Harriet Boyd Hawes (October 11, 1871 – March
31, 1945) was a pioneering American archaeologist, nurse and relief worker. She
is best known as the first director of an archaeological excavation to discover
and excavate a Minoan settlement and palace site on the Aegean island of Crete.
After working as a
teacher for four years, she followed her passion for Greece and its ancient
culture, starting graduate work at the American School of Classical Studies in
the Greek capital Athens. During her stay in Greece she also served as a
volunteer nurse in Thessaly during the Greco-Turkish War. She asked her
professors to be allowed to participate in the school's archaeological
fieldwork, but instead was encouraged to become an academic librarian.
Frustrated by lack of support, she took the remainder of her fellowship and
went on her own in search of archeological remains on the island of Crete. This
was a courageous decision, as Crete was only just emerging from the war and was
far from safe. Hawes soon became well known for her expertise in the field of
archaeology. For four months in the spring of 1900, she led an excavation at
Kavousi, during which she discovered settlements and cemeteries of Late Minoan
IIIC, Early Iron Age, and Early Archaic date (1200-600 BC) at the sites of
Vronda and Kastro. During that same campaign she dug a test trench at the site
of Azoria, the most important Ancient Greek (i.e. post-Minoan) site in the
region, evidently an early city (c. 700-500 BC). Azoria is now under renewed
excavation as part of a major five-year project.
Later the same
year, Hawes returned to the United States. She accepted a position at Smith
College teaching Greek Archaeology in late 1900 and subsequently received her
M.A. from Smith in 1901. She taught at Smith until 1905, interspersing her time
there with frequent trips abroad for archaeological excursions.
Between 1901 and
1904, while on leave of absence from Smith, Harriet Boyd Hawes returned to
Crete, where she discovered and excavated the Minoan town at Gournia. Hawes was
the first woman to direct a major field project in Greece, her crew consisting
of over 100 workers. She was assisted by Edith Dohan Hall. In 1902, she
described her discovery during a lecture tour of the United States and was the
first woman to speak before the Archaeological Institute of America. The report
of her findings, titled Vasiliki and Other Prehistoric Sites on the Isthmus of
Hierapetra, was published in 1908 by the American Exploration Society. She
excavated many more Bronze and Iron Age settlements in the Aegean and became a
recognized authority on the area. In 1910, Smith College bestowed on her an
honorary doctorate.
Between 1920 and
her retirement in 1936, she lectured at Wellesley College on pre-Christian art.
In 1915, Hawes went
to Corfu with supplies for soldiers in the Serbian Army wounded in World War I.
In 1916, she helped the wounded in France and a year later she founded and was
the first director of the Smith College Relief Unit in France. She held this
title for three years during which time she worked as a nurse's aide at the
YMCA. After her return home, she continued her support for the war effort by
giving fund-raising lectures on behalf of the Smith College Relief Unit.
During one trip to
Crete, she met Charles Henry Hawes, an English anthropologist and archaeologist
who later became the associate-director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. They
were married on March 3, 1906, and nine months later their son, Alexander Boyd
Hawes, was born. A daughter, Mary Nesbit Hawes, followed in August 1910.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength
d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Healing d8, Intimidation d8, Investigation
d8, Knowledge (archaeology) d10, Notice d8,
Persuasion d8
Charisma: 2; Pace: 6; Parry: 2; Sanity:
6; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Heroic, Pacifist (Minor), Vow (Minor- Hippocratic
Oath)
Edges: Alertness, Charismatic, Command, Healer, Quick
Gear: Uniform, medical supplies.
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