Carleton E. Watkins (Oneonta, New York, 1829 - 1916, Imola, California)
Elizabeth Cabot Cary Agassiz, about 1880
Albumen print on card, 16.8 x 11 cm (6 5/8 x 4 5/16 in.)
Vatichino
Commentary
Elizabeth Cabot Cary Agassiz was a scholar and pioneer of women’s education in the United States and a friend of Isabella Stewart Gardner's. Agassiz was essential in transforming women’s education at Harvard University, which started with professors providing private instruction for ladies through what was called the “Harvard Annex.” It was likely through the Annex that Isabella could take classes with Charles Eliot Norton. Through her fundraising efforts and advocacy, Agassiz contributed to transforming this informal continuing education program into a formal and permanent college. As her letters to Gardner indicate, Isabella was one of the people whom she recruited to give to the cause: “I am truly obliged for your…generosity to the Annex."