Honors 3900

Martha Ann Maxwell

From the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum: Did She Kill 'Em All?

Martha Ann (Dartt) Maxwell (1831-1881) was the first woman field naturalist who obtained and prepared her own specimens in the same manner as her male contemporaries. As a taxidermist, Martha innovated the natural habitat diorama by placing stuffed animals in natural poses in detailed realistic habitats and directly influenced the designs of later museum dioramas. Her presentation of Colorado animals at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 did much to dispel the stereotypical notions about women’s work.

“See, there she is!” cried one visitor to the Centennial Exposition. “Just think! She killed all them animals,” echoed another. “There, that’s her!” All during the hot Philadelphia summer of 1876, throngs of people pushed and shoved their way into the Kansas-Colorado Building, eager to catch a glimpse of the small, dark-haired woman responsible for creating the extraordinary display of bears, deer, and other mammals cavorting over a Rocky Mountain landscape. Curious, skeptical, friendly—on and on they came, until the policemen stationed at the doors were hard-pressed to maintain control. The fairgoers were intent on seeing for themselves the “modern Diana” who had come all the way from the wilds of Colorado. (From: Benson, Maxine. Martha Maxwell, Rocky Mountain Naturalist (Nebraska: Bison Books, 1999).