In this Book
- The Drunken Duchess of Vassar: Grace Harriet Macurdy, Pioneering Feminist Classical Scholar
- Book
- 2017
- Published by: The Ohio State University Press
summary
In this biography, Barbara McManus recovers the intriguing life story of Grace Harriet Macurdy (1866–1946), Professor of Greek at Vassar College and the first woman classicist to focus her scholarship on the lives of ancient Greco-Roman women. Fondly known as “the Drunken Duchess,” although she never drank alcohol, Macurdy came from a poor family with no social, economic, or educational advantages. Moreover, she struggled with disability for decades after becoming almost totally deaf in her early fifties. Yet she became an internationally known Greek scholar with a long list of publications and close friends as renowned as Gilbert Murray and John Masefield. Through Macurdy’s eyes and experiences, McManus examines significant issues and developments from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, such as the opening of higher education to women, the erosion of gender and class barriers in the professions, the delicate balancing act between personal and professional life required of women, the marginalized role of women’s colleges in academic politics, and changes in the discipline and profession of Classics in response to the emerging role of women and new social conditions.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Front Matter
- pp. vii-viii
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xv-xvi
- Abbreviations
- pp. xvii-xviii
- Prologue: Women at the Well
- pp. xix-xvii
- Chapter 2: Family and Childhood
- pp. 7-22
- Chapter 3: From the Annex to Vassar
- pp. 23-35
- Chapter 4: Teacher and Scholar
- pp. 36-60
- Chapter 5: Embattled
- pp. 61-77
- Chapter 6: Soldiering On
- pp. 78-96
- Chapter 7: Setting a Course
- pp. 97-122
- Chapter 8: Unconventional Families
- pp. 123-141
- Chapter 9: Fighting for Justice
- pp. 142-186
- Postscript
- pp. 247-252
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- pp. 267-274
Additional Information
ISBN
9780814274743
Related ISBN(s)
9780814213278
MARC Record
OCLC
970693710
Pages
322
Launched on MUSE
2017-02-07
Language
English
Open Access
No