upon
her academic success, she was promoted to full professor and served as the head of the chemistry department at Wellesley College from 1896 until her passing.
During the period spanning from 1900 to 1910, Roberts firmly anchored her legacy as a prominent faculty member and department head at Wellesley, guiding the chemistry
program through an era of significant expansion and elevated academic rigor. Between 1899 and 1900, she further expanded her international research profile with a post at
the University of Berlin. Widely respected in the broader scientific community, she was also named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Charlotte Fitch Roberts passed away on December 5, 1917, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, leaving behind a foundational legacy for women in STEM, with her enduring impact
commemorated through a dedicated chemistry professorship bearing her name at Wellesley College.
References:
Other references:
- Creese, Mary R. S. "Charlotte Roberts and Her Textbook on Stereochemistry." Bulletin for the History of Chemistry, vol. 15/16, 1994, pp. 31–36.
- Kolodny, Nancy H., Darlington, Jeanne A., Mann, Helen C., and Webster, Eleanor R. 125 Years in the Chemistry Department at Wellesley College: 1875–2000. Wellesley College, 2000.
- Roberts, Charlotte Fitch. The Development and Present Aspects of Stereochemistry. D. C. Heath & Co., 1896.
- Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. "Brilliant Rebels: Portrait of Yale's First Women Ph.D.'s to be Unveiled". YaleNews, March 30, 2016.
- Yale University Department of Chemistry. "Swing for the fences: Celebrating women in chemistry". Yale Chemistry News, March 30, 2022.
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