Edith Hayward Hall Dohan (31 December 1877–14 July 1943) was an American archaeologist who earned

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

's first classical archaeology Ph.D. Hall was part of an excavation team with Harriet Boyd in her early career that most notably brought the first

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...

an and pre-Mycenaean collection to be displayed in America. Hall later wrote ''The Decorative Art of Crete'' ''in the Bronze Age'', which was published in 1906 that breaks down the evolution of the art and pottery in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Early life

On December 31, 1877, Dohan was born as Edith Hayward Hall in New Haven, Connecticut. Edith's father was Ely Ransom Hall, a teacher. Edith's mother was Mary Jane (new Smith). Edith was the second of three children with a father who attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Education

Edith attended Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, Connecticut, along with her brother and sister, where her father, Ely Hall, was the principal. Hall then attended Smith College in Northampton, MA. Her classes included Greek, Latin, and Mathematics. In 1899, Dohan received her Bachelor of Arts from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

. Hall then pursued her graduate studies at

in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. During her time at Bryn Mawr, she was awarded the Mary E. Garrett Fellowship. Hall applied for the Agnes Hoppin Memorial Fellow at the

American School of Classical Studies in Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federati ...

. She was selected for the fellowship, and started at the school in Fall of 1903. Hall was the only female student and stayed at the Merlin House, which was close to the school. Hall decided to study Mycenaean items and their patterns. Hall's time at the

American School of Classical studies The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federati ...

came to an end in 1905. In 1906, Dohan earned a PhD in classical archaeology from

. Dohan's 1907 dissertation focused on art in Bronze Age Crete.

Gournia, 1904

In February, 1904, Richard Seager sent Edith Hall news via telegram that she was invited to join Harriet Boyd in

Gournia Gournia () is the site of a Minoan palace complex in the Lasithi regional unit on the island of Crete, Greece. Its modern name originated from the many stone troughs that are at the site and its original name for the site is unknown.Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. While working with Boyd, Dohan was to work as Boyd's assistant due to people looking down on a single female working alongside many men. Hall was able to receive a grant from the American Exploration Society specifically to be in

Gournia Gournia () is the site of a Minoan palace complex in the Lasithi regional unit on the island of Crete, Greece. Its modern name originated from the many stone troughs that are at the site and its original name for the site is unknown. Upon arriving to Crete, Boyd realized that Hall was the ideal candidate for an assistant. Hall came onto the excavation site with knowledge of the Greek language and her previous studies, of

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

and

Mycenaean pottery Mycenaean pottery is the pottery tradition associated with the Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean period in Ancient Greece. It encompassed a variety of styles and forms including the stirrup jar. The term "Mycenaean" comes from the site Mycenae, and was ...

designs, which meant she did not need much training compared to other candidates. Once returning to their original dig site, Boyd hired "about one hundred local men" to work alongside Boyd and Hall to help. While the workers were digging throughout the day, Hall's day consisted of "arriving to the field by 7:30 A.M., her and Boyd would direct men until they broke at around 11:00... Hall would return at 3:00 and stay until sunset... followed by a swim in the sea before dinner, would conclude her day." Hall and Boyd would have other obligations due to being women in their dig group. They would need to participate in local events, such as attending weddings or funerals, in order to gain favor of the locals to be able to dig for future years. During Hall's time at the dig site, she would have to take notes on where any object was found, how deep they were underground, and clean them in

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...

to be photographed and placed in scrapbooks documenting their findings. After spending time at Boyd's dig site, Hall asked Boyd if she could have her own dig site. Boyd obliged, and gave Hall a site that was thought to be unimportant land in the main digging sites. Following her procedures of recording place and depth at her old digging site. Since Boyd could not afford to give more people to work on a "waste dump" area of the digging grounds, only Hall, a first year student Leslie Shear and another woman named Miss Boyle worked on the site. In the early weeks of digging at her new site, she discovered thousands of shards of pottery, but after several weeks, Hall discovered there was not a correlation between depth and age and finding that the shards she had been uncovering dated back to around 2000 B.C. Spending more time on this dig site, Hall was able to recover "twenty thousand vase fragments, but only five joints were made." From all of the findings at Hall's dig site, she "received an invitation to present her findings at the International Archaeological Congress in Athens in early 1905." Hall's dig ended in the later half of May, 1905. Boyd and Hall shipped their findings to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

which ended up forming the first Mycenaean and pre-Mycenaean collection to be displayed in America.

Career

In 1908, Dohan started her career as an instructor of classical archaeology at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

. During her time at Mount Holyoke College Hall was allowed to return to Crete to continue her excavations during the Spring semesters and taught during the Fall. Dohan went to two sites in Crete working through

Penn Museum The Penn Museum is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City, Philadelphia, University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and Sout ...

in 1910 and 1912. Her time teaching at Mount Holyoke College came to an end in 1912 but Hall would return in 1913 to give a guest presentation. In 1912, Dohan became the assistant curator of the Mediterranean Section at the

. In 1921, Hall returned to

to become a part time instructor. In 1920, Dohan became a consultant for the Penn Museum and later in 1930 she became the associate curator. In 1942, Dohan became the curator at the University Museum at University of Pennsylvania. Dohan later went on to do noteworthy work on ancient

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and at points visited

. Later in life she became interested in the

Etruscan civilization The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

. She published an important corpus of Italic tomb groups held in the collection of the

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology The Penn Museum is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and South Streets. Housing over 1.3 mi ...

Personal life

On May 12, 1915, Dohan married Joseph M. Dohan, a lawyer and gentleman farmer. Dohan's children were David Hayward Warrington Dohan and Katharine Elizabeth Dohan. In 1939, Dohan's daughter, Katharine Elizabeth Dohan, married Sir

Denys Lionel Page Sir Denys Lionel Page (11 May 19086 July 1978) was a British classicist and textual critic who served as the 34th Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and the 35th Master of Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for ...

, an Englishman. On July 14, 1943, Dohan died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Awards

While attending Bryn Mawr, Hall was awarded the Mary E. Garrett Fellowship. Hall was also awarded the Agnes Hoppin Memorial Fellowship of the

in 1903.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall Dohan, Edith American archaeologists American women archaeologists Bryn Mawr College alumni Smith College alumni Mount Holyoke College faculty 1877 births 1943 deaths American women academics