Date of birth: 1908
Date of death: 1983
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Henrietta Noah Da Costa, PHD (1908-1983)
Henrietta Noah Da Costa was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 14, 1908 to Samuel Noah Da Costa and Jesse (Sawers) DaCosta. Samuel was a self educated jeweller who upon settling in Forest Park, IL began attending the University of Chicago Medical school. He received his doctorate and began practicing medicine wne he was about 40. Dr. Samuel DaCosta had several smart daughters. He went against the grain of the time period and educated them.
His eldest daughter, Esther Noah Da Costa, graduated with a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Chicago. His second daughter, Dora Noah Da Costa, graduated with a Baccalaureate in Chemistry from the University of Chicago. His son graduated with a law degree from the University of Chicago.
Henrietta Noah Da Costa was a prodigy who graduated from high school in 1924 at the age of 16 and went directly to the University of Chicago. She received her Baccalaureate in Science in 1928. She received her master of science degree in 1929 and her doctorate in Chemistry in 1931 at the age of 23.
Dr. Henrietta Da Costa was one of the few female chemists in the world in the 1930's. She worked for the Orange Crush factory in Chicago and a pharmaceutical company in Wisconsin.
In 1938, Dr. Da Costa married Raymond Leary and briefly retired from the academic and corporate world while raising a family. She volunteered extensively with the Chicago chapters of the Girl Scouts of America and the Catholic Church. Once her children had reached school age, Dr. Da Costa Leary taught Chemistry at Wright College.
All six of her daughters went to college. Three of them became teachers.
Dr. Da Costa Leary retired from teaching in 1976 and toured the world. She succombed to emphysema in 1983 surrounded by her daughters.

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