Background
Mary Jane Rathbun was born on June 11, 1860, in Buffalo, New York, the youngest of five children of Charles Rathbun and Jane Furey. Her mother died when she was only one year old, and Mary was therefore "thrown on her own resources".
Mary Jane Rathbun was born on June 11, 1860, in Buffalo, New York, the youngest of five children of Charles Rathbun and Jane Furey. Her mother died when she was only one year old, and Mary was therefore "thrown on her own resources".
She was schooled in Buffalo, graduating in 1878, but never attended college.
She worked at the Smithsonian Institution, often unaided, from 1884 until her death. She described more than a thousand new species and subspecies and many higher taxa. Although no more than 4 ft 6 in (137 m) tall, Mary Rathbun had strong features, and possessed a dry sense of humor.
He was employed as a scientific assistant to Addison Emery Verrill, alongside Verrill"s chief assistant, the carcinologist Sidney Irving Smith.
Rathbun helped label, sort and record Smith"s specimens, and worked on crustaceans ever since. She continued to work at the museum, largely unaided, and after 28 years, she was promoted to assistant curator in charge of the Division of Crustacea.
In 1915, after her retirement, the Smithsonian Institution designated Rathbun an "Honorary Research Associate", and in 1916 she was granted an honorary master"s degree by the University of Pittsburgh. She qualified for a Doctor of Philosophy at George Washington University in 1917.
She died in Washington, District of Columbia, on April 14, 1943, at the age of 82, from complications associated with a broken hip.
A number of taxa have been named in honor of Rathbun:.