Sophie Lutterlough at a Microscope, 1983

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Object Details

Author: Dougherty, Harold E
Subject: Clarke, John Frederick Gates; Lutterlough, Sophie G. 1910-2009; Torch, The (Staff Magazine); National Museum of Natural History (U.S.); National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Dept. of Entomology

Category: Historic Images of the Smithsonian
: This image appeared in the July 1983 issue of the Smithsonian "Torch."
Summary: Sophie Lutterlough, hired in 1943 as the Smithsonian's first female elevator operator, sits in front of a microscope in the Department of Entomology. After 40 years of service to the National Museum of Natural History, Lutterlough retired in 1983. For 14 years Lutterlough ran the elevators, but moved on to a second career after asking Dr. J. F. Gates Clarke if there were any openings in his department. Clarke hired Lutterlough as an inspect preparator. During the next 26 years in the department, she took college level courses to increase her knowledge of entomology and learned German to help with her work.
Contained within: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 371, Box 4, Folder July 1983
Contact information: Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

July 1983

Physical description: Number of Images: 1 Color: Black and White; Size: 8w x 10h; Type of Image: Person, Candid; Medium: Photographic Print

Smithsonian Archives - History Div

Topic: Elevator operators; Women; Smithsonian Institution--Employees; African Americans