The Â鶹´«Ã½Íøվ’s first woman member was Maria Mitchell, elected in 1848. However it would be 95 years before another woman was elected to the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾.
While the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ never had language in its Statues barring women from Membership, general questions of membership policy forbore the election of women. In 1943, four women were elected to the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾: Harvard astronomer Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin, psychologist Augusta Fox Bronner, Radcliffe president Ada Louise Comstock, and novelist Willa Cather.
The online gallery features letters from Willa Cather, Marian Anderson, Nadia Boulanger, Imogen Cunningham, and Mary Leakey.