Harriette Merrifield Forbes
Harriette Merrifield Forbes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 October 1856 Worcester, United States of America |
| Died | 1951 |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Notable work | Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them (1927) |
Harriette Merrifield Forbes (October 22, 1856 – 1951) was an American author, artist, gardener and botanical collector. She is considered the "Founding Mother" of gravestone studies.[1]
Biography
Harriette Merrifield Forbes was born as Hattie Merrifield on 22 October 1856 in Worcester, United States of America. She married William Trowbridge Forbes (1850-1931), who taught mathematics at Robert College in Constantinople, and moved to USA to study law.[2] He later became a judge in Worcester in 1888.[3]
Forbes is widely recognized as a pioneering scholar in the study New England gravestone art. She authored the first definitive work on the subject, Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them: 1653–1800, published in 1927.[4] She photographed the early gravestones throughout central and eastern Massachusetts, even before the invention of the technically advanced “Brownie camera and flexible film”.[5] Her work is considered "groundbreaking" since it became the basis for other research on this topic,[6] most notably the work of Allan Ludwig.[1]
Esther Forbes (1891-1967), author and antiquarian, was one of her daughters.[7] Forbes “served as her daughter's most important researcher.” [8]
She died in 1951.
Works
Forbes's works include.
- Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them (1927)
- The Hundredth Town: Glimpses of Life in Westborough 1717-1817
- New England Diaries, 1602-1800: A Descriptive Catalogue of Diaries, Orderly Books and Sea Journals
References
- ^ a b Longman, Jeré (December 19, 2025). "Allan Ludwig, 'Founding Father' of Gravestone Studies, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
- ^ Ibbotson, Chad (12 December 2019). Johnny Tremain - Literature Kit Gr. 7-8. Newton, IL United States: Classroom Complete Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-228-30496-8. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ Sicherman, Barbara (1 January 1986). Notable American Women: The Modern Period: a Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-674-62733-8. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ Chase, Theodore; Gabel, Laurel K. (1997). Gravestone Chronicles I: Some Eighteenth Century New England Carvers and Their Work. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society. p. 31. ISBN 978-0880820240.
- ^ Calloway, Colin G. (20 July 2000). After King Philip's War: Presence and Persistence in Indian New England. Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States: UPNE. p. NA. ISBN 978-1-611-68061-4. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ Hanson, John G.S. (25 October 2021). Reading the Gravestones of Old New England. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-476-68545-8. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ Hannan, Caryn (1 January 2008). Massachusetts Biographical Dictionary. North Dakota: State History Publications. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-878-59266-8. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ West, Mark I. (3 December 2014). Walt Disney, from Reader to Storyteller: Essays on the Literary Inspirations. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-476-61824-1. Retrieved 5 April 2022.