Dr. Margaret James Strickland Collins (September 4, 1922- April 27, 1996) was an entomologist, civil rights activist, and the first formally trained black female entomologist in the United States. Born and raised in Institute, West Virginia, she was a prodigious scholar at a young age and her father was a former colleague of George Washington Carver. She was allowed to read any book that she could reach in the West Virginia State College Library (WVSC), now West Virginia State University, starting at age 6. Excelling in academics, she graduated from WVSC’s Laboratory High School at 14 and entered college. She obtained her BS (1943) in Biology with minors in Physics and German from WVSC, and her PhD (1949) in Zoology / Entomology from the University of Chicago, making her the third African-American woman to achieve this feat. Her PhD mentor, Alfred Emerson, was a termite expert.
While WVU started admitting Black students in graduate school in 1940, by the time she was ready to apply, there were a total of 3 that had enrolled. Upon a chance conversation with Emerson at orientation and after a course, she was given an assistantship to look over the termite collection, and this started her outstanding career. She identified a termite species that could survive for longer in drier air than other species, and set out to learn more about their biodiversity and range of habitats. Dr. Collins conducted termite research and held several positions over the next 40 years and travelled to a dozen countries, including Mexico and Guyana.
Initially offered an Assistant Professor position at Howard, she doubted her career prospects. Feeling that she wouldn’t get promoted because she was too young, was a woman, and the school’s focus on biomedical research, she took a position and was named Dean of Zoology at what is now Florida A & M in 1951. Other positions that she held include Professor of Entomology at Howard, and a Faculty member at Federal City College, now University of the District of Columbia).
Dr. Collins retired from Howard in 1983, but then took a senior research role at the Smithsonian Institute Museum of Natural History. In 1989 she discovered the Neotermes luykxi while on an expedition in Florida. One of her leadership positions was the President of the Entomological Society of Washington. In her career, she published over 40 papers, one of which was featured in Ecology.
She fought racism her entire career. Once a presentation that was supposed to be given at Florida State University was moved to a different location due to a bomb threat against her. This was, in part, due to her driving African Americans to work during the Tallahassee bus boycotts, and trying to avoid getting captured by the police. For all of her contributions, she was nicknamed “the Termite Lady”. She passed away in 1996 at the age of 78 while on field research in the Cayman Islands.
References:
- https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/learn-margaret-s.-collins
- https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/margaret-vernell-james-strickland-collins-1922-1996/
- https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/margaret-collins-scholar-civil-rights-activist-and-mentor
- https://onwildlife.org/notable-figures-in-science/dr-margaret-collins/
- https://www.sciencenews.org/article/maragret-collins-entomology-termite
- https://thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist-features/the-termite-lady-pioneering-biologist-and-activist-margaret-collins
Image Source:
Jet Magazine
Feb 5, 1959, p. 25
