Naturalist Martha Maxwell brought Western fauna into public view through her skills at taxidermy. She defined the art of creating natural history dioramas with animals displayed in their natural habitats. Maxwell’s half-sister wrote a biography recounting her contributions as a scientist and documenting her correspondence with Spencer Fullerton Baird, the second Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Despite the quality of her work, Martha Maxwell struggled to make a living and died destitute. A few of Maxwell’s original specimens survive and are in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution.
Citation:
Thompson, Mary Emma Dartt, On the Plains, and Among the Peaks, or, How Mrs. Maxwell Made her Natural History Collection, Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1879, Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Accessed March 20, 2023, https://exhibits.library.duke.edu/exhibits/show/baskin/item/4195
