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274 Edith Hayward Hall Dohan (1879–1943) Katherine Dohan Morrow as one of the first american women to become a ‹eld archaeologist, Edith Hall Dohan excavated in Crete, on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, at Gournia (1904), Sphoungaras (1910), and Vrokastro (1912). She was instrumental in collecting and cataloging materials for the Mediterranean Section at the University Museum established a short time before, under the direction of Sarah Yorke Stevenson. In her lifetime, Hall published more than ‹fty articles and four books. Her repertoire of knowledge ranged from Minoan and Mycenaean decoration to classical Greek sculpture and vase painting to Etruscan tombs and later Roman statues. Edith Hall’s “love of all things Greek” infused every aspect of her life. Her abundant letters to her parents and to her beloved older sister, Anne, convey this philhellenic philosophy. She was a superior correspondent, writing letters in the form of week-long diaries. These letters offer a glimpse of life, in Athens and at the excavation site, for a woman archaeologist in the early 1900s. Her poetic descriptions and honest evaluations paint a vivid picture of her undertakings in Greece and on Crete. R The Early Years, 1877–1903 Edith Hall Dohan was born on New Year’s Eve 1877 in New Haven, Connecticut , the second of three children and the youngest daughter. She was very close to her older sister, Anne, who, to judge by her letters, served as con‹dante and friend in a family in which emotions were kept to oneself. Edith Hall grew up in a household strictly administered by a tyrannical yet loving father, Ely Ransom Hall, a Yale graduate and mathematics teacher who bestowed upon his children an unwavering belief in the importance of a ‹ne education and a well-founded Christian ethic. He instilled the “Emersonian ideal of plain living and high thinking” in all his children.1 In 1888, Ely Hall became principal of the then ‹nancially strapped Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, Connecticut. During his twenty-six years in that position he pulled the school out of an economic and academic slump, turning it into one of the ‹nest secondary schools in New England . Along with her brother and sister, Hall attended Woodstock Academy , where she excelled academically. She also exhibited a tomboyish nature and an unquenchable zest for sports that would later prove their worth in Greece and Crete. She loved horseback riding and also rode her bicycle whenever possible. In addition, she enjoyed tennis, but golf was an obsession. Her niece, many years later, recalled stories of Hall pedaling furiously down the Woodstock sidewalks with her golf clubs strapped across the handlebars of her bike. Pedestrians had to jump out of the way of her wide load as she breathlessly fought to arrive in time to tee off. Such physical exertion certainly helped prepare her for the rigors of life at an excavation. Hall’s love of the Greek language and culture ‹rst became apparent at the Woodstock Academy under the tutelage of her father. She graduated with a “love of classic literature” and a “moral accountability of herself.”2 Although many of the graduating girls married local farmers and businessmen rather than attending college, Hall chose to follow an independent route and entered Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Out of three majors offered at that time at Smith, Hall selected the “Classical edith hayward hall dohan 275 Course” as her major. Her classes included Greek, Latin, Mathematics, Biblical Literature, English, Physiology, and Elocution. Along with her academic pursuits, Hall found time to appear in a number of dramatic productions as well. She graduated with honors in 1899.3 Study and Travel 1903 and 1904 After graduation, Hall returned to Woodstock to teach alongside her father. But it did not take long for her to realize that she needed to expand her horizons. Teaching on a secondary level left her unful‹lled. Graduate studies brought her to Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. There, in the Department of Classical Archaeology, she began intense studies of Greek, Latin, and Greek archaeology. The college has no record of her professors’ names, but, as she wrote to her sister, Anne, “Miss Jordan is democratic and interested in every individual girl. Miss Thomas is aristocratic and critical.”4 Hall thrived at Bryn Mawr and grew to “love Greek more everyday.”5 She was among young women who had also decided to devote themselves to higher learning, and she consequently developed many close friendships...

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