Hope Hibbard Papers

Hope Hibbard (1893-1988, A.B. 1916, M.A. 1918, Ph.d. 1921, D.S 1928) was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania to the parents of Mary Scofield (1868-1895), and Herbert Wade Hibbard (1863-1929). She had half siblings from her father, Ruth (1901-1992), Harlan Davis (1903-1941), and Jeanne (1911-2000).  Shortly after her mother died in 1895, Hope Hibbard and her family moved briefly to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later to Ithaca N.Y in 1898. It was during this time that Hibbard's father got remarried to Mary Davis (1872-1967). Eleven years later, Hibbard and her family moved to Columbia, Missouri where she later attended the University of Missouri, and earned an A.B. degree in Biology in 1916. Two years later Hope Hibbard received her M.A degree from the same university.

After leaving the University of Missouri at Columbia, Hope Hibbard went on to earn two doctorates. In 1921 she received her first doctorate in zoology at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where she studied the fertilization in sea-urchin eggs. Before receiving her second doctorate, Hibbard taught zoology for three years at Elmira College in New York.  In 1925, she decided to continue her research abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris largely under a fellowship from the American Association of University Women. In 1928, Hibbard received her Doctor of Science degree from the Sorbonne for her study of oogenesis in frog eggs.

Hope Hibbard's long and illustrious association with Oberlin College began in 1928 when she joined the college's Department of Zoology. At this particular time, there were only twenty-two women on the Oberlin College faculty. In just two years, she was granted tenure and became an Associate Professor of Zoology at Oberlin College. Aside from her teaching duties, Hibbard published a number of papers based on her research of the tissues and organs of limpets, earthworms, squid and silkworms. During her summers off from teaching at Oberlin, Hibbard visited the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts where a number of zoologists gathered to exchange ideas about their particular areas of research. One of Hope Hibbard's more significant contributions to the field of zoology was her research on the Golgi apparatus. In her last published paper in 1945, Hibbard reported on her findings on the current status of knowledge regarding the golgi apparatus. In recognition of her work, she was appointed to the Adelia A. Field Johnston Professorship in 1952, and later became the chairperson of the Department of Zoology. During her teaching career at Oberlin, Hope Hibbard served on a number of faculty committees such as: Elective Studies, the Board of Advisors, and the Faculty-Student Conference Committee. Hibbard was also an active member of a number of scientific organizations which included: the American Society of Zoologists, the American Society of Naturalists, and the American Institute of Biological Sciences. After thirty-three years of teaching at Oberlin College, Hope Hibbard retired in 1961.

Aside from her teaching and research, Hope Hibbard was also known both for her community work in the city of Oberlin and for her willingness to take positions on a variety  of issues. She was active in the following organizations: the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the Progressive Women's Club of Oberlin; she also helped to organize the Oberlin chapter of the League of Women Voters in 1936. On a number of occasions, she presented lectures on the role of women in education, science, and politics to both local and national women's groups.  She was also an advocate of nuclear disarmament and in June, 1982, she attended a demonstration at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

During her retirement, Hibbard traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America, Australia, and Africa. Remaining single all of her life, Hibbard also devoted some of her free time to her extended family of nieces and nephews; and great-nieces and nephews. Hope Hibbard remained active well into her nineties, but after a long illness, she died in her hometown of Oberlin on May 12, 1988 at the age of ninety-four.