Washington, D.C. emerged from the Civil War as an increasingly scientific city. This city of science was forged by the scientists themselves, who established professional networks and institutions, inserted themselves into local and national politics, and claimed local space for science and scientific expertise. Unearthing the stories of pioneering anthropologist Anita Newcomb McGee (1864-1940) and her astronomer father Simon Newcomb (1835-1909), author Vincent Femia reveals how scientists engaged in the city’s political life, and how Washington’s scientific women claimed intellectual space for themselves.
Femia will discuss two of his recent articles, “Through the Looking Glass of the Coming Kingdom: Science, City, and Authority in Anita Newcomb McGee’s Anthropology, 1888-1897” (Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society) and “The Natural History of Nations: Simon Newcomb and the Forging of a Postwar American Science” (The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era). He will be in conversation with Manuscript Division historians Josh Levy and Elizabeth Novara.
Vincent L. Femia is a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution and a Lounsbery Research Assistant at the American Philosophical Society. He received his PhD in the History of Science from Princeton University.
The event will take place online only on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, Noon-1:00pm ET. Register for the program here.
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