Edith Marion Patch was a pioneering American entomologist and writer who broke significant gender barriers in the scientific community during the early twentieth century. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, she graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1901. Although she initially began her career as an English teacher, she soon transitioned to scientific research when she was offered the opportunity to organize the entomology department at the University of Maine. She became the department's head in 1904, a position she held until her retirement in 1937 despite initial skepticism from male colleagues.\n\nThroughout her distinguished career, Patch established herself as a leading authority on aphids, culminating in the publication of her comprehensive work, Food Plant Catalogue of the Aphids, in 1938. She continued her academic pursuits while working, earning a master's degree from the University of Maine in 1910 and a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1911. Her contributions to the field earned her widespread recognition, including her election as president of the American Nature Study Society and, in 1930, her historic election as the first female president of the Entomological Society of America.\n\nPatch is widely recognized as the first truly successful professional female entomologist in the United States. In recognition of her legacy and contributions to science, her home in Old Town, Maine, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
