Ida Thallon Hill Papers

COLLECTION OVERVIEW

Collection Number: GR ASCSA ITH 008
Name (s) of Creator (s): Ida Thallon Hill (1875-1954)
Title: Ida Thallon Hill Papers
Date [bulk]: 1890-1954
Date [inclusive]:
Language(s): English
Summary: The collection contains correspondence, journals and notebooks, drafts for books and articles, and photos. The bulk of the material dates from 1899-1954, with a big gap from 1901-1920, when Ida Thallon Hill was living in the United States. It is divided into five series: Series I. Correspondence; Series II. Journals, Notebooks and Accounts; Series III. Manuscripts; Series IV. Photographs; and Series V. Miscellaneous.
Quantity: 1.50 linear meters
Immediate Source of Acquisition: Originally housed at the Blegen house at 9 Ploutarchou, the Ida Thallon Hill papers were transferred to the ASCSA when the house was sold, after the death of Carl Blegen in 1971.
Information about Access: The papers are catalogued and available for research. In addition, researchers may consult the information in the digitized folders but for permission to publish, or any other information concerning the Ida THallon Hill Papers, please contact the Department of Archives of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
Cite as: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Archives, Ida Thallon Hill Papers
Notes: The papers were first processed by Natalia Vogeikoff in 1996 for the writing of a biographical essay about IdaThallon Hill which appeared in Women in Archaeology: The Classical World and the Ancient Near East (ed. Getzel Cohen and Martha S. Joukowski), available at http://www.brown.edu/Research/Breaking_Ground/. The photographs on Box 7 were processed by Jennifer Bakatselou in 2014. The diaries in Box 4 were digitized by Jennifer Bakatselou in 2022.

For more information, please contact the ARCHIVES at:
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
54 Souidias Street
Athens 106 76
Greece
Phone: 213 000 2400 (ext. 425 or 414) or contact by E-mail

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Ida Carleton Thallon was born August 11, 1875 in Brooklyn, a daughter of John and Grace Green Thallon. She came from Packer Collegiate Institute to Vassar College, where she received her A.B. degree in 1897 and her M.A. in 1901. In 1899-1901 she was a student in the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. From 1903-1905 she studied at Columbia University, which conferred the degree of Ph.D upon her in 1905. Her teaching experience was all at Vasar, but, remarkably, in three subjects: Greek, 1901-1903; Latin, 1906-1907; History, 1907-1924. Her subsequent marriage (1924) to the distinguished archaeologist, Bert Hodge Hill, and her departure to Athens terminated her teaching career at Vassar.

Her first publication came from her student days in Athens. While there, Ida and her friend Lida Shaw King, with two men students of the American School excavated a cave sacred to Pan and the Nymphs at Vari, and the marble reliefs found in it were published by Ida Thallon in the American Journal of Archaeology 7 (1903). Next, in 1906, came her doctoral dissertation, The Date of Damophon of Messene. She published Readings in Greek History (1914), Rome of the Kings (1925), and, in collaboration with Lida Shaw King, Decorated Architectural Terracottas in the Corinth Series of the American School (IV, I, 1929). Just before her death (1954), her new book The Ancient City of Athens (1953) was published. Hill also left a nearly finished manuscript of another book on ancient Greek sites outside Athens.

She is burried in the Protestant Corner of the First Cemetery in Athens.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection contains correspondence, journals and notebooks, drafts for books and articles, and photos. The bulk of the material dates from 1899-1954, with a big gap from 1901-1920, when Ida Thallon Hill was living in the States. It is divided into five series: Series I. Correspondence; Series II. Journals, Notebooks and Accounts; Series III. Manuscripts; Series IV. Photographs; and Series V. Miscellaneous.

Series I. Correspondence contains incoming correspondence and some copies of Thallon Hill’s replies. Letters and cards from her friend Elizabeth Hazel Haight, professor at Vassar College, form large part of the correspondence. Of special interest are the letters of Elizabeth Pierce Blegen, since they reflect the close and intimate relationship between the two women. The majority of the letters from her husband date from World War II, when Bert Hodge Hill was living in Greece by himself. The correspondence with her mother contains carbon typescript copies of Ida’s letters sent to her mother during her first year in Greece (1899-1900). The copies were made later -we do not know when and for what reason- and it is very likely that Ida was responsible for their creation. Other correspondence with her immediate family is missing.

Series II. Journals, Notebooks, and Accounts contains her journals from 1899-1901 and 1921-1954. Journals from the period of her graduate studies and her years as a Professor at Vassar College are missing. The earliest journal dates from 1890 and contains poems. The rest of the notebooks contain notes from lectures and visits to sites and museums.

