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Lella Regula Trafelet

Location: 208 E. Market St., Vevay (Switzerland County), Indiana 47043

Installed 2024 Indiana Historical Bureau, William G. Pomeroy Foundation, and Switzerland County Historical Society

ID#:  78.2023.1

Text

Side One

Lella Regula Trafelet, 1908-1988

Groundbreaking research chemist Lella Trafelet was born near Vevay.  In 1938, she earned her M.A. in Chemistry at Indiana University  before overseeing laboratories at the U.S. Rubber Company, Naugatuck Chemical Division in Connecticut.  In the 1940s, Trafelet began a decades long-career at Michigan’s Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation, where she overcame gender barriers.

Side Two

Trafelet developed methods to determine detergent levels in rivers and lakes, work that intersected with passage of the 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act.  By the 1960s, she served as Wyandotte Chemicals senior research chemist and earned recognition in American Men of Science.  Trafelet helped women advance in chemistry, training employees in analytical research.

Annotated Text

Lella Regula Trafelet, 1908-1988

Groundbreaking research chemist Lella Trafelet was born near Vevay.[1] In 1938, she earned her M.A. in Chemistry at Indiana University[2] before overseeing laboratories at the U.S. Rubber Company, Naugatuck Chemical Division in Connecticut.[3] In the 1940s, Trafelet began a decades long-career at Michigan’s Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation, where she overcame gender barriers.[4]

Side Two

Trafelet developed methods to determine detergent levels in rivers and lakes, work that intersected with passage of the 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act.[5] By the 1960s, she served as Wyandotte Chemicals senior research chemist and earned recognition in American Men of Science.[6] Trafelet helped women advance in chemistry, training employees in analytical research.[7]


[1] Death Certificate, “Lella R. Trafelet,” June 14, 1908, U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, accessed Ancestry Library; Jaques Cattell, ed., “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Ninth Edition), Volume 1 (Lancaster, PA: The Science Press: 1955), p. 1959, accessed HathiTrust; “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Tenth Edition),  (Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, The Jaques Cattell Press, Inc.: 1961), p. 4127, accessed HathiTrust; Obituary, “Lella R. Trafelet,” unknown newspaper, February 9, 1989, submitted by applicant.

[2] Lella Regula Trafelet, “Tests for the Detection and Determination of Acetone and Ethyl Alcohol in Blood and Urine,” (Indiana University: 1938), accessed Google Books; Indiana Alumni Magazine vol. 3 (May 1941), accessed HathiTrust; Jaques Cattell, ed., “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Ninth Edition), Volume 1 (Lancaster, PA: The Science Press, 1955), p. 1959, accessed HathiTrust.

[3] “Lella Trafelet,” 1940 United States Federal Census, accessed Ancestry Library; Indiana Alumni Magazine vol. 3 (May 1941), accessed HathiTrust; Jaques Cattell Press, ed., “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Eleventh Edition) (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1967), n.p.; “Trafelet, Lella R.,” Who’s Who of American Women (and Other Countries) (Fifth Edition), (Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Company, 1968-1969): n.p.

[4] “Lella Trafelet,” U.S. National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel, 1921-1970, accessed Ancestry Library; Lella Trafelet, “Analysis of Water-Soluble Chlorohydrins and Other Organic Chlorides,” Analytical Chemistry 20, no. 1 (January 20, 1948): 68-69, accessed ACS Publications; Jaques Cattell, ed., “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Ninth Edition), Volume 1 (Lancaster, PA: The Science Press: 1955), p. 1959, accessed HathiTrust; “’Boost Detroit Women:’ Romney, LBJ Told of 95 for Top Appointments,” Detroit Free Press, April 2, 1964, accessed Newspapers.com; Pauline Sterling, “10 Top Working Women Are Named,” Detroit Free Press, March 21, 1965, 38, accessed Newspapers.com; “Miss Trafelet is Honored in Michigan,” Vevay Reveille-Enterprise, 1965, 3, submitted by applicant.

[5] Lella Trafelet, “Analysis of Water-Soluble Chlorohydrins and Other Organic Chlorides,” Analytical Chemistry 20, no. 1 (January 20, 1948): 68-69, accessed ACS Publications; “’Boost Detroit Women:’ Romney, LBJ Told of 95 for Top Appointments,” Detroit Free Press, April 2, 1964, accessed Newspapers.com; “Miss Trafelet is Honored in Michigan,” Vevay Reveille-Enterprise, 1965, 3, submitted by applicant; “History of the Clean Water Act,” United States Environmental Protection Agency, accessed epa.gov; “The Clean Water Act and the Army Corps of Engineers,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (October 2022), accessed usace.army.mil.

[6] “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Tenth Edition),  (Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, The Jaques Cattell Press, Inc.: 1961), p. 4127, accessed HathiTrust; “’Boost Detroit Women:’ Romney, LBJ Told of 95 for Top Appointments,” Detroit Free Press, April 2, 1964, accessed Newspapers.com; Jaques Cattell Press, ed., “Trafelet, Lella R(egula),” American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (Eleventh Edition) (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1967), n.p.; “Trafelet, Lella R.,” Who’s Who of American Women (and Other Countries) (Fifth Edition), (Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Company, 1968-1969): n.p.

[7] “10 Top Working Women are Named,” Detroit Free Press, March 21, 1965, 28, accessed Newspapers.com; “Trafelet, Lella R.,” Who’s Who of American Women (and Other Countries) (Fifth Edition), (Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Company, 1968-1969): n.p.

Keywords

Women; Science, Medicine, and Invention