Orra Hitchcock

 

Orra Hitchcock

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Orra Hitchcock

1796–1863

Orra White Hitchcock was one of America’s first female science illustrators.

“. . . while I have described scientific facts with the pen only, how much more vividly have they been portrayed by your pencil!”

— From Edward Hitchcock’s dedication to Orra Hitchcock in The Religion of Geology and its Connected Sciences (1851)

Orra lived her entire life in Massachusetts. She attended school in South Hadley and, later, in the Boston area. In 1813, when she was just 17 years old, she moved to Deerfield and began teaching young women at Deerfield Academy. While there, she met her future husband, Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864), who later became a renown geologist.

The two had a long courtship, which continued after Orra’s departure from Deerfield to Amherst in 1818. She and Edward worked on building a herbarium project together. A herbarium is a collection of plants that are pressed (flattened), dried, and then glued to large sheets of paper. Orra made 50 watercolors of the plants, although the specimens themselves were eventually ruined by insects.

Orra and Edward finally married in 1821, and Orra quit teaching. In 1825, Edward took a job as a professor at Amherst College. The couple had deep respect for each other, and Orra contributed enormously to Edward’s success. Orra’s art gave a detailed and colorful look at rock formations, fossils, landscapes, and living specimens. She created hundreds of illustrations for Edward’s books, teaching materials, and other works. Orra continued her work while raising the couple’s six children.

Edward became famous for his contributions to geology, but Orra was a talented science communicator and naturalist in her own right. Edward wrote a long dedication from an “affectionate husband” to his “beloved wife” in his 1851 book The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences. In it, he acknowledges Orra’s many contributions to his work:

“. . . during the last thirty years of professional labors, how little could I have done in the cause of science, had you not, in a great measure, relieved me of the cares of a numerous family! Furthermore, while I have described scientific facts with the pen only, how much more vividly have they been portrayed by your pencil! And it is peculiarly appropriate that your name should be associated with mine in any literary effort where the theme is geology; since your artistic skill has done more than my voice to render that science attractive to the young men whom I have instructed. . . . I know that you would forbid this public allusion to your labors and sacrifices, did I not send it forth to the world before it meets your eye. But I am unwilling to lose this opportunity of bearing a testimony which both justice and affection urge me to give.”

Edward Hitchcock (1851) The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences

Orra made only two major trips outside New England, traveling with Edward to Virginia in 1847 and Europe in 1850. The couple were deeply religious Calvinists and went to church regularly, even when traveling. Orra’s health was permanently affected by a fall in 1855, which put an end to her work as an illustrator. Although Edward was a hypochondriac who often fretted about his health, he outlived Orra. Orra died in 1863, and Edward followed in 1864. Both are buried in West Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Illustrations, likely by Orra Hitchcock, of pseudofossils, rocks that look like fossils but aren't. From Edward Hitchcock's Final Report on the Geology of Massachusetts, published in 1841. According to Edward, of more than 230 plates and 1100 woodcu…

Illustrations, likely by Orra Hitchcock, of pseudofossils, rocks that look like fossils but aren't. From Edward Hitchcock's Final Report on the Geology of Massachusetts, published in 1841. According to Edward, of more than 230 plates and 1100 woodcuts illustrating his publications, Orra made the most (see Marche 1991). Paleontological Research Institution.

Orra’s landscapes

Orra drew the landscapes below for Edward’s Final report on the geology of Massachusetts, vol. 1. Each has “Mrs. Hitchcock del.” in the bottom left corner.

Orra’s Classroom Drawings

The following pieces are large-scale drawings that were created by Orra for classroom use.

Selected works with illustrations by Orra White Hitchcock

Hitchcock, E. 1841. Final report on the geology of Massachusetts. vol. 1. J.H. Butler, Northampton. Link

Digitized illustrations & papers of Orra White Hitchcock

Amherst College Digital Collections: Classroom drawings by Orra White Hitchcock: Link

Amherst College Digital Collections: Edward and Orra White Hitchcock Papers: Link

Biographical references & further reading

2017. Impressions from a lost world: The discovery of dinosaur footprints in the Connecticut River Valley of New England. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, Massachusetts. Link

Aldrich, M. 1982. Women in paleontology in the United States, 1840–1960. Earth Sciences History 1: 14–22. Link

American Folk Art Museum. 2018. Charting the divine plan: The art of Orra White Hitchcock (1796–1863). Link

Amherst College. No date. Edward and Orra Hitchcock. Link

Herbert, R.L. 2008. A woman of Amherst: The travel diaries of Orra White Hitchcock 1847 and 1850. iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana.

Herbert, R.L. and D. D’Arienzo. 2011. Orra White Hitchcock: An Amherst woman of art and science. Mead Art Museum, Amherst College. Link

Hitchcock, E. 1854. The religion of geology and its connected sciences. Phillips, Sampson, and Company, Boston. Link

Marche, T. 1991. Orra White Hitchcock: A virtuous woman. Marilyn Zurmuehlen Working Papers in Art Education 10: 40–52. Link

Turner, S., C.V. Burek, and R.T. Moody. 2010. Forgotten women in an extinct saurian (man’s) world. In R.T.J. Moody, E. Buffetaut, D. Naish, and D.M. Martill, eds. Dinosaurs and other extinct saurians: A historical perspective. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 343: 111–153. Link