Katherine Bitting

Katherine Golden Bitting (April 29, 1869 - October 15, 1937) was a food chemist for the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Canners Association. She was a prolific author on the topic of food preservation. To facilitate her investigations, as the Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress states, she collected "materials on the sources, preparation, and consumption of foods, their chemistry, bacteriology, preservations, etc., from earliest times to the present day." She and her husband, Arvril Bitting, donated a significant collection of materials related to cookery to the Library of Congress. The Bitting Collection containing numerous English and American publications on food preparation from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and a sampling of notable French, German, and Italian works. Many modern food safety practices and techniques result directly from research conducted by the couple.

Personal life Katherine Bitting was born April 29, 1869, in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Her family immigrated to Massachusetts in the United States when she was young. She married Arvill Wayne Bitting, a professor of veterinary science, cookery expert and author of several cookbooks. Katherine and Arvill Wayne Bitting formed a close partnership, working at the same institutions and collaborating on several publications.

Education and early career Bitting graduated from the Salem Normal School, now Salem State University, in 1886. From Purdue University, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1890, a Master of Science in 1892, and a Doctor of Science in 1895. Bitting was an assistant botanist with the Purdue Agricultural Extension Station while completing her master's thesis. In 1893 she started working as an instructor at Purdue, teaching biology, structural botany, and bacteriology. She became an assistant professor of biology from 1901 to 1904. In the 1920s, the Bittings began working for the National Canners Association as microanalysts. They published Appertizing or, The Art of Canning in 1937. The title, Two Loaf-Givers, refers to the Old English etymology of "lady"; a digital version is available.

In 1895, the Indiana Academy of Science appointed her as a fellow member.