Quaesita Cromwell Drake
A white woman with fair hair dressed in bouffant updo, wearing a high-collared blouse
Quaesita Cromwell Drake, from the 1910 yearbook of Vassar College
BornAugust 29, 1889
Camden, New Jersey, United States
DiedAugust 7, 1967(1967-08-07) (aged 77)
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Occupation(s)Chemist, college professor

Quaesita Cromwell Drake (August 29, 1889 – August 7, 1967) was an American chemist. She was a professor and chair of the chemistry department at the University of Delaware for 38 years, from 1917 until her retirement in 1955.[1] She was elected president of the Delaware chapter of the American Association of University Women in 1924.[2]

Early life and education

Drake was born in Camden, New Jersey and raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey,[3] the daughter of Herbert Armitage Drake and Sacia Hersey Nye Drake. Her father was a lawyer.[4][5] A graduate of the 1906 class of Haddonfield Memorial High School,[6] she graduated from Vassar College in 1910,[7] and earned a master's degree there in 1911.[8] She completed doctoral studies in organic chemistry at the University of Chicago, with a dissertation advised by Julius Stieglitz, titled "An Investigation of the Possibility of Re-arranging an Acyl-β-alkyl-hodroxylamine" (1922).[9] She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[1]

Career

Drake was a member of the faculty at the University of Delaware beginning in 1917 at the Women's College of the university.[10] She was promoted to full professor status in 1920, served as acting dean of the women's college in 1927,[11] and was the college's first chemistry department chair. She was the most senior faculty member with 38 years of teaching when she retired from the university in 1955.[1][12]

Drake was a charter member and president of the Delaware state chapter of the American Chemical Society,[13] and associate editor of the chapter's publication, the Del-Chem Bulletin. She also served on the national council of the American Chemical Society.[14] She was vice-president of the University of Delaware chapter of Phi Kappa Phi honor society,[15] and president of the Pennsylvania-Delaware section of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).[2][16][17]

Personal life

Drake died in 1967, in Wilmington, Delaware, at the age of 77.[14] The Quaesita Drake Scholarship Fund was endowed in her memory. In 1973, Quaesita Drake Hall, a chemistry teaching laboratory, was dedicated to the campus of the University of Delaware.[18][19] Her papers are in the University of Delaware Archives.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "U. of D. Aide Will Retire; Dr. Quaesita Drake of Chemistry Department has taught since 1917". The News Journal. June 4, 1955. p. 2. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "Miss Quaesita Drake is Elected President of University Women". The Morning News. May 10, 1924. p. 7. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ General Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Vassar College, Volume 4, p. 319. Vassar College, The A. V. Haight Company, 1910. Accessed March 21, 2023. "Quaesita C. Drake, [born] Camden, N. J.; [residence while in college] Haddonfield, N. J., Camden and Atlantic City, N. J.; [present residence] 301 Market St. Camden."
  4. ↑ "Mrs. Sacia Drake Dies in Phila. at 90". The Morning Post. March 3, 1941. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Obituary for Herbert Armitage Drake". The Morning News. May 7, 1943. p. 11. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "A Day's Events at Haddonfield; High School Class Day Exercises Last Night Very Interesting", Courier-Post, June 6, 1906. Accessed March 21, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "The class day exercises of the Haddonfield High School took place at Clement's Opera House last evening and a large attendance was present. Nearly all the members of the class, seventeen in number, took part in rendering the program.... The class song, composed by Quaesita C. Drake was sung in good form."
  7. ↑ Vassar College, Vassarion (1910 yearbook): 58. via e-Yearbook
  8. ↑ "Candidates for the Second Degree in Arts" Vassar College (June 1, 1911): 730.
  9. ↑ William Albert Noyes, "Biographical Memoir of Julius Stieglitz (1867-1937)" (National Academy of Sciences 1939): 308.
  10. ↑ Hoffecker, Carol E. (1994). Beneath Thy Guiding Hand: A History of Women at the University of Delaware. University of Delaware. p. 64.
  11. ↑ Vandever, Martha E. (November 23, 1927). "Many are Going Home from Women's College". The News Journal. p. 9. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Quaesita Drake to End U. of D. Teaching Career". The Morning News. June 4, 1955. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Delaware Section, American Chemical Society". The Catalyst. 11: 13. January 1926.
  14. 1 2 "Miss Quaesita C. Drake". The Morning News. August 8, 1967. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Open Conference on High Schools". The Morning News. May 3, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "University Women Name New Officers". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News. October 18, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Educational Leaders Coming for Conference". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 14, 1929. p. 14. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Dedication of U.D. science hall slated". The Morning News. November 15, 1973. p. 53. Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Burmeister, John L. "From the Associate Chair: Changing of the Guard" Blue Hen Chemist 34(August 2007): 1.
  20. ↑ Quaesita Cromwell Drake Papers, University of Delaware Archives.
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