Person

Black, Jessica Hope (Hope) (1919 - 2018)

Born
7 February 1919
Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
Died
25 January 2018
Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Malacologist and Marine biologist
Alternative Names
  • MacPherson, Hope (married name)

Summary

Hope Black completed a science degree part-time, majoring in zoology and geology, while working as a museum assistant at the National Museum of Victoria. In 1946 she was appointed curator of molluscs and was the Museum's first female curator. Following her marriage in 1965, Black was required to resign. She went on to become a science teacher. Black became well known for her expertise in marine biology and malacology, and the conduct of environmental surveys. She contributed to the survey of the Snowy River Gorge in 1957 and led the survey of Port Phillip Bay 1957 - 1963. The latter is still used as a baseline to monitor change. Other research included the investigation of shipworms (Teredo species) in Victoria and South Australia. Her study of Victorian molluscs resulted in the publication, with Charles Gabriel, of Marine molluscs of Victoria (1962). Subsequently Gabriel donated his collections to the Museum, thus securing type specimens for the Museum. Black sought the participation of community members as volunteers in scientific work, leading to the establishment of groups such as the Marine Study Group of Victoria. In 1959, with Isobel Bennett, Black was in the first group of women to conduct research on Macquarie Island for the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition. Lake Macpherson on Macquarie Island was named in her honour in 2019.

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Details

Chronology

1938 - 1939
Career position - Temporary Museum Assistant at the National Museum of Victoria
1939 - 1946
Career position - Permanent Museum Assistant at the National Museum of Victoria
1946
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne
1946 - 1965
Career position - Curator of Molluscs at the National Museum of Victoria
1952 - 1955
Career position - Foundation Member, Malacological Club of Victoria
1973
Career position - President, Malacological Society of Australia
2012
Award - Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

  • MacPherson, J. Hope and Gabriel C. J., Marine molluscs of Victoria (Parkville, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1962), 475 pp. Details
  • May, W. L.; and Macpherson, J. H., An illustrated index of Tasmanian shells (Hobart: Government Printer, 1958), 54, 18 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Black, J. Hope, 'The Kershaw Dynasty', The Victorian naturalist, 122 (2005), 351-7. Details
  • Burn, Robert; and Vafiadis, Platon, 'J. Hope Macpherson (Mrs Ian K. Black) 7 February 1919 - 25 January 2018', MSA newslatter, 165 (2018), 5-9. Details
  • Byrne, Margaret; Broadhurst, Linda; Leishman, Michelle; and Belov, Kathy, 'Women in conservation science making a difference', Pacific Conservation Biology, 24 (1) (2018), 6, https://doi.org/10.1071/PC18061. Details
  • Carey, Jane, 'Hope Black, née Macpherson (1919- ): First Female Curator at the Musuem of Victoria', Australasian Science, 21 (5) (2000), 46. Details
  • Cram, D., 'Hope Black honoured', Victorian Branch Bulletin of the Malacological Society of Australasia, 263 (April/May) (2012), 2-3. Details
  • Macpherson, Hope, 'Charles John Gabriel', Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia, 1 (7) (1963), 3-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/00852988.1968.10673792. Details
  • Smith, Brian J, and Black, Hope, 'Biographies, combined bibliography and new names list of John Henry Gatliff (1848 - 1935) and Charles john Gabriel (1879 - 1963)', Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia, 1 (12) (1969), 32-40. Details

Resources

Theses

  • Carey, Jane, 'Departing from their sphere: Australian women and science, 1880-1960', PhD thesis, The University of Melbourne, 2003, 356 pp. Details

See also

  • Millers, Kimberley, 'Women of AMSA [Australian Marine Sciences Association]', Australian Marine Science Bulletin, 190 (2013), 40-7. Details
  • Smith, Brian J., 'Marine studies and the FNCV', The Victorian naturalist, 122 (6) (2005), 311-4. Details

Ailie Smith and Helen Cohn

Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 16 August 2022

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