termites

#Entomologist Margaret S. Collins (1922-1996) said, “Because of my family and our community, my childhood was unique. I never learned what I couldn’t do – as a child, woman, or black person.” Margaret was born in Institute, West Virginia, one of the black communities established after the #CivilWar. She said, “Institute was unusual in that it was an all-black town and a college town; in fact, the college was the town…there were a lot of educated black people living there.” Margaret was known as the “termite lady” who began her education at six years old; by the time she was 14, she enrolled at #WestVirginiaState College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with minors in Physics and German in 1943. Later she received her Ph.D. from the #UniversityOfChicago. Much of our understanding of #termites is due to the research of Dr. Collins. She held three tenured professor positions at #HowardUniversity, Florida A&M, and #FederalCityCollege. Learn more #BlackHistory at http://ow.ly/9FG250KXcSW #AmericanHistory