Series III. Manuscripts contains typescript drafts and manuscript notes concerning her book The Ancient City of Athens; typescripts, photos, notes and correspondence about her other book entitled Fifty Years of Excavations which was never published; a manuscript of a paper entitled “The Antonine Wall in Scotland,”; and a typescript entitled “Some Archaeological Notes on Beowulf.”

Series IV. Photographs contains photos of herself, her family, and friends, as well as photos and postcards from archaeological sites and museums which Ida Thallon Hill most likely visited. Of interest are a few early photos from Gšttingen and Rotterdam which Ida visited on her way to Greece in 1899.

Series V. Miscellaneous includes some personal items, such as Ida Thallon Hill’s Greek identity card of 1937, a curriculum vitae, etc. This series also contains material concerning Ida Thallon’s death, such as death certificates, a necrology, obituaries, and photographs of her grave in Athens.

CONTAINER LIST

Series I: Correspondence

Box 1
Folder 1-8: Elizabeth Hazelton Haight

Box 2
Folder 1-4: Bert Hodge Hill
Folder 5: Grace H. Macurdy
Folder 6-7: Elizabeth Pierce (Blegen)

Box 3
Folder 1-2: Elizabeth Pierce (Blegen)
Folder 3: Mrs. Thallon (Ida’s mother)
Folder 4: Various correspondence related to B. H. Hill’s resignation
Folder 5: Various people

Series II: Journals, Notebooks, and Financial Accounts

Box 4
Journals 1899-1942
Journal with poetry (1890) [digitized]
Journal #1, 1899-1900 [July 25, 1899-May 6, 1900] [digitized]
Journal #2, 1900 [No specific dates] “American School, Athens” [digitized]
Journal #3, 1900-1901 [May 6, 1900-March 10, 1901] [digitized]
Journal #4, 1901 [January 4, 1900-March 8, 1901] “Epigraphy Notes, American School, Athens” [digitized]
Journal #5, 1901-1902 [March 11, 1901-September 23, 1902] [digitized]
Journal #6, 1913 [July 23, 1913] “Museums in Italy” [digitized]
Journal #7, 1913 [July 23, 1913-August 14, 1913] “Italy, 1913: Museums” (page numbering starts again from 35 on the reverse) [digitized]
Journal #8, 1913 [July 22, 1913-August 11, 1913] “Italy, Diary I” [digitized]
Journal #9, 1913 [August 12, 1913-August 27, 1913] “Italy, Diary II” [digitized]
Journal #10, 1913 [August 27, 1913-September 1, 1913] “Italy, Diary III” [digitized]
Journal #11, 1921 [July 10, 1921-August 11, 1921] “Italy and Greece I, 1921” [digitized]
Journal #12, 1921 [August 12, 1921-September 17, 1921] “Italy and Greece II, 1921” [digitized]
Journal #13, 1923 [February 21, 1923-April 3, 1923/ two other entries from June 24 and July 3] “Italy, 1923” [digitized]
Journal #14, 1923 [April 21, 1923-June 20, 1923] “Greece, 1923” [digitized]
Journal #15, 1924-1926 [October 6, 1924-May 29, 1926] “American School, Athens” [digitized]
Journal #16, 1926-1927 [May 21, 1926-September 6, 1927] “American School, Athens” [digitized]
Journal #17, 1927-1928 [September 7, 1927-October 26, 1928] “Athens” [digitized]
Journal #18, 1928-1929 [October 27, 1928-October 24, 1929] [digitized]
Journal #19, 1929-1930 [October 2, 1929-May 14, 1930] [digitized]
Journal #20, 1930-1931 [May 15, 1930-February 17, 1931] [digitized]
Journal #21, 1931 [February 18, 1931-October 25, 1931] [digitized]
Journal #22, 1931-1932 [October 26, 1931-March 31, 1932] [digitized]
Journal #23, 1932-1933 [April 1, 1932-September 3, 1933] [digitized]
Journal #24, 1933-1934 [September 4, 1933-April 7, 1934] [digitized]
Journal #25, 1934 [April 8, 1934-September 18, 1934] [digitized]
Journal #26, 1934-1935 [September 19, 1934-April 15, 1935] [digitized]
Journal #27, 1935 [April 16, 1935-October 27, 1935] [digitized]
Journal #28, 1935-1936 [October 28, 1935-June 13, 1936] [digitized]
Journal #29, 1936-1937 [June 13, 1936-January 8, 1937] [digitized]
Journal #30, 1937 [January 9, 1937-July 14, 1937] [digitized]
Journal #31, 1937 [July 15, 1937, December 31, 1937] “1937 (2)” [digitized]
Journal #32, 1938 [January 1, 1938-September 13, 1938] [digitized]
Journal #33, 1938-1939 [September 14, 1938-September 26, 1939] [digitized]
Journal #34, 1939-1940 [September 27, 1939-March 28, 1940] [digitized]
Journal #35, 1940 [March 29, 1940-December 31, 1940] [digitized]
Journal #36, 1941 [January 1, 1941-September 12, 1941] [digitized]
Journal #37, 1941-1942 [September 13, 1941-June 13, 1942] [digitized]

