Fannie Hardy Eckstorm and Her Quest for Local Knowledge, 1865–1946 reveals an important story which speaks directly to contemporary issues as historians of science, social science, and humanities begin to re-evaluate the nature, content, and role of indigenous and folk knowledge systems. Eckstorm's life and work illustrate the constant tension between local lay knowledge and the more privileged scientific production of academics that increasingly dominated the field from the early twentieth century.