Blanche Wheeler Williams

Blanche Wheeler Williams was an archaeologist and teacher best known for her work in the Isthmus of Hierapetra and her discoveries at Gournia with colleague Harriet Boyd Hawes. She was trained at Smith College and worked as a teacher at her aunts preparatory school until her Cretan archaeological digs in 1900 and 1901. Williams was married in 1904 and did not return to the field after contributing to a 1908 publication, though she wrote a biography of her aunt and helped with her husbands travel book.

Williams was born Blanche Emily Wheeler on January 9, 1870 in Concord, Massachusetts. Her family history stretches back to the early New England colonies, including the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims. She was closely connected with her grandmother in her youth, who introduced Williams to prominent intellectuals including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Amos Bronson Alcott. Williams graduated from Smith College in 1892, where she studied ancient art, archaeology, Greek, Latin, drawing, and painting. She befriended Harriet Boyd there, who became a close friend and colleague.

Source: Wikipedia