Edith Patch was a major figure in entomology at UMaine from 1904–37. She was interested in both science and writing, but could not find a job in science until 1903 when Charles Woods of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station invited her to organize a Department of Entomology at UMaine. Woods offered her no salary but arranged for her to teach English for a living wage. He received criticism for appointing a woman in what was considered a man’s field. Within a year, Patch established the department and earned a salaried position. She wrote 15 books and 78 major articles, including a three-volume work on the aphid. Her book “Food Plant Catalogue of the Aphids of the World” is regarded as one of the most outstanding scientific contributions made by an Orono resident. She was elected the first woman president of the Entomological Society of America in 1930. Patch bought her Orono home, Braeside, in 1913 and made its gardens, fields and woods a living laboratory. She retired from UMaine in 1937 and lived at Braeside until her death in 1954.
Find more information on Edith Patch on her Wikipedia page here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Marion_Patch and in our Special Collecitons here https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/findingaids/92/.
Kathryn E. Briwa was a foods and nutrition specialist for the University of Maine Extension Service from 1941 until her retirement in 1960. She earned a B.A. degree from Vassar College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She received a national Superior Service Award from the United States Department of Agriculture in 1960 for her work in promoting better nutrition, strengthening school lunch programs, training volunteer groups for wartime and emergency meal planning, and for pioneering work in group weight control.
Find more information on Kathryn Briwa in our Special Collections here https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/findingaids/259/.