Christine Ladd-Franklin’s plaque is finally up!

Jon Kucskar, who now lives in Dr. Ladd-Franklin’s former abode, wrote me this week to say that the “Blue Plaque” commemorating 1507 Park Ave. has been installed.

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Jon and his wife Emily learned of this illustrious former resident of their home through the work of Aperio seminar students Sydney Johnson, who was assigned to research and collect publications by Ladd-Franklin, and Marina Fazio, who ran across one of Ladd-Franklin’s scientific contributions to a meeting of the WLCB which she transcribed as part of an assignment. Both students became fascinated by the hard-nosed, iconoclastic “lady scientist” who studied mathematics and psychology, taught courses at Johns Hopkins and (eventually) Columbia universities, yet nevertheless was referred to in Club minutes as “Mrs. Fabian Franklin” rather than as Christine Ladd-Franklin, the name she used in print.

It took some research before we even realized they were the same person! Such is the power of names, and the ease with which they can be effaced.

I collaborated with Sydney and Marina to write an article about Ladd-Franklin for Women’s History Month last March; our piece was published in the Bolton Hill Bulletin, a newsletter for residents of Ladd-Franklin’s former neighborhood. And that’s where Jon and Emily first learned that they lived in the house of someone famous–or, perhaps more accurately, someone who ought to be famous. As it turned out, the Bolton Hill neighborhood was in the middle of selecting a new round of honorees for their “Blue Plaque” program, and Jon and Emily succeeded in getting Ladd-Franklin added to the list.

When Jon wrote to tell me about the installation of Ladd-Franklin’s plaque, he wrote, “We are honored to have Christine recognized on our house.” We are, too.

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