Ruth G. Capen

Ruth Goldthwaite Capen (May 7, 1893 – June 15, 1974) was an American chemist, employed in the United States Department of Agriculture.

Ruth G. Capen
Young white woman with dark hair fastened back at the nape, wearing a white blouse with a frilled yoke and a dark bow at the chest
Ruth G. Capen, from the 1918 yearbook of Smith College
BornMay 7, 1893
Stoughton, Massachusetts
DiedJune 15, 1974
Winter Park, Florida
OccupationChemist

Early life and education

Capen was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, the daughter of Frank Irving Capen and Anna Louise Goldthwaite Capen. Her father was a civil engineer and town official.[1] She graduated from Smith College in 1918.[2]

Other notable members of the extended Capen family from Stoughton include Elmer Hewitt Capen, president of Tufts University, and missionary Fannie Bishop Capen.[3]

Career

Capen was an analytical chemist in the pharmacognosy[4] and soil laboratories of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry, part of the United States Department of Agriculture, based in Washington, D.C.[5] Much of her research involved studying the nutritional content of food crops. In 1932 she traveled with Emma A. Winslow, director of social statistics at the Children's Bureau.[6][7]

In 1943, the year her father died, she moved to Winter Park, Florida, where her mother also lived part-time.[8][9] She was active in Smith alumnae activities in Florida.[10]

Selected publications
  • "A New Source of Santonin" (1922, with Arno Viehoever)[11]
  • "Domestic Sources of Cantharidin" (1923, with Arno Viehoever)[12]
  • "Mineral Constituents of Spanish-Moss and Ballmoss" (1928, with Edgar T. Wherry)[13]
  • "The Determination of Manganese in Plant Materials by the Periodate Method" (1929, with Jehiel Davidson)[14]
  • "Colorimetric Methods for the Determination of Manganese in Plant Materials" (1931, with Jehiel Davidson)[15]
  • "Chemical Composition of Native Alaskan Hays Harvested at Different Periods of Growth" (1933, with J. A. LeClerc)[16]
  • "Report on Crude Fiber in Alimentary Paste, Bread, and Baked Products" (1933)[17]
  • "The composition and characteristics of soybeans, soybean flour, and soybean bread" (1935, with L. H. Bailey and J. A. LeClerc)
  • "Wild Rice and Its Chemical Composition" (1948, with J. A. LeClerc)[5]

Personal life

Ruth Capen died in Florida in 1974, aged 81 years.[8] With increasing interest in alternative grains, Capen's articles, especially her 1948 paper on wild rice, continue to be cited as early studies in that literature.[18][19]

References
  1. "Frank I. Capen". The Boston Globe. 1943-12-30. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Smith College (1918). Class of 1918. College Archives Smith College Libraries. Smith College. p. 27.
  3. Hayden, Charles Albert (1929). The Capen Family: Descendants of Bernard Capen of Dorchester, Mass. Augsburg publishing house. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-608-32153-0.
  4. Agriculture, United States Department of (1920–1921). List of Workers in Subjects Pertaining to Agriculture and Home Economics in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and in the State Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. p. 35.
  5. Capen, Ruth G.; LeClerc, J. A. (August 1, 1948). "Wild Rice and Its Chemical Composition". Journal of Agricultural Research. 77: 65–69.
  6. "Untitled social item". Washington Evening Star. June 23, 1932. p. 28. Retrieved October 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Dr. Emma A. Winslow, USO Official, Is Dead; Director of Division Of Records, Once With Children's Bureau". The New York Times. 1943-04-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
  8. "Obituary for RUTH G. CAPEN (Aged 81)". The Orlando Sentinel. 1974-06-13. p. 54. Retrieved 2021-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Mrs. Annie L. Capen (obituary)". Orlando Evening Star. 1947-05-13. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Smith Alumnae". Orlando Evening Star. 1952-03-04. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Viehoever, Arno; Capen, Ruth G. (1923-08-01). "New Sources of Santonin". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 45 (8): 1941–1944. doi:10.1021/ja01661a012. ISSN 0002-7863.
  12. Viehoever, Arno; Capen, Ruth G. (1923). "Domestic Sources of Cantharidin". Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 6: 489–492.
  13. Wherry, Edgar T.; Capen, Ruth G. (1928). "Mineral Constituents of Spanish-Moss and Ballmoss". Ecology. 9 (4): 501–504. doi:10.2307/1929417. ISSN 1939-9170. JSTOR 1929417.
  14. Davidson, Jehiel; Capen, Ruth G (1929-08-15). "The Determination of Manganese in Plant Materials by the Periodate Method". Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. 12 (3): 310–311. doi:10.1093/jaoac/12.3.310. ISSN 0095-9111.
  15. Davidson, Jehiel; Capen, Ruth G (1931-11-15). "Colorimetric Methods for the Determination of Manganese in Plant Materials". Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. 14 (4): 547–551. doi:10.1093/jaoac/14.4.547. ISSN 0095-9111.
  16. Capen, Ruth G.; LeClerc, J. A. (April 1, 1933). "Chemical Composition of Native Alaskan Hays Harvested at Different Periods of Growth". Journal of Agricultural Research. 46: 665–668.
  17. Capen, R G (1933-11-15). "Report on Crude Fiber in Alimentary Paste, Bread, and Baked Products". Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. 16 (4): 518–519. doi:10.1093/jaoac/16.4.518. ISSN 0095-9111.
  18. Taylor, John; Awika, Joseph (2017-07-21). Gluten-Free Ancient Grains: Cereals, Pseudocereals, and Legumes: Sustainable, Nutritious, and Health-Promoting Foods for the 21st Century. Woodhead Publishing. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-08-100891-1.
  19. Gallaher, Daniel D. (July 2012) "Potential Health Benefits of Wild Rice and Wild Rice Products: Literature Review" (Agricultural Utilization Research Institute): 21.
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