Note: Researchers may consult the information in the digitized folders but for permission to publish, or any other information concerning the Ida THallon HIll, please contact the Department of Archives of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Box 5
Notebooks, Journals, and Ledgers 1908-1954
Notebook #1, 19?? [August 1-August 4, 19??] Professor [W. M. Flinders] Petrie, Prehistoric Period, lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #2, 1908 [January 16, 1908-February 20, 1908] Mr. [E.B.] Abrahams, Greek Colonies, lecture notes / Reverse side, The Northern Element in Greek Architecture and Sculpture, The Cambridge Review, William Ridgway lecture summary [digitized]
Notebook #3, 1915 Greek [No specific date] “Dr. [Reginald] Macan” lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #4, 1915 Greek [July 31, 1915] “Mr. Marriott” The Greek Polity, lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #5, 1915 Greek [July 31, 1915] “Mr. Temple” Plato, lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #6, 1915 Greek [No specific date] “Mr. Holborn, Professor [Percy] Gardner, Mr. Richards” lecture notes / Reverse side, Mr. Marriott lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #7, 1915 Greek [No specific date] “Professor [Gilbert] Murray: Greek Tragedy”/Reverse side “Mr. [Robert Henry Underwood?] Bloor: Comedy” lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #8, 1915 Greek [No specific date] “Professor [Gilbert] Murray: Epic, Stoics, and Epicureans” lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #9, 1916 Russia [No specific date] “Russia 1916” The Russian Church by Dr. [Walter] Frere, lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #10, 1916 Russia [No specific date] Professor Vinogradoff, lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #11, 1918? [No specific date] “Miscellaneous: Dr. Mahaffy, Mr. Smith, Prof. de Sumichrast, Miss Hugon, Mr. Gow” lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #12, 1918? [August 7, 1918?] “Mr. Burns”/ Reverse side “Dean [William R.] Inge, Mr. Livingston” lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #13, 1919-1920? [No specific date]“Dr. [Philip] Wicksteed”/Reverse side, “Dr. [Lewis] Farnell” Greek Mysteries, lecture notes [digitized]
Notebook #14, 1920 Spain, Notes on Cambridge [July 30, 1920-August 18, 1920] “Cambridge July 30-Aug.18” [digitized]
Notebook #15, 1920 Spain [no specific date] Multi- lecturers: Sir Arthur Hardinge, Señor Pastor, Don Francisco del la Barra, Mr. Chaytor, Mr. Blakeney, Prof. Yahuda, Mr. F.A. Kirkpatrick, Mr. F. W. Buckler, Dr. Draper, Domício da Gama [digitized]
Notebook #16, 1920 Spain [no specific date] Multi-lecturers: Professor [Roger] Merriman, Rev. Canon [J.H.B.] Masterman, Dean of Winchester [William Holden Hutton], Rev. Mr. James? Hutchinson [digitized]
Notebook #17, 1920 Spain [no specific date] Professor Rose lectures [digitized]
Notebook #18, 1922 [January 26, 1922] Museum Notes, [Josef] Stryzgowski lecture on Origin of Early Christian Art [digitized]
Notebook #19, 1923 [March 20, 1923-June 25, 1923] “Italy Notes 1923” [digitized]
Notebook #20, 1923 [April 24, 1923-May 26, 1923*] “Greece Notes 1923”, *two additional entries on June 1 and June 4, 1926 [digitized]
Notebook #21, 1923 [July 7, 1922-June 23, 1923] “Greece Notes 1923” [digitized]
Notebook #22, 1925 Greek [August 1, 1925] “Lectures by Professor [Gilbert] Murray, 1925” [digitized]

Ledger #23, 1941-1942 [January 1, 1941-February 28, 1942] “1941 and Jan.-Feb. 1942”

