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The 1912 Congress of Americanists would mark a milestone. Forty years later, in 1952, when England next hosted a congress, J. Eric Thompson (no relation to Edward Thompson), the president of that congress, would reflect back with humor and more than a tinge of melancholy. The world has traveled far since 1912, but in many respects, I am afraid, the direction has not been forward. That year was close to the end of a more gracious era. In reading of the social activities in connection with the 18th Congress one gets an impression of more spacious days when amenities in international relations , now largely disappeared from the world, made life smoother and more friendly. (International Congress of Americanists 1953) Chapter Twenty-Six Aftermath I want very much to get on with my own work + see about publishing my fresco copies + the Acanceh reliefs, + then to do some field work before I am too old. The years pass so quickly. —Adela Breton to Charles Bowditch, December ,  The 1912 congress was both a major event in Adela’s career and a turning point for her on a number of levels. The 1902 congress had brought her work to the attention of the Americanist world. In the intervening decade she had grown professionally. She had become a presence as an Americanist. She had been essential to the organizing and planning of the congress and a major participant on the professional level. That involvement presented her to her colleagues in a different light and changed her direction. She was recognized for her dual role with the Americanists: as active participant and highly competent organizer. And there had been the personal aspect as well—the colleagues, being in the center of events, meeting new people, and seeing “everyone” in London. After 1912 her work increasingly intersected with the work of other colleagues. Prior to that her copying and writing tended to be stand-alone 167 ______________________________________ 168 Chapter Twenty-Six ______________________________________ efforts. That now changed. She continued to do copies for other people and accept commissions, but increasingly she was called on for suggestions , advice, and commentary. In some projects she was more of a colleague and less of an assistant or illustrator. Authors used her work. Joyce used her drawings of two Peruvian pots as the frontispiece of his book on Mexican archaeology. Of greater concern was the possibility of her work simply being used without her consent. “Dr Spinden’s book [A Study of Maya Art: Its Subject Matter and Historical Development] is a careful + laborious compilation of all the well-known sculptures , etc. but I do not see much that is new, nor that treats of the actual Art. I do not think it was fair to publish the ‘Sun-Disk’ in the Chichen fresco” (AB to Gordon, June 10, 1913, PA: Director’s Office). Adela is being harsh on Spinden in the above quote. His book is heavily illustrated, and Spinden carefully attributed the sources of each illustration, including other illustrations of hers. The Sun Disk (figure 129, p. 92) may have been the only oversight. Her knowledge and ideas were valued. Colleagues increasingly recognized her as an important source of information. She had traveled widely, studying a broad range of museum collections, and she had an excellent visual memory. Gordon of the Pennsylvania Museum frequently sought her opinion on the purchase of collections with respect both to the contents and the price. The congress and her work on it were a catalyst for Adela; her orientation was considerably different from what it had been three years earlier. Her letters from this time onward reflect her broader range of interests, including other congresses, particularly those about prehistoric man; other ancient civilizations; linguistic questions; and publications . Many letters include a certain amount of gossip—with more names than before. After a short rest Adela plunged into the next phase of work on the congress—sorting out the papers and editing them into the Report of the Proceedings. In compiling the Proceedings she worked with an editorial committee that made decisions about what would be included and what left out, but as she remarked to Gordon, she had all the drudgery. And drudgery it must have been. Her correspondence for the next few months is primarily concerned with editorial matters, particularly trying to round up papers, translations, maps, and so on. Although Franz Boas in New York was coeditor, the work fell largely on Adela. In August Adela went to...

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