Matilda Coxe Stevenson (1849–1915)

Matilda Coxe Stevenson, née Evans, was born in San Augustine, Texas to parents who had moved from Washington, D.C. to the newly-annexed state. The family split their time between Texas, D.C., and Philadelphia throughout her childhood. She was educated first privately at home and then at young ladies' academies. Matilda studied science, mathematics, history, geography, and other subjects unusual for girls of her era, although she could not hope to attend university, which was mostly barred to women. In 1872, she married James Stevenson, a geologist and ethnologist with the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories. He encouraged her to make a career for herself as a scientist. She became a pioneer in ethnology and was the first woman hired by the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) to conduct research in the American Southwest. She published multiple monographs and one long text on the Zuni people. Matilda defied societal expectations and became a supporter of women in science, helped establish the Women's Anthropological Society in Washington, D.C.