Her father became the president of the University of Wisconsin in 1874. Her parents were steadfast supporters of women's rights and encouraged women to obtain a college education. Her mother, Emma Curtiss Bascom, was a women's rights activist involved in the suffrage movement.

He was the driving factor of her career and her first contact in the field of geology. Her father, John Bascom, was a professor at Williams College, and later president of the University of Wisconsin. The youngest of five children, Bascom came from a family who, unlike most at the time, encouraged women's entrance into society. Geologists consider Bascom to be the 'first woman geologist in America'.įlorence Bascom was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on July 14, 1862. Bascom was known for her innovative findings in this field, and led the next generation of female geologists. After earning her doctorate in geology, in 1896 Bascom became the first woman to work for the United States Geological Survey as well as being one of the first women to earn a master's degree in geology. Receiving her PhD from Johns Hopkins University, this made her the first woman to earn a degree at the institution. Bascom was the second woman to earn her PhD in geology in the United States, in 1893. Shortly after, in 1887, Bascom earned her master's degree in geology at the University of Wisconsin. Earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1882, and a Bachelor of Science in 1884 both at the University of Wisconsin. Bascom became an anomaly in the 19th century when she earned two bachelor's degrees. Florence Bascom (J– June 18, 1945) was an American pioneer for women as a geologist and educator.

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