As part of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, meet a few women in science who have broken gender barriers at the Smithsonian and in their respective fields. How to Do Oral History Suggestions for anyone looking to start recording oral histories based on best practices used in the Smithsonian Oral History Program at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Annette A. Aiello Dr. Annette A. Aiello (1941-) moved to Panama in 1978 and became a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where she found her passion to study Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In 1991, Aiello was appointed a staff biologist. Olga F. Linares Dr. Olga Francesca Linares (1936-2014) was a Panamanian anthropologist with a thirty-five-year tenure at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where she dedicated her research to the Jola, rural rice farmers in southern Senegal. Lucile Quarry Mann Lucile Quarry Mann (1897-1986) was an active contributor to Smithsonian's National Zoo. She not only worked as an assistant and editor (without the title) for two directors over twenty years, but she also journeyed across the world collecting animals for the zoo alongside her husband, Zoo director Dr, William Mann. Eva J. Pell Dr. Eva J. Pell (1948-) brought her talents and professionalism to the Smithsonian in 2010 as the Undersecretary for Science. Pell’s resilience and expertise in the face of gender bias led to an accomplished career as a plant pathologist and administrator at Penn State University; where her career was recognized by naming a major laboratory at Penn State in her honor. Mary E. Rice Dr. Mary E. Rice (1926-2021) joined the Smithsonian’s Division of Worms on the invertebrate zoology team in 1966. In her thirty-six years at the National Museum of Natural History, Rice fulfilled her desire to become a research scientist, and became noted for her studies of sipunculan worms. She was a curator for the Division of Worms, as well as founding director of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, which made her the first woman to direct a science unit. Helena M. Weiss Helena M. Weiss (1909-2004) recorded and facilitated everything that came into and out of the United States National Museum for more than twenty years as the Smithsonian's registrar.