Journal #24, 1942-1943 [June 14, 1942-May 24, 1943]
Journal #25, 1943-1944 [May 25, 1943-April 29, 1944]

Ledger #26, 1944-1946 [May 1, 1944-August 31, 1946]

Journal #27, 1944-1945 [April 30, 1944-March 21, 1945]
Journal #28, 1945-1946 [March 22, 1945-March 7, 1946]
Journal #29, 1946-1947 [March 8, 1946-March 10, 1947]
Journal #30, 1947-1948 [March 11, 1947-January 20, 1948]
Journal #31, 1948-1949 [January 21, 1948-February 17, 1949]
Journal #32, 1949 [February 18, 1949-December 3, 1949]
Journal #33, 1949-1950 [December 4, 1949-October 20, 1950]
Journal #34, 1950-1952 [October 21, 1950-May 21, 1952]
Journal #35, 1952-1953 [May 22, 1952-April 10, 1953]
Journal #36, 1953-1954 [April 11, 1953-March 13, 1954]
Journal #37, 1954 [March 14, 1954-October 30, 1954]

Series III: Manuscripts

Box 6
Folder 1: The Ancient City of Athens (drafts, notes, etc.)
Folder 2: The Ancient City of Athens (cont’d)
Folder 3: The Ancient City of Athens (cont’d)
Folder 4: Fifty Years of Excavations (draft, notes, related correspondence)
Folder 5: Other manuscripts

Series IV: Photographs

Box 7
Folder 1: Self-portraits - [digitized]
1. Baby portrait circa 1876, artist G. Frank and E. Pearsall, Brooklyn, NY
2. Toddler portrait, artist L. G. Wundy, Utica, NY
3. Toddler portrait
4. Self-portrait, artist Dana, Brooklyn, NY
5. Round self-portrait
6. Self-portrait
7. Self-photo, black and white set in gold-plated round frame
8. Graduation photo
9. Graduation photo
10. Graduation portrait
11. Photograph by Wolven, 1915
12. Self-portrait, artist Albany Art Union
13. Self-portrait, artist Albany Art Union
14. Photo of Ida Thallon and Elizabeth Pierce 1920’s? at Alumnae House, Vassar College
15. Vassar College, main gate
16. Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College
17. Two girls, artist Cole & Co. Asbury Park, NJ
18. Two gentlemen, artist Cole & Co. Asbury Park, NJ
19. Class of 1874, Vassar College circa 1924
20. Class of 1878, Vassar College circa 1924
21. Class of 1897, Vassar College circa 1924, Ida Thallon
22. Duplicate of photo #21
23. Duplicate of photo #21
24. Class of 1897, Vassar College circa 1924, Ida Thallon
25. Duplicate of photo #24
26. Three young girls, 1924
27. Class of 1898, Vassar College circa 1924
28. Matte drawing in pencil, portrait Ida Thallon, Trefusis, Cyprus, 1932
29. Gloss drawing in pencil, portrait Ida Thallon, Trefusis, Cyprus, 1932
30. Self-portrait
31. Self-portrait
32. Self-portrait
33. Self-portrait, Velox paper
34. Framed photo of Ida Thallon
35. Ida Thallon with parents at Vassar College
36. Photo Ida Thallon
37. Photo Ida Thallon and friend
38. Photo Ida Thallon and friend w/duplicates
38a. Enlarged duplicate of photo #38
38b. Enlarged duplicate of photo #38
39. Large photo of Ida Thallon at Alumnae House, Vassar College

