maternal grandfather was a doctor, and her father served as the superintendent of a school for deaf children. Even though her parents died within days of each other in 1899, by that time her family situation had allowed her to pursue a post-secondary education and further a career in academia. She served as a high school teacher in Columbus, Ohio even while continuing graduate work at the State University and at the same time "keeping up a home for [her younger] brothers." She left Ohio to continue her study of paleontology full time at Yale beginning in early 1903. She was one of four children, her sister being Dr. Ellen Bliss Talbot, a professor of philosophy at the same college -- Mount Holyoke College -- as Mignon, and two brothers, Herbert S. Talbot and Benjamin Talbot. Throughout her years of university, she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, serving on the national council of that organization, and Phi Beta Kappa. After her successful career as a paleontologist and professor, she retired in Stevens House, South Hadley. References Further reading External links Lost Dinosaur American geologists American paleontologists Mount Holyoke College faculty People from Iowa City, Iowa 1869 births 1950 deaths Women paleontologists Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Yale University alumni