Women
in the Public Eye
SUNDAY,
JANUARY 10, 1932
By H. KATHERINE
SMITH
When MRS. IMOGENE C. ROBERTSON became
Associate in Malacology of the Buffalo Museum of Science, she transformed a
hobby of more than 25 years' standing into a vocation. A student of science from her girlhood, Mrs.
Robertson was the proud possessor of a microscope at the age of fourteen.
In 1897 Dr. Elizabeth Bryan (then Miss Leison), former director of the museum,
initiated Mrs. Robertson into the mysteries of shells end encouraged and
assisted her study of them.
Mrs.
Robertson, who was before marriage Miss Imogene Strickler, was born in the
pleasant home at 136 Buffum Street, where she has resided uninterruptedly. Living on the outskirts of the city-the
lawns and gardens about her home extend across the line-Mrs., Robertson early
because a lover of the out-of-doors. Her mother urged her to observe the birds, insects, flowers and
trees, and follow up her observations with reading.
Long Affiliation
Since 1897 Mrs. Robertson has been affiliated
with the Society of Natural Sciences; and it was shortly afterward that she
became interested in shells. For years
she pursued the study of conchology, gathering shells whenever she motored
along the lakeshore or the Niagara River. Even now she always carries bottles
in her car in which to bring home water from streams and pools and study the
life in it.
"My husband is as interested in the science as I am," she said, "and we frequently study a few drops of pond water under the microscope until midnight. For every drop of water is different; and there is always; something new to discover. My work is fascinating and widely varied. It ranges from shells weighing from 300 to 400 pounds to those too tiny to be seen without a microscope."
Mrs. Robertson attended the public schools of this city and is a graduate of Central High School. Although she claims no college years, she has acquired a thorough and comprehensive knowledge through years of study induced, not by the stipulated requirements of a university, but by the desire to gain a detailed understanding of the science. In 1926, when the collections given the museum were to be unified before they could be exhibited in the new building, Mrs. Robertson was found to be the one woman of Buffalo qualified for the work. Since that time she has been identified with the museum. In addition to hours of laboratory work, she is in charge of the large collection of microscopic slides, and conducts classes in microscopy.
In 1903, she married
Harold R. Robertson. They are the parents of two daughters and two sons. The older daughter, Mrs. Walter McCausland,
is a graduate of South Park High School and studied for six years at the Buffalo
School of Fine Arts. The younger, Doris
Elizabeth, is a senior at South Park High School. One son, Clarence Paul, is a
student of landscape architecture at Cornell University, and Ralph Alden (named
partly for John Alden of whom he is a lineal descendant) attends State
Teachers' College. There are three
small grandchildren, Alan, Phillis and Bruce.
Firmly convinced that homemaking and helping children over the rough places in the path to maturity should be a mother’s first considerations, Mrs. Robertson devoted herself to this absorbing work while her sons and daughters were children.
Studies in Background
"I could find no time for science in
those days," she recalled. "I used to keep my microscope on a
bookcase in the living-room so that I could glance at it everyday and remind
myself of the wonders it would reveal when I should have leisure to look at
them." As her family grew
up, Mrs. Robertson resumed her study of science. Now her work at the museum fills the gap that comes into every
mother's life with the lessening of her children's demands upon her.
Keenly appreciative of the beauties of the
out-of-doors, Mrs. Robertson has tried her hand, with considerable success, at
reproducing them. Some time ago. she
began a series of watercolor sketches of the wildflowers of this vicinity; and
when driving in the country, she frequently pauses to draw a pastel of a
particularly lovely vista.
She has collected butterflies and made a
careful study of the scales of their wings under the microscope. Her home is opposite Seneca Park, formerly
an Indian burying ground. There, Mrs.
Robertson has collected arrowheads and other Indian relics. Her most extensive collection is of shells,
including rare specimens brought from all parts of the world.
Her sons, who share her love of the out-of-doors, have landscaped the lawns and
gardens surrounding their home, constructing an outdoor aquarium and a sunken
garden. A sports enthusiast, Mrs.
Robertson occasionally tries her skill on the tennis court or archery course
laid out by her sons.
In addition to keeping abreast of the countless
current scientific discoveries, Mrs. Robertson reads biography, poetry and
present-day novels, especially those of foreign background. She has studied the piano, and is fond of good
music.
Mrs. Robertson has broadcast talks on
conchology and malacology and has spoken before the League of American Pen
Women and other organizations. She was
affiliated with the Naturalists’ Field Club through which so many Buffaloians
interested in science were brought together and so many friendships made. She is financial secretary to the American
Malacolological Society, secretary of the Conchological Society, and secretary
of the Microscopical section of the Buffalo Society of natural Sciences.
Back to the Biography of Genie Robertson
