Rhys Carpenter papers

Rhys Carpenter was born in 1889, in Cotuit, Massachusetts. At the age of 19, he took an A.B. degree from Columbia University, shortly thereafter being selected as a Rhodes Scholar. Carpenter then studied at Balliol of Oxford University, where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees. In 1913, Carpenter founded the Department of Classical Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College, which he headed for more than five decades. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1916. Two years later, Carpenter married Bryn Mawr graduate Eleanor Houston Hill (class of 1916). In 1919, Carpenter joined the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in Paris. Carpenter’s primary areas of research were the transmission of the alphabet; the cultural geography of the Mediterranean region; studies of folktales; and major studies of Greek art, history, archaeology, and literature. In addition to heading the Department of Classical Archaeology at Bryn Mawr, Carpenter was the director of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, and a lecturer or professor at a number of other universities and colleges, including the University of California and the American Archaeological Institute. Additionally, Carpenter was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Philological Association, the Linguistics Society of America, the Hispanic Society of America, and Phi Beta Kappa. Carpenter retired in 1955, but lectured throughout the world and wrote extensively, including books on poetry, travel, and classical archaeology. Carpenter died January 2, 1980 in Devon, Pennsylvania.