Rowbottom, Margaret

Margaret Esther Rowbottom. Historian of science. Life dates: 1908-1999

Image: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pdnsn3qb

Work at WHMM

Rowbottom joined WHMM as an assistant in the museum’s ethnographic section in 1933 after a bachelor’s degree in Physics and studies in anthropology. When first employed, she worked under the direction of Rosa Burstein, “as a general assistant to help in sorting museum material”.

Rowbottom stayed at Wellcome’s museum for her whole career, organising exhibitions, recataloguing objects, and specialising in European history of science.

Biography

Obituary by John Symons (2000)

Notes in the description of her archived personal papers PP/MER https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dncq9cpk

WA/HMM archives

• WA/HMM/CO/Sub/211 - memoranda 1937-1959

Sources

Oral history in Symons 1987, p. 36 discussing cataloguing and sorting objects in 1933:

The ethnographical category was by far the largest, and it was this material that Miss Burstein and I sorted into appropriate sub-categories for re-packing – the whole of the first floor South Gallery was devoted to this purpose. Later when we had caught up with the arrears of sorting, we were also put onto accessioning. From interest and in order that I might work on more or less equal terms with the other members of the ethnographical staff, I added anthropology to my General Degree.

Tags: museum staff; anthropology; 'Ethnographic section; scientific staff