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{"id":14618,"date":"2018-09-06T14:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T18:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=14618"},"modified":"2021-07-23T13:17:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T17:17:32","slug":"finding-hope-a-womans-place-is-in-the-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/09\/06\/finding-hope-a-womans-place-is-in-the-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Hope: A Woman\u2019s Place is in the Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Ashley Bowen ~<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While doing some research ahead of the 50th anniversary of the rubella vaccine in June 2019, I came across an image of the team that developed the vaccine and an improved blood test. The photograph, taken by NIH photographer <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/02\/20\/a-salute-to-jerry-hecht\/\">Jerry Hecht<\/a>, shows Drs. Harry M. Meyer, Jr. (1928\u20132001) and Paul Parkman (b. 1932) conferring with a female scientist holding a bottle of rubella <a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/ency\/article\/002224.htm\">antigen<\/a>. When the photograph came into the NLM\u2019s collections several decades ago, the information associated with it read:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14622\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14622\" style=\"width: 226px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101729450\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"14622\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/09\/06\/finding-hope-a-womans-place-is-in-the-lab\/101541114-vert\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-vert.jpg?fit=902%2C1200&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"902,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1522418926","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"101541114-vert\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-vert.jpg?fit=226%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-vert.jpg?fit=770%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-14622 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-vert.jpg?resize=226%2C300&ssl=1\" alt=\"A woman and two men work in a laboratory.\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Female Lab Technician<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Drs. Harry M. Meyer, Jr. (light hair), Paul D. Parkman (dark hair), and a female lab technician of the Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Division of Biologics Standard [sic] working with rubella antigen in laboratory setting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Just before I came across this photograph, I had been reading about the efforts of other <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/QuintardTaylor\/status\/990441937856446464\">historians<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/03\/20\/health\/woman-scientist-1971-twitter-mystery-trnd\/index.html\">researchers<\/a> to identify the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ladyscience.com\/essays\/hidinginplainsight-erasingwomenfromhistory?rq=academia\">women present but unidentified<\/a> in the history of science and medicine. When I looked at this image and read the existing documentation, I wondered if there was more to her role in the rubella research team than is implied by the phrase \u201clab technician.\u201d After all, she is holding a bottle of antigen and centered in two photographs with the men who developed the rubella vaccine. Quite frankly, I couldn\u2019t let it go that two male researchers were identified by name while this woman was not.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted (needed) to know who this woman was.<\/p>\n<p>It took over a month but, thanks to some archival sleuthing here at the National Library of Medicine, help from private citizens (including the adult children of former DBS\u2019 laboratory staff), the generous assistance of professional organizations like Graduate Women in Science, conversations with librarians and historians at various museums, universities, and federal agencies\u2014not to mention a fair bit of luck\u2014we have been able to identify this female lab technician as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/local\/1988\/11\/11\/hope-e-hopps-dies-at-62\/60e110e3-4d55-4047-902c-ad71483d0c79\/?utm_term=.d401dcd62be8\">Hope Hopps (1926\u20131988)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14625\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14625\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-horiz.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"14625\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/09\/06\/finding-hope-a-womans-place-is-in-the-lab\/101541114-horiz\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-horiz.jpg?fit=1600%2C1153&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1153\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"101541114-horiz\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Drs. Harry M. Meyer, Jr. (left), Paul D. Parkman (right), and Hope Hopps (center) of the Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Division of Biologics Standard working with rubella antigen in laboratory setting.<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-horiz.jpg?fit=300%2C216&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-horiz.jpg?fit=840%2C605&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-14625 size-large\" title=\"Hope Hopps\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-horiz.jpg?resize=840%2C605&ssl=1\" alt=\"A woman and two men work in a laboratory.\" width=\"840\" height=\"605\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14625\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drs. Harry M. Meyer, Jr. (left), Paul D. Parkman (right), and Hope Hopps (center) of the Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Division of Biologics Standards working with rubella antigen in laboratory. <br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101541114\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101541114<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hopps was much more than a lab technician. She earned a master\u2019s degree in microbiology from the University of Maryland in 1950, an era when few women pursued advanced degrees in the sciences. After working as a bacteriologist for a few years, Hopps joined the staff at the NIH first in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and then in the Division of Biologics Standards\u2019 Laboratory of Viral Immunology.