Born: 19 July 1864, United Kingdom
Died: 21 July 1920
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Helen Frances Worthington
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
In 1892, three women were proposed for fellowship in the Royal Astronomical Society—Elizabeth Brown, Alice Evert, and Annie Russell. All three failed to gain sufficient votes to be admitted, just as Isis Pogson’s nomination had been rejected in 1886. It wasn’t until 1916 that Mary Adele Blagg, Ella K. Church, A. Grace Cook, and Fiammetta Wilson became the first female fellows elected. Annie Maunder was also elected that year—more than twenty-four years after her first attempt to join. Rather than waiting, Brown, along with Margaret Huggins, Agnes Clerke, and Agnes Giberne were among the founders of the British Astronomical Association in 1890, which allowed women in from the start.