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Elizabeth Dalvé: Scientific Illustrator Who Shaped Cincinnatian Paleontology

other · 2026-04-24

Bettina, whose real name was Elizabeth A. Dalvé, was an accomplished scientific illustrator and artist hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, living from 1907 to 1981. She began volunteering at the University of Cincinnati Geology Museum in 1938 and became the Acting Curator by 1945. Bettina earned her Master’s degree in 1948, presenting a thesis on the Ordovician fossils in the Cincinnati area. Her research contributed to Kenneth E. Caster’s 1955 guidebook on the region's fossils. Her illustrations appeared in several notable publications, including a 1952 geology textbook and a 2009 work titled "A Sea Without Fish." Her artwork is preserved at Carnegie-Mellon Institute and archived at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Key facts

  • Elizabeth A. Dalvé (1907–1981) was a scientific illustrator and artist in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • She volunteered at the University of Cincinnati Geology Museum in 1938 and became Acting Curator by 1945.
  • She earned a Master's degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1948.
  • Her thesis compiled a complete list of stratigraphic occurrences of fossils in the type-Cincinnatian.
  • Her faunal list was used by Kenneth E. Caster in the 1955 guidebook 'Elementary Guide to the fossils and strata of the Ordovician in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio'.
  • Her illustrations appeared in 'Geology' by von Engeln and Caster (1952) and 'A Sea Without Fish' (2009).
  • She produced hundreds of pen-and-ink drawings for 'The Woody Plants of Ohio' and 'The Monocotyledoneae'.
  • Her archives are at Cincinnati Museum Center and displayed in 'Ancient Worlds Hiding in Plain Sight'.

Entities

Artists

  • Elizabeth A. Dalvé
  • Anneliese Caster
  • Elizabeth King
  • Lucy Braun

Institutions

  • University of Cincinnati Geology Museum
  • University of Cincinnati
  • Dry Dredgers
  • Ohio Academy of Science
  • Ohio State University Press
  • Carnegie-Mellon Institute
  • Cincinnati Gardens Center
  • Cincinnati Medical Library
  • Cincinnati Museum Center

Locations

  • Cincinnati
  • Ohio
  • United States

Sources