Erminnie A. (Erminnie Adele) Smith

Born Erminnie Adele Platt in 1836, she was educated at Troy Female Seminary in New York and later became known as Erminnie A. Smith after her marriage. She built a career in science and scholarship at a time when women were rarely welcomed in those fields, studying both geology and ethnology.

She is especially remembered for her research on the Iroquois, including fieldwork among Tuscarora and Mohawk communities and studies of language, folklore, and traditional practices. Her writing was published through major scholarly institutions, and she was connected with organizations such as the Smithsonian and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Smith also took part in cultural and intellectual life beyond her research, helping found the Aesthetic Society of Jersey City. She died in 1886, but her work remains part of the early history of American anthropology and the study of Native languages and traditions.