Elizabeth Jane Letson Bryan

Elizabeth Letson Bryan (April 9, 1874 – February 28, 1919) was an American malacologist and director of the museum of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, now the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, New York. She was one of the first female museum directors in the United States.

Early life and education Elizabeth "Jennie" Letson was born on April 9, 1874, in Griffins Mills, New York. She was the only child of Augustus Franklin Letson (1841-1900) and Nellie Webb Letson (1850-1924). Her mother was an 8th-generation direct descendant of Puritan colonist William Bradford, who came to North America on the Mayflower.

Bryan attended schools in Buffalo, New York. At an early age, she became interested in natural history, particularly conchology. After graduating, Bryan continued her education at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Later, Bryan studied at the United States National Museum in Washington, D.C.

Career At the age of 18, Bryan started working at the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences in 1892, where she would remain for 17 years. Tellina (Arcopagia) elizabethae (Pilsbry, 1917) type number 80253 stored at Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia Turbonilla (Evaletta) elizabethae (Pilsbry, 1917) type number 117596 at Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia Description of a New Tethys (Aplysia) (1898) Post-pliocene fossils of the Niagara river gravels (1901) Check List of the Mollusca of New York (1905) A Partial List of the Shells Found in Erie and Niagara Counties and Niagara Frontier (1909)

Species named by Elizabeth Letson Tethys pilsbryi (Letson, 1898)