Sponsored by: AIA-Central Missouri (Columbia) Society
As Amelia Edwards and Kate Bradbury finished their lecture tour of the United States in 1891, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote: “Miss Edwards’ visit will do a great deal of good in teaching the men of America how learned and how winning a woman of study can be and in teaching the women of America what an authority in art, archaeology and history one of their sex can become” (March 19, 1891). Over the next few decades, two American women in particular seemed to take this to heart: Emma Andrews and Caroline Ransom Williams. Arguably influenced by the work of Edwards and Bradbury, both Andrews and Ransom Williams built and managed collections of artifacts that tens of millions of museum-goers have visited over the last 125 years. This talk will detail their lives and demonstrate the impact of women’s work in American Egyptology.