Emma Dean Powell
Born(1835-07-07)July 7, 1835
DiedMarch 13, 1924(1924-03-13) (aged 88)
SpouseJohn Wesley Powell
Scientific career
Fields
  • botany
  • ornithology

Harriet Emma Dean Powell (July 7, 1835 – March 13, 1924) was a botanist and ornithologist, and the wife of John Wesley Powell. She accompanied and cared for him after the loss of his arm during the Civil War and was with him during many of his trips to explore the Western United States serving as a scientific assistant collecting samples.[1] John Wesley Powell's personal vessel for the 1869 Powell Geographic Expedition was named the Emma Dean in her honor.[2]

Early life

Emma Dean Powell was born on July 7, 1835, in New York City to Joseph Dean, a hat maker, and Harriet Head. By 1855, her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where her half cousin, John Wesley Powell, would visit when she was 18.[3] In 1862, after Powell had enlisted in the Illinois Infantry, he received a short leave to go to Detroit to marry Emma Dean and she accompanied him back to camp after their wedding.[4]

Civil War and Western expeditions

John Wesley Powell lost his arm below the elbow during the Battle of Shiloh, Emma Dean received permission from General Ulysses S. Grant to accompany her husband to battlefield camps to tend and assist him.[5][6] She remained his nurse and assistant and served as a battlefield nurse until Powell's honorable discharge.[5][6][7]

John Wesley Powell's boat he named for his wife, the Emma Dean.

After the Civil War, Powell returned to teaching and Emma accompanied him and his students on geologic and nature field trips in the 1860s and 1870s.[8] Throughout 1868 and 1869 Powell surveyed the Colorado Territory.[1] While most of their party returned east during the fall, Powell and what remained of his colleagues, built cabins for a winter camp in the Rockies along the White River. Emma was on the expedition as well, the only woman in the party. During this expedition, she served as assistant ornithologist and prepared around 175 specimens for study.[1]

John Wesley Powell's 1869 Geographic Expedition was difficult and fraught with supply equipment and supply losses.[9] At one point, the expedition members had not been heard from in months, and some presumed them dead, particularly in the media due to reports from a John A. Risdon.[5][10] In the summer of 1869, some papers reported Risdon's claim that he saw the exploration party destroyed on May 8.[10][11] Emma Dean sent out multiple notes stating the story was a fabrication, as she had been present for part of the expedition, and had received letters dated after the date of the supposed demise. She also stated that no party members or those connected with it otherwise, were named John A. Risdon.[11]

Ornithology

In March 1867, Powell ascended 14,115-foot (4,302 m) Pikes Peak and in 1868 served as ornithologist during an exploration where she catalogued 175 species of birds they collected.[8] Powell's catalogue likely included species such as the Golden Eagle, Mountain Bluebird, and Broad-tailed hummingbird which are all species native to Pike's Peak.[12] Fourteen bird skins (used for taxidermy) in the Smithsonian's collection are attributed to Powell from her 1867 expedition.[13]

Later life

On September 10, 1871, Emma Dean gave birth to the Powells' only child, Mary Dean Powell in Salt Lake City, Utah.[14] She was active in the Wimodaughsis, a national women's club in Washington, D.C., started by Anna Howard Shaw and Susan B. Anthony.[15][16][17] Emma Dean Powell died on March 13, 1924, in Washington, D.C. She is buried along with her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Greene, Candace (July 27, 2020). "Women of the Powell Expeditions: The Contributions of Emma Powell and Ellen Powell Thompson". History of Anthropology Review. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Major John Wesley Powell's boat the "Emma Dean" | U.S. Geological Survey". www.usgs.gov. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  3. ↑ Wheeler, Emily Brooksby (November 11, 2019). Utah Women: Pioneers, Poets & Politicians. Arcadia Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-4396-6851-1.
  4. ↑ "USGS: John Wesley Powell: Soldier, Explorer, Scientist". www.nps.gov. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 "Major John Wesley Powell". GCC. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Rabbitt, Mary C. (1980). John Wesley Powell: Soldier, Explorer, Scientist (PDF). US Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior/Geological Survey. p. 6.
  7. ↑ Wheeler, Emily Brooksby (November 11, 2019). Utah Women: Pioneers, Poets & Politicians. Arcadia Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-4396-6851-1.
  8. 1 2 "Powell Expedition—Women in Science. Then and Now. | U.S. Geological Survey". www.usgs.gov. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  9. ↑ DeBuys, William (2001). Seeing Things Whole: The Essential John Wesley Powell. John Wesley Powell. Island Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-61091-324-9. OCLC 942875246.
  10. 1 2 "Clipped From St Joseph Herald". St Joseph Herald. July 10, 1869. p. 2. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Powell, Emma Dean (July 14, 1869). "The Powell Expedition Party--Note from the Wife of the Commander". The Daily Commonwealth. p. 4. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Bird Finder - Colorado Springs, CO, USA - Pikes Peak--Summit in June". www.michaelfogleman.com. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  13. ↑ Greene, Candace (July 27, 2020). "Women of the Powell Expeditions: The Contributions of Emma Powell and Ellen Powell Thompson". History of Anthropology Review. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  14. ↑ Bearnson, Margaret S. "Powell, John Wesley". Utah History Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Some Brainy Women". Evening Star. December 15, 1894. p. 17. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Anna H. Shaw". Woman of the Century. p. 654.
  17. ↑ "Wimodausis Club". The Leavenworth Weekly Times. July 31, 1890. p. 6. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Emma Dean Powell Obituary". Evening Star. March 14, 1924. p. 7. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
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