Ellen Powell Thompson

Ellen Louella (Nellie) Powell Thompson (1840–1911) was an American naturalist and botanist, and an active advocate for women's suffrage.[3] On July 8, 1862 in Wheaton, Illinois, she married professor and geographer Almon Harris Thompson, a colleague and friend of her brother John.During this period, she made friends with members of a number of Native American tribes, learning the language of the "Pah Utes" and studying their customs.Thompson joined John Wesley Powell's second Colorado River expedition during their 1872 winter camp near Kanab, Utah, serving as botanist.[2] Thompson is commemorated in the names of the following plant taxa, which were described as new to science based on specimens she collected in 1872 on John Wesley Powell's second Colorado River expedition:[8] Additional plant taxa described as new to science based on specimens she collected on the 1872 expedition include the following:[8] Thompson was active in the Suffragette movement in the 1890s, and was known across the United States as a colleague of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
Powell family: Back row, left to right: Ellen Powell Thompson, William Bramwell Powell, William (Billy) P. Powell, Almon Harris Thompson. Front row: John Wesley Powell and Mary Powell Wheeler. Topeka, Kansas, circa 1900.
naturalistbotanistwomen's suffrageEnglishJohn Wesley PowellAmerican WestUS Geological SurveysuperintendentWashington D.C. public schoolsJohn DavisArthur Powell DavisWheaton CollegeWheaton, IllinoisgeographerAlmon Harris ThompsonCairo, IllinoisAmerican Civil WarNative American tribes"Pah Utes"Arlington National CemeteryColorado RiverKanab, UtahArizonaDr Asa GrayHarvard UniversityHarvard University HerbariaUnited States National HerbariumherbariaPenstemon thompsoniaePeteria thompsoniaeAndrostephium breviflorumCalochortus aureusCalochortus flexuosusErigeron utahensisSuffragette movementElizabeth Cady StantonSusan B. Anthony