RFI past cecropia researcher

[lday at iquest.net]

I am reposting this RFI (request for information) in case it missed
somebody; I got no replies the first time.  You may respond to me or
the list as you wish.  Thank you!

Could anyone verify (or rebut) my parent's memory of the following:

At Cornell University, between 1958-1963, there was a professor 
working on cecropia moths.  We think he was named Singer, and that 
the work involved hormones, but not certain.

Anyhow, apparently this man's grad students always become allergic to 
the moths.  (I don't know if it was the larva, pupa, or adult.)  
My folks say that the man's students could only work on this project 
for about a year before becoming severely allergic to cecropia 
and having to quit handling or being near them.  The allergies
supposedly looked like a bad case of poison ivy and were excruciating.  

I haven't been able to find reports of anyone else having this problem. 
Did this really happen?   (Do you remember the researcher, or have any 
personal knowledge of the situation?)
Has anyone else ever heard of other people becoming allergic to cecropia?

Thank you all....

Liz Day
LDAY at iquest.net 
Indianapolis, Indiana, central USA, 40 N latitude, zone 5.
"Land O'Larvae"