Folder 2: Family - [digitized]
40. G. Macurdy, circa June 1937
41. Philip and John, Helen and Joanne Davis
42. Elizabeth Pierce with her mother?
43. Elizabeth Pierce with her mother? ?
44. ?
45. ?
46. ?
47. ?
48. Lady’s portrait, artist Gustave Lorey, Albany, NY, 1914
49. Lady’s portrait, artist Gustave Lorey, Albany, NY, 1916
50. Lady’s sketch portrait by R.W. Brown & Son
51. Lady’s portrait by Moffett
52. G.J. Russell, Eirene Russell, Mrs. Morris, Edith, REM, REM Jr., Mrs. REM Jr., REM III in
lap, Mother Grace, April 1934
53. Mrs. T. Morris & Raymond III
54. Gt. Grandmother Thallon & Raymond III
55. Mrs. T. Morris Sr. & Raymond III
56. REM III
57. GEM and Raymond III
58. REM Jr., Mrs. REM Jr., REM III
59. REM Jr. & REM III
60. Mrs. REM Jr., REM Jr. REM III
61. REM III Christening party 1934
62. Ida Thallon’s parents John and Grace Green Thallon
63. Ida Thallon with parents, Elizabeth Pierce
64. Duplicate of photo #64
65. Ida Thallon with parents, Vassar campus
66. Duplicate of photo #66
67. Parents of Ida Thallon
68. Duplicate of photo #68
69. Ida Thallon with parents
70. Duplicate of photo #70
71. Ida Thallon with parents
72. Love to Ida from Mother [Grace Green Thallon]
73. To Darling Ida from Mother [Grace Green Thallon]
74. Picture of a gentleman in graduation attire
75. Emily and Bob [Thallon], Taken Nov. 22, 1931
76. Robert Thallon The Boy Scout. Taken October 1931, 13 ½ years old
77. Passport picture taken 1923. Need not Return J.L.T.
78. Rockland Co. Journal Sept. 1, 1888 for the Fresh Air Fund
79. Family of Ida Thallon
80. Ida Thallon, Elizabeth Pierce with company
81. Ida Thallon, Elizabeth Pierce with company
82. Photo of Ida Thallon with friend
83. Picture of a residential home3
84. Teddy Mummert, Age 1 yr. Sept. 3, 1922
85. I thought perhaps you much [?] like [?] a picture of your old friend “The Hook”.
86. Portrait of a baby, artist Bachrach
87. Two children’s portrait, artist Underwood & Underwood
88. Youth boy’s camera portrait, artist Reginald W. Brown & Son
89. Family portrait, artist Grace Greenwood Studio
90. Women with REM III portrait
91. REM III Jr. family portrait, With Love from son, Florine & Raymond III
92. A man’s portrait by F. Pearsall, Brooklyn, NY
93. Portrait of Lida Shaw King by artist Koshiba
94. Portrait of Elizabeth Hazelton Haight (Vassar) by artist Wolven, Poughkeepsie
95. Portrait of John Thallon by Botto & Hughes, NY
96. Woman and baby portrait by artist Frederick A. Smith, Poughkeepsie, NY
97. Photo of young boy with kitten
98. Photo of young boy
99. Portrait of older gentleman professor?
100. To my darling old Pie- Ida with heaps of love from Trot
101. Portrait of a woman by artist Albany Art Union
102. Photo of young woman
103. Portrait of young man
104. Enlarged duplicate of photo #104
105. The big slob used up all the room when I had a heart full to pore out to you. Thorke?.
Dear little Ida –To show you how young + foolish we still keep. Hope you had a dandy
trip over. I suppose a letter is on the way with all the news. Get to print about the ? –
Mims? – people – fair to them all- Yours George. Having great trip. Wish you were
along to keep us in order. Thorke?
106. Photo of young couple
107. Fragile photo of young woman with young child
108. Magazine clipping of Aiken youngsters
109. Photo of a residential house?
110. Photo of a residential house
111. Layout drawing of residential house by E. McK.
112. Watercolor of residential house by E. McK.
113. Alumnae House at Vassar College

Folder 3: Friends - [digitized]
114. Portrait of Elizabeth Pierce by court photographer Geo. Boucas, Philhellenes Street,
Athens
115. Duplicate of portrait #114
116. Duplicate of portrait #114
117. Portrait of a woman by Louis Fabian Bachrach, Worcester, Boston 1913
118. Prof J.S. Reid (James S. Reid 20 April, 1910) Post card
119. B. Lander portrait, artist G. Frank & E. Pearsall
120. Portrait of Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, Vassar by artist Irving Chidnoff, NY
121. Picture of older gentleman
122. Picture of gentleman reading “The Golden Vanity and The Green Bed” with
illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith
123. Photo of Lida Shaw King by artist The Decker Studio, Cleveland
124. Portrait painting replica of Lida Shaw King
125. Matte replica portrait painting of Lida Shaw King
126. Side-portrait of Lida Shaw King by artist Koshiba
127. Portrait of Lida Shaw King by artist Ye Rose Studio, Providence, RI

Box 8
Photos and post cards of monuments [oversize kept separately]

Series V: Miscellaneous

Box 9
Folder 1:
-newspaper clippings, brochures, etc.
-offprints
-personal copy of V. Stais, Collection Mycenienne du Musée National, vol. II, Athens 1915 (with Ida Thallon Hill's notes - Gift of Hector Williams, 2022)
-identity card, curriculum vitae

Folder 2: Material related to Ida Thallon’s death