 | |
| Abbreviation | TB |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2019 |
| Type | Learned society |
| Purpose | Women archaeologists, palaeontologists and geologists |
| Location | |
| Leader |
|
| Website | trowelblazers |
TrowelBlazers is a project aimed at increasing the representation of women in the fields of archaeology, geology and palaeontology. The project is run by Brenna Hassett, Victoria Herridge, Suzanne Pilaar Birch and Rebecca Wragg Sykes. [1]
TrowelBlazers began as a blog dedicated to women archaeologists, palaeontologists and geologists. As of 2019 the website hosted over 200 biographies. [2] The project originated in a conversation on Twitter, and is noted for utilising a range of digital technologies, including crowdfunding, blogging, digital and print media. [2]
The TrowelBlazers team co-designed Fossil Hunter Lottie, a palaeontologist doll. [3]
An exhibition of photographs, entitled Raising Horizons, taken by Leonora Saunders showcased the diversity of archaeology and geoscience. The exhibition contained portraits of 14 contemporary female scientists, dressed as their historical counterpart. The exhibition displayed at the Geological Society in 2017 and 2019, [4] the British Science Festival, the University Women's Club, London, the Alexander Keiller Museum and the Women Firsts Reception, UK Parliament. [5]
Trowel-blazing women featured on the website include: [6]
The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from 1943 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois.
Gertrude Caton Thompson, was an English archaeologist at a time when participation by women in the discipline was uncommon. Much of her archaeological work was conducted in Egypt. However, she also worked on expeditions in Zimbabwe, Malta, and South Arabia. Her notable contributions to the field of archaeology include creating a technique for excavating archaeological sites and information on Paleolithic to Predynastic civilizations in Zimbabwe and Egypt. Caton Thompson held many official positions in organizations such as the Prehistoric Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute.
The Fort Wayne Daisies were a women's professional baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana that played from 1945 through 1954 as members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Mary, Lady Bailey, was an Anglo-Irish aviator. She was known as one of the finest aviatrices of her time, who '"personally guided a plane from England to the nether tip of South Africa and back".
Elizabeth Jane "Betchen" Wayland Barber is an American scholar and expert on archaeology, linguistics, textiles, and folk dance as well as Professor emerita of archaeology and linguistics at Occidental College.
Victoria Louise "Tori" Herridge, born 1980, is a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London and one of the founders of TrowelBlazers, which celebrates women archaeologists, palaeontologists and geologists.
Elinor Wight Gardner, a geology lecturer at Bedford College, London and research fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, is best known for her field surveys with Gertrude Caton–Thompson of the Kharga Oasis which are now recognized as pioneering interdisciplinary research in Africa.
Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary is a three-volume biographical dictionary published in 1971. Its origins lay in 1957 when Radcliffe College librarians, archivists, and professors began researching the need for a version of the Dictionary of American Biography dedicated solely to women.
Women in archaeology is an aspect of the history of archaeology and the topic of women in science more generally. In the nineteenth century women were discouraged from pursuing interests in archaeology, however throughout the twentieth century participation and recognition of expertise increased. However women in archaeology face discrimination based on their gender and many face harassment in the workplace.
Dorothy Liddell, MBE (1890–1938), an pioneering woman archaeologist and mentor to both Mary Leakey and Mary Eily de Putron.
Brenna R. Hassett is an American British bioarchaeologist at University College London (UCL), author, public speaker and one of the founders of TrowelBlazers, which celebrates women archaeologists, paleontologists and geologists.
The Virginia Women's Monument is a state memorial in Richmond, Virginia commemorating the contributions of Virginia women to the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America. Located on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol, the monument is officially titled Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women's Monument and features life-sized bronze statues of eleven Virginia women placed in a small granite plaza.
Henrietta Wilfrida "Frida" Leakey, also known as H. Wilfrida Leakey, was a British teacher who discovered a gorge that was named FLK or "Frida Leakey Korongo". The gorge was the site of ancient stone tools and important human fossil discoveries. Leakey was the first wife of paleoanthropologist and archaeologist Louis Leakey. She became a leader in the Women's Institute and a County Councillor.
Rebecca Wragg Sykes is a British paleolithic archaeologist, broadcaster, popular science writer and author who lives in Wales. She is interested in the Middle Palaeolithic, specifically in the lives of Neanderthals; and she is one of the founders of TrowelBlazers, a website set up to celebrate the lives of women in archaeology, palaeontology and geology.
Gussie White was an American archaeologist, civil rights activist, and Works Progress Administration employee, who in that role was one of the few named Black women involved in the excavation of the Irene Mound. Her son, John White, was the first Black police officer in Georgia.