Vermont's Women of Science Vermont's Women of Science Imagine that you are a girl from a small town in Vermont, born the year that the Civil War began.
Times are difficult.
Women's educational opportunities are limited, and suffrage is at least six decades in the future. But you are a promising student with a gift for science and mathematics. If you believe that anything is possible, then read the history of one of our Vermont foremothers. Our Past Nettie Maria Stevens, discoverer of the chromosomal determination of sex, was born in Cavendish, Vermont in 1861. The child of working-class parents, she was one of the first American women to achieve recognition for her contributions to scientific research.