1923 Archaeology Lecture at Wiawaka

During 1923, visitors to Wiawaka were treated to two lectures by Dr. Jenkins who formerly taught at the Skidmore School of the Arts (later Skidmore College):

We always took advantage of any especial opportunity such as having with us Dr. Jenkins, formerly of the Skidmore School, Saratoga. She gave us a most interesting talk on the life of Turkish women, of which she could speak with knowledge from her own experience in Turkey; and on another evening she talked on Archaeology, which surprised the girls as being exceedingly interesting. -- House Mother's Report,Wiawaka Annual Report 1923-24 (emphasis mine!)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday; we're back to regular weekly posts.

Conference on NYS History 2012 Call for Papers: Retreat Spaces for Women

We seek a third paper on women’s spaces of leisure and/or retreat in New York State for a panel session at the 2012 Conference on New York State History, being held at Niagara University on June 14-16, 2012. We are also seeking a chair/commentator.

This session will explore places and spaces in New York State where women have spent time outside the bounds of their ordinary day-to-days lives, and what these places of retreat offer historians of women. Monica Mercado’s paper examines the experiences of women attending the Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven, in Plattsburgh NY. Modeled on the Chautauqua movement, the Catholic Summer School functioned as a co-ed site that allowed women to participate--albeit temporarily--in a new upper middle-class intellectual and cultural life during the 1890s. Megan Springate’s paper explores the history of Wiawaka Holiday House, the oldest continuously operating women's retreat in the United States. Founded in 1903 as a place where women working in nearby textile mills could escape the city for a vacation at discounted prices, Wiawaka is currently the subject of an archaeology project Springate is conducting at Lake George, NY.

Diverse theoretical perspectives and innovative methodological approaches to the topic are welcomed. We are also open to research from any time period in New York State history. Potential sites of interest include women's social clubs, artist's retreats, YWCA's, women's sports teams, and scouting.

If you wish to be a panelist, please submit an abstract of up to 300 words, your paper title, and a short biographical paragraph to meganspringate@gmail.com by Thursday, December 15. If you are interested in serving as a commentator, simply contact us. Our panel proposal is due to the conference organizers by the end of December.

Best, Monica and Megan

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Monica Mercado
PhD Candidate, Department of History
Fellow, Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality University of Chicago

Megan E. Springate, RPA
Doctoral Student, Department of Anthropology
University of Maryland