Newsletter, Number 55 (SEPTEMBER, 1965)

Abstract

It is the sad duty of the American Research Center to record the loss by death of one of its Founders. In June 1965, Mrs. Joseph Lindon Smith, '’Aunt Corinna” to a host of her younger friends, died in her 90th year at her home in Dublin, New Hampshire. She had, together with her late husband, spent much time in Egypt ever since the early years of this century, had been a keen observer, on the spot, of many of the exciting finds of the period by archaeologists, and had developed a deep interest in ancient and present-day Egypt. The writer first knew her during the Smith's frequent sojourns at the camps of the Harvard-Boston Expedition, where they were the guests of its Director, George Reisner, while "Uncle Joe” was engaged in his outstanding work as a painter of archaeological subjects. Corinna Smith, being endowed with a brilliant and wide-ranging mind, boundless energy, and great enthusiasm, took a deep interest in the archaeological work in which her husband was so intimately involved. Her interest, however, was all-inclusive; she studied Arabic, the Koran, and the Mohamedan religion, and occupied herself with contemporary Egypt and its many problems. It is fair to say that during these years in Egypt there were few figures of importance, especially in the archaeological world, whom she did not know, whether they were Egyptian, European or American.