Erminnie A. Smith
Erminnie A. Smith, née Erminnie Adelle Platt (April 26, 1836– June 9, 1886) was a linguist, ethnologist, anthropologist and geologist who worked at the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. She has been called the "first woman field ethnographer" and was the first female member elected to the New York Academy of Sciences on November 5, 1877.
Erminnie A. Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | Erminnie Adelle Platt April 26, 1836 Marcellus, New York |
| Died | June 9, 1886 |
| Resting place | New York Bay Cemetery |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Emma Willard School |
| Known for | Published works on the Iroquois People and Founder of the Aesthetic Society of Jersey City |
| Spouse | Simeon H. Smith |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ethnography |
| Institutions | Smithsonian Institution |
Erminnie Smith published multiple works on the language and culture of the Iroquois people. She was active in cataloging their legends and employed John Napoleon Brinton Hewitt to assist in this work. Her work on the Iroquois, along with that of Alice Fletcher on the Omaha and other tribes, and Matilda Coxe Stevenson on the Zuni people, challenged views of women's position in both indigenous North American and Victorian societies. Smith's accounts showed that Iroquois women held rights to property and other social freedoms that American and European women lacked, and that they were honored and respected for their involvement and contributions to culture, economics and ritual practice.