<\/p>\n<p>As a staff member in the Laboratory of Viral Immunology in the 1960s, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/reportofprogr1968nation#page\/162\/mode\/2up\/search\/Hopps\">Hopps worked<\/a> with Drs. Parkman and Meyer on several research projects, is listed as an author on several articles they published in outlets like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/4958645\"><em>New England Journal of Medicine<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/5795404\"><em>Pediatrics<\/em><\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/patents.google.com\/patent\/US3541202A\">held a patent<\/a> with them for the rubella blood test. In <a href=\"https:\/\/history.nih.gov\/display\/history\/Parkman%2C+Paul+D.+2005\">a 2005 oral history<\/a>, Dr. Parkman remembered Hopps as:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c…our\u2014it\u2019s an unacceptable term now I suppose\u2014but she was our \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/GirlFriday\">Girl Friday<\/a>.\u2019 She could make any kind of cell culture grow, for example, she developed the BSC-1 cell line, which stands for biological standards culture one. It is still used for things.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When DBS moved to the FDA in 1972, Hopps relocated with it and assumed the role of assistant to the director of biologics. She also served as the acting associate director for program development and operations.\u00a0 After retiring from government service, Hopps continued to work as a consultant and guest worker in the FDA\u2019s Center for Drugs and Biologics.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14624\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14624\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/hope-hopps-ca-1970s.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"14624\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/09\/06\/finding-hope-a-womans-place-is-in-the-lab\/hope-hopps-ca-1970s\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/hope-hopps-ca-1970s.jpg?fit=810%2C1157&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"810,1157\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1525080402","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Hope Hopps ca 1970s\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>Portrait of Hope Hopps, ca. 1970.<br \/>\nArchival photograph located with the help of Graduate Women in Science in the Sigma Delta Epsilon records, #3605. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. Used with permission.<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/hope-hopps-ca-1970s.jpg?fit=210%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/hope-hopps-ca-1970s.jpg?fit=717%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-14624 size-medium\" title=\"Hope Hopps\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/hope-hopps-ca-1970s.jpg?resize=210%2C300&ssl=1\" alt=\"A formal portrait of a Hope Hopps.\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14624\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Portrait of Hope Hopps, ca. 1970. Archival photograph located with the help of Graduate Women in Science.<br \/><em>Sigma Delta Epsilon records, #3605. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. <br \/><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Her achievements in government are matched by her contributions to science. Over the course of her career, Hopps authored or co-authored <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=HOPPS%20HE%5BAuthor\">89 articles in medical journals and books<\/a>, was awarded two different patents, served as the national president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gwis.org\/\">Graduate Women in Science<\/a>, and developed the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jimmunol.org\/content\/91\/3\/416\">BSC-1 cell line<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To me, researching this woman\u2019s name was an opportunity to surface the role of women in both the laboratory and the historical record. \u00a0It was an opportunity to ask questions, look deeper, and to reevaluate historical value judgements about who is important, who substantively contributed to the rubella research project, and who is worth knowing about. Things are changing, certainly, but the stereotype that \u201cscience is male\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4410517\/\">remains strong<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Based on this research, Ginny Roth, the Program Manager for the Prints and Photographs Program, has updated the catalog record for the photograph. I am thrilled that we could identify her and expand the record to account for her contributions to the research team and help ensure that Hopps\u2019 contributions to the development of the rubella vaccine and blood test are remembered in the future.<\/p>\n<p>This \u201cGirl Friday\u201d had a graduate degree, two patents, and a name. That name was Hope Hopps.<\/p>\n<p><em>Ashley Bowen, PhD is a Mellon\/ACLS Public Fellow and Digital Engagement Manager at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia.\u00a0 She was recently guest curator for the Exhibition Program in the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ashley Bowen ~ While doing some research ahead of the 50th anniversary of the rubella vaccine in June 2019,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":14626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12763,4940351],"tags":[24742,7027079,26098,12074,668,889416,52877,97077],"class_list":["post-14618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-prints-photographs","tag-1960s","tag-bacteriologist","tag-laboratory","tag-photograph","tag-research","tag-rubella","tag-vaccine","tag-womens-history"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/101541114-horiz_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-3NM","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14618"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21862,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618\/revisions\/21862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |