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161 ______________________________________ The 1912 Congress of Americanists may have lacked the drama of the internecine quarrels of the 1902 Congress in New York, but its organization and proceedings had a remarkable polish. It was the first Congress of Americanists held in Great Britain. Maudslay was the president. Adela had several titles: Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Honorable Assistant Secretary and Treasurer, and she also acted as the General Secretary, a position that became official by passage of time. Maudslay’s opening address was eloquent. He lamented the small number of Americanists attending, but expressed confidence that the participation of those delegates would place the London congress “on an equality with those which had preceded it,” and he reminded the delegates that “in the voluminous Spanish Chapter Twenty-Five The 1912 Congress of Americanists The 18th International Congress of Americanists was opened yesterday at the Imperial Institute, South Kensington. . . . The President announced that he had received the commands of the King to convey to the delegates , members, and associates of the Congress his Majesty’s very cordial welcome to this country. —Times of London, May ,  archives there were still unknown regions waiting to be explored”—a useful reminder in light of the outbreak of revolution in Mexico that effectively prevented much travel and almost all work of outsiders (ibid.). Maudslay, rather fancifully, said that America was the Cinderella of the continents. Her elder sisters, Europe, Asia, and Africa, had monopolized nearly all the attention, and it was for this congress to play the part of fairy godmother and show what a charming and interesting personality she was (ibid.). His metaphor was not all fanciful. Work and study in Egypt and the Middle East, not to mention evidence of Roman and other ancient occupation in Britain, had occupied much of the public’s attention for decades, and work on ancient civilizations in the Americas had rather lately arrived on the scene. 162 Chapter Twenty-Five ______________________________________ The next day the Times duly reported the resumption of the meetings with the paleoanthropological section. Listed among the events was: “Miss A. Breton exhibited an implement of palaeolithic type from Ancon, on the coast of Peru” (Times of London, May 29, 1912). She concluded her paper by saying, “Owing to what seemed the necessity for copying the wonderful painted pottery from Nazca in the Lima Museum, no further search for stone implements could be made during the writer’s trip, and these rough notes are only given in the hope of exciting the interest of some expert traveler” (International Congress of Americanists 1913). The New York Times also informed its readers about the congress, although not in the detail of the 1902 Congress in New York. Not surprisingly , it focused on the delegates from the United States and Mexico, but it also mentioned a long list of learned societies that were represented , from the various countries in the Americas, which included most of Central America and South America as well. And it assured readers that “The serious business of the congress is to be enlivened by several dinners and by excursions to Cambridge and Oxford” (New York Times, May 28, 1912). Tozzer did attend, as did Gordon, Alice Fletcher, and Zelia Nuttall.The occasion must have been a grand reunion of old friends. Other guests attended, including Mrs. James; most of the delegates probably knew her, and many may have stayed in the James house in Mérida. Mrs.Tweedie, the celebrated traveler whose book Mexico as I Saw It had been a great success, also attended. Readers need not have worried that the delegates would lack social life. In addition to the almost nightly dinners and receptions, other diversions had been arranged. The Proceedings report an array of possible attractions, drawing particular attention to an exhibition at the University of London. Adela’s name and her work are prominent in the University of London exhibit. The exhibit included her copy of the Maguey map as well as “plates from the Biologia of the sculptured Chamber E, Chichen Itza, coloured from the original by Miss A. Breton” (ibid.). There also were items lent by Miss A. Breton, including: Copies of two painted panels of the Inner Chamber, Temple A., Chichen Itza, with battle scenes. Traced and coloured from the originals. Full size copy of coloured stucco relief on an ancient building at Acanceh, Yucatán; 40 feet long Water-colour sketches: Valley of Mexico; Pyramid (el Tajín) of Papantla; Ancient fortress...

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