Dec 5, 2024 Story by: Editor
On the way to school during the 1956 civil rights bus boycott in Tallahassee, Florida, pioneering Black entomologist Margaret S. Collins would tell her older son, Herbert, to lie on the car floor at the first sign of trouble. “She made me get on the floorboard,” Herbert recalled, as Collins sped off to evade the police.
Collins’ morning routine involved driving Herbert to school before heading to her university job, all while giving rides to those boycotting the city’s racially segregated buses. While not as widely known as the Montgomery bus boycott, Tallahassee’s seven-month protest also faced intense backlash. Authorities targeted 21 local activists who offered rides, charging them with operating an unlicensed transportation system. Each was fined $500 and threatened with 60 days in jail for repeat offenses. Reflecting on those drives, Herbert said, “I was like, ‘You’re going to make a hole in the floor if you press it much harder.’” Remarkably, the police never caught her.
“I think her life would make a great movie,” said Jessica Ware, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Collins’ scientific legacy is rooted in her work on termites. While many associate termites with structural damage, Collins marveled at the diverse world of over 2,000 species, most of which pose no threat to buildings. Initially focused on termites’ resistance to dehydration, Collins later became a renowned field biologist, exploring termite habitats across at least 10 countries. She was particularly knowledgeable about Caribbean termites, often conducting fieldwork in regions teeming with snakes, jaguars, and other challenges. “Field biology is not for the faint-hearted,” Ware noted.
Collins’ journey in science also reflected her perseverance in breaking barriers. She earned her Ph.D. in 1949, becoming “only the third Black woman zoologist in the country” and the first Black female entomologist with such an advanced degree, according to Wini Warren in Black Women Scientists in the United States.
A Lifelong Fascination with Termites
Collins’ childhood in Institute, West Virginia, mirrored aspects of mathematician Katherine Johnson’s life. Both grew up skipping grades, attending the same high school and college, West Virginia State College (now University). Born in 1922, Margaret James (later Collins) was a voracious reader who borrowed books from her father’s college library as early as age six. Her father, Rollins James, taught agriculture and had worked with agricultural pioneer George Washington Carver, while her mother, Luella, was a passionate and independent thinker who had aspired to be an archaeologist.
Initially discouraged by dull biology classes, Collins lost her scholarship but regained her interest after identifying a water creature with a supportive professor’s help. After earning her undergraduate degree in biology, physics, and German, she attended the University of Chicago for graduate studies. Despite financial hardships—working night shifts at a ball-bearing factory and managing just 10 meals a week—Collins found her calling in Alfred Emerson’s termite research program. Emerson, a renowned termite specialist, offered her a pivotal assistantship, launching her career.
Termites fascinated Collins for their role as ecosystem engineers and their unique societal structures. Her Ph.D. research on termite dehydration tolerance laid the groundwork for exploring broader questions about biodiversity and evolution. However, Emerson’s refusal to include her in a post-war Pacific expedition due to her gender underscored the challenges she faced as a woman in science.
A Dual Legacy of Science and Activism
Collins’ civil rights activism intensified when she joined Florida A&M University in 1951, relocating to Tallahassee at a time of heightened racial tension. While pursuing her research on termite “water relations,” she also navigated threats to her family due to their involvement in civil rights causes. Herbert Jr. remembered nights when his parents took turns guarding their home against potential attacks.
Her activism extended beyond the boycott. She once conducted a midnight mission to secure critical membership records from a civil rights group’s headquarters ahead of a police raid. Undeterred by threats, she continued to give lectures, including at traditionally white institutions like Florida State University, despite bomb threats.
In 1964, Collins returned to Howard University as a full professor, juggling her responsibilities as a scientist, educator, and mother. Her research on termites’ adaptations to arid and tropical environments became her hallmark, culminating in her contributions to the 1969 multi-author work Biology of Termites. A prolific grant writer and collaborator, she conducted research across the Americas, collecting dozens of termite specimens now housed at the Smithsonian.
Barbara Thorne, an evolutionary biologist, described Collins as being “at her best in the field,” where her enthusiasm shone brightest.
The ‘Termite Lady’
Among Collins’ most captivating discoveries were termite species with unusual defense mechanisms, such as one that sprays sticky glue from a nozzle-like structure on its head. Ware described this as “like a less-floppy elephant nose.”
Margaret S. Collins left an indelible mark on entomology and civil rights, remembered for her unwavering curiosity, resilience, and commitment to justice. Source: Science News
