Louise Reed Stowell (née, Reed; December 23, 1850 – February 2, 1932) was an American scientist, microscopist, author, and editor. She was the University of Michigan's first woman teacher (1877–89), and the first woman appointed on District of Columbia Public Schools (appointed by President Grover Cleveland). She also served on the Board for the Girls' Reform School for District of Columbia. Stowell died in 1932. Stowell was engaged as writer and editor in scientific work, contributing over 100 scientific papers to leading magazines and periodicals. She was the author of Microscopical structure of wheat (1879), and Microscopical diagnosis (1882; with C. H. Stowell), as well as the co-founder and editor of The Microscope, An illustrated monthly.
Early life and education Louise Maria Reed (sometimes Louisa or Lou) was born in Grand Blanc, Michigan, December 23, 1850. She was the daughter of Seth (or Asa) Reed, D.D., a Methodist minister and for 68 years, a member of the Detroit Conference United Methodist in Michigan. Her mother was the scholar, Harriet Newall (Russell) Reed (d. 1898). All of her siblings, E. Roscoe, Wilbur F., and H. Ella, reached adulthood.
She was always an earnest student. At an early age she entered the University of Michigan, from which she was graduated in 1876 with the degree of B. S. Afterwards she pursued post-graduate work for one year, and in 1877 received the degree of M. S.
Career In September 1877, she was engaged as instructor in microscopic botany, and placed in charge of a botanical laboratory, which position she held for twelve years. One of the leading features of that laboratory was the amount of original work accomplished in structural botany by both teacher and pupils. On July 10, 1878, in Saginaw City, Michigan, she married Charles Henry Stowell, M.D., professor of physiology and histology in the same university. In 1881, she co-founded the medical journal, The Microscope, and served as its editor through 1897, publishing it in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, and Washington D.C. In 1882, she published a work entitled Microscopical Diagnosis (Detroit). Stowell supported woman's suffrage, and was a speaker at the International Council of Women, 1888, Washington, D.C. The following year, the Stowells removed to Washington, D.C. There, she did research work at the Department of Agriculture. At the same time, she as a member of the also became a member of the Board of Trustee of the cit's public schools, and, by presidential appointment, a Trustee of the city's Girls Reform Schools. Stowell was a member of a large number of scientific associations, both in the United States and abroad. She was a member of the Royal Microscopical Society of London, England (from 1882), president of the Western Collegiate Alumnae Association, and president of a similar organization in the East. She was a member of the Molly Varum Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Stowell was actively engaged in university extension work. She made more than 100 contributions to scientific literature. All of her writings were fully illustrated by original drawings made from her own microscopical preparations, of which she had nearly 5,000. She did not confined herself to purely scientific literature, as she also wrote a large number of articles for popular magazines, illustrating each with charcoal, crayon or pen-and-ink sketches. While she always felt and showed the deepest interest in the welfare and success of young women in pursuit of higher education, that interest did not prevent her from being engaged most in philanthropic work. By 1899, the Stowells had relocated to Lowell, Massachusetts, while the husband was employed by J. C. Ayers Company. She left Lowell after her husband's death in September 1928. She died February 2, 1932, at Tucson, Arizona, and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Selected works A study of wheat, 1879 Microscopical diagnosis / by Chas. H. Stowell and Louisa Reed Stowell, 1882 (with Chas. H. Stowell) The Microscope An illustrated monthly, 1881-1897
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Attribution This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Educational Weekly (1878). Educational Weekly. Vol. 3–4 (Public domain ed.). Educational Weekly. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Leonard, John William (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada. Vol. 1 (Public domain ed.). American Commonwealth Company. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Marquis (1899). Who's who in America (Public domain ed.). Marquis Who's Who. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Marquis, Albert Nelson (1915). Who's who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut (Public domain ed.). A.N. Marquis & Company. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Reed, Seth (1914). The story of my life (Public domain ed.). Jennings and Graham. p. 41. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan B.; Gage, Matilda Joslyn (1881). History of Woman Suffrage. Vol. 1 (Public domain ed.). Fowler & Wells. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "Louise Reed Stowell". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton.
Bibliography Okker, Patricia (1 June 2008). Our Sister Editors: Sarah J. Hale and the Tradition of Nineteenth-century American Women Editors. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-3249-9. University of Michigan (March 5, 1932). "The Michigan Alumnus". XXXVIII (20). University of Michigan Libraries. UOM:39015006954534. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
External links
Works by or about Louise Reed Stowell at the Internet Archive
