Sometimes the Twitterverse can be a beautiful place. When Candace Jean Andersen came across a photo of a group of people at a 1971 science conference in Virginia, she noticed that the only person who was unidentified in the caption was a black woman. Curious to know who the trailblazer was, she took to Twitter to ask for help in her search, in an attempt to unearth what turned out to be another Hidden Figures story.
Hey Twitter I’m on a mission:
The woman in this photo was an attendee at a 1971 International Conference on Biology of Whales.
She is the only woman, & the only one captioned “not identified” in the article I found the photo in. All the men are named.
Can you help me know her? pic.twitter.com/MifZvdRXRr
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— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 9, 2018
Andersen’s plea was met by more than 11,000 people who chimed in to help identify the only female at the science conference. She tells Yahoo Lifestyle it was beautiful how “complete strangers using their time to jump in and help just because they wanted to,” she says. “Asking colleagues, digging through archives, passing the word on until the mystery was solved…it was really great.”
Thanks so much for all the retweets, everybody!
Here is a close-up of Mystery Woman, unfortunately mostly blocked from the camera.
The conference was in June (1971) in Virginia, with participants from 10 countries.
Why is *the only* woman listed as “not identified?” Arg! pic.twitter.com/eweEB1q9c9
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 9, 2018
After several tips from across the web, Andersen was able to track down a coordinator of the science conference named Suzanne Contos, who decided do a little digging of her own to help find out who the mystery woman was.
Suzanne—who helped coordinate the 1971 conference & aided in MANY ways surrounding the event—agreed to take a look at our pictures to see if she can remember who this woman is.
Massive thanks to @themediawitch for reaching out to Suzanne.
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 11, 2018
Suzanne reached out to other attendees, some of whom were able to identify her and provide a name.
Well, @AllenZiphiid72 reached out to *Don Wilson* (Curator Emeritus of Mammals at the Smithsonian).
Don agreed with what Bob had written:
“Her name is **SHEILA JONES**…” maiden name Minor. She worked as a Collections Technician in mammals with FWS. pic.twitter.com/gseQ026VvW
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 11, 2018
They were able to put a name to the half-covered face: Sheila Jones. They claimed that the mystery woman had been an administrator and most likely not even officially invited to the conference.
ANYWAY.
Suzanne told Peg that (Sheila’s?) boss died (confirms what Bob & Don told Dee).
Suzanne then reached out to her former boss (G. Carleton Ray), **who took the photo.** Ray was certain she (Sheila?) wasn’t officially “invited.” He too thinks she was support staff.
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 12, 2018
But Andersen was not satisfied with the answers based on speculations, and neither was the Twitterverse. If Twitter had come so far as to track down other attendees and coordinators, concrete and factual information on Jones had to be out there. And it was.
Do we assume she’s Sheila?
Do you think the photo was a quick snapshot, and she just happened to be there?
I wonder what all her papers are?
Did she significantly contribute to the conference?If she worked for Fish & Wildlife Services then, I wonder what she’s doing now? pic.twitter.com/DrY3YzXJmW
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 12, 2018
That’s when two workers from the Smithsonian reached out to Andersen. They did an archival search, in which they were able to identify with certainty that the mystery woman was not just an administrator or “uninvited person” but an actual scientist.
Guess who else Smithsonian ladies found a receipt for from Skyland Lodge at the time of the conference..?
Ahem.
A ✨Mrs. Sheila M. Jones.✨
BUT THAT’S NOT EVEN THE BIG THING I MENTIONED BEFORE, YOU GUYS
I HAVE MORE
Just, hang on! BRB! pic.twitter.com/jX7rxiGIBM
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 13, 2018
“She was a Biological Research Technician for Smithsonian Institution in (at least) 1972 & ’73; a position which required a BS or MA degree,” Anderson wrote.
The mystery woman, no longer a mystery, was Sheila M. Jones (her maiden name was Sheila D. Minor), and Andersen contacted her. “She seemed excited at first that I found her, and excited to see that picture,” Andersen says.
She participated in a two-island study of the mammals inhabiting the Poplar Islands in 1973–1974, and presented her findings at the 55th Annual American Society of Mammalogists Meeting in 1975.
This included her belief of natural extinctions of some species on the islands. pic.twitter.com/bV3aKVwWIP
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 15, 2018
Jones gave her details on her life as a scientist and told her that in fact, she had a bachelor of science degree in biology at the time of the conference.
She was appointed to the Smithsonian Women’s Council.
She was a member of the American Society of Mammalogists.
(All this is still just the years between 1972–1975.) pic.twitter.com/ImgILTPBf4
— Candace Jean Andersen (@mycandacejean) March 15, 2018
Jones also told Andersen about the path that her career subsequently took:
Those following the story were overjoyed to have found Jones and learned about her life as a trailblazing black woman scientist dating back to the 1970s.
This is the most amazing thread . Can the internet do this for all the WOC who have been overlooked & unacknowledged ever? omg, ty, ty… we all really needed this rn & I love you random strangers
— b grrrl (@bodhigrrrl) March 15, 2018
Great job @mycandacejean!! This was really fun and informative!! You and Sheila both are a treat!! Thanks for all your hard work and effort!
— Pamela Denson (@PammyDee) March 16, 2018
Yes, thank you to Andersen and the Twitterverse for helping bring well-deserved recognition to Jones and her incredible life.
I just read through the whole of this story, it’s so fantastic and inspiring. Congratulations on finding Sheila and naming her as she deserved
— stephanie roberts (@steff0202) March 15, 2018
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