In this final bonus episode of Season 6, we invite back on Jascin Leonardo Finger from the Maria Mitchell Association to discuss what role Florence Easton Conable played in the the founding of the organization and the greater influence she and her contemporaries had on women's rights at-large.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES
If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header. 

• Special thanks to Kurt Gally, Alyssa Gouw, and the  team at the Monrovia California Public Library for their research assistance on this episode.
  
  
• The founding and growth of the Maria Mitchell Association is documented on the Association website.
  
  
• Florence Conable might have become re-acquainted with Capt. Arthur Fisher when he visited Nantucket in 1904.
  
  
•  Florence’s friendships and social activities on Nantucket blended into her life in Monrovia. For example, she likely met Capt. Richard and Caroline Swain when they visited Nantucket in 1912 (discussed in Episode 6). The following January, Florence hosted a Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A. R.) event in Monrovia where Caroline was one of the guests of honor and gave a talk about Japan. The other Guests of Honor were Mrs. Eleanor Williams Morgan, Regent of the Nantucket D.A.R. Chapter, and Helen  Parker Willard, wife of Henry K. Willard, the young man Florence first met at the Surfside Depot party in 1882 (discussed in Episode 11). 
  
  
• The Willards summered on Nantucket and wintered in Pasadena. They were close friends with Florence (while her Sconset cottage was being renovated in 1913, Florence stayed with the Willard’s at “Wesco”, their house on Orange St). Florence and the Willard’s were also members of the “Silver Grays”, an informal group that socialized and travelled together in Southern California.
  
  
• It’s also possible that during her stay with the Willards, Florence met Capt. Peter’s Hussey daughter, Phoebe Hussey Allen, whose family was renting a cottage just around the corner in Gorham’s Court. (Phoebe is the only one of Peter Hussey’s children known to have visited Nantucket).
  
  
• Florence may have later seen Richard and Caroline Swain during their extended visit to North America in 1921-22. If not on Nantucket that summer, then possibly in Monrovia when they passed through California on their way back to Asia.
  
  
• To put in perspective how much changed during the era we explored this season, consider this article from the June 14, 1930, I&M:
  
  “From California to Nantucket in Ninety-six Hours. Mrs. Morris Conable arrived in Nantucket, Wednesday evening, to spend the summer at her cottage in 'Sconset, and made the trip across the country from California to Nantucket in four days. She left there Saturday evening and in 96 hours was heading in over Nantucket bar. Fast train service and close connections at Chicago and Boston favored her in the journey.”
  
  Unimpressive today, but when Peter Hussey made his first voyage to the Pacific in 1847 at the start of our series, four months would have been a noteworthy time...

In this second episode about Florence Easton Conable, Jim and Janet speak with Vassar’s Head of Special Collections and College Historian Ronald Patkus about what the emerging women's college was like when Florence arrived on campus.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES: If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header. 

• Sample questions for the 1878 Vassar College Entrance Examination were included in its Annual Catalog. (Florence Easton did particularly well on the Greek and Latin sections; how would you do?)
  
  
• Link to the Vassar College Digital Library
  • Photo of Main Building ca. 1860’s.
  • The Trigonometry Ceremony remained a tradition until the 1890s. Florence Easton’s Nantucket education prepared her for the material, something we will discuss in our next episode.
• Ella Gardner (‘77) and Florence Easton (‘82) were the only students from Nantucket listed as graduates of Vassar College in its early decades. However, eight other Nantucket women attended as Special or Preparatory students, and/or were enrolled but did not graduate:
  • Charlotte Puffer Baxter: Special, 1871-72
  • Phebe West Bunker: Special/College 1871-1873
  • Charlotte Eliza Coffin: College, 1869-70 
  • Francis Mitchell Macy: (Niece of Maria Mitchell), School of Art,1878-79.
  • Helen Marshall: College, 1872-73
  • Emma Louise Nickerson: Special, 1871-72
  • Annie Eliza Spencer: Preparatory,1874-75
  • Maria Mitchell Starbuck: Special, 1868-70
• Many other young woman would be added if we included those with Nantucket ancestry. Brooklyn-born Elizabeth Coffin graduated in 1870, and Florence’s classmate, Susan Coffin Coleman was from Cleveland.
  
  
• The drop in Nantucket attendees reflects both the island’s declining population and the establishment of competing women’s colleges.
  
  
• The scrapbooks of Florence Easton’s classmates, Jesse Wheeler and Anne Wyman, give a sense of their campus life.
  
  
• See the Show Notes for Episode 8 (The Daughters of the Samurai) for a discussion of Florence’s scrapbook of her Vassar years, which includes a photo of Sutematsu Yamakawa Oyama

© The Nantucket Atheneum - March 29, 2025 

Jim and Janet are back with three bonus episodes about Florence Easton Conable, who gets just a small mention on one episode, but who helps tie the whole series together. She has personal connections to our three Nantucket Sea Captains, was a classmate of the Samurai Daughters and friends with Maria Mitchell. In this first episode we give an overview of her life. 

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES: If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header. 

• Other prominent Nantucketer’s holding positions at the Michigan Central Railroad in the mid-1850’s included Charles B. Swain Esq., Agent of the Company’s Great Lakes steamers, and Frederick Hussey, (uncle of Capt. Peter Hussey), who was an accountant.

• The quoted letters written by Florence Easton Conable are part of the Archives and Special Collections Library at Vassar College. We will be discussing its other relevant holdings with Ronald Patkus, head of Special Collections at Vassar College, in our next episode.

• Edward Bellemy’s “Six to One” may be the first “rom com” set on Nantucket. We discussed it in our podcast from Season 2, The Shelves of Yore: Annals and Idyls from the 1900s, starting around 09:50 (but the prior discussions are also pretty interesting).

• The jaw-dropping scope of the development planned for Surfside is detailed in the “Plan of the Lands of the Nantucket Surfside Land co…. [1881]” (Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association).

• For a general history of the Progressive Movement, see Michael McGerr’s, “A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920”. (2005) [available via CLAMS]. For a more detailed discussion of its impact on Southern California, see Kevin Starr’s “Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era” (2014). [Available via ComCat]

• Florence Easton Conable remained politically and socially active. (At age 82, she was reappointed to the Board of the Monrovia Public Library.) She died in California in her 90th year and was buried next to her late husband in Cortland, N.Y.

• “Inn and Out”, the cottage inherited by Florence Easton Conable was documented in “Architectural & Historical Report for 6 Center Street Siasconset…”. It was prepared by Marsha L. Fader, AIA Architect and Betsy Tyler, Historian for The ‘Sconset Trust, Inc.

The 23rd Annual Thanksgiving Cold Turkey Plunge to benefit the Weezie Library for Children is just around the corner. In this three-part special special edition of the podcast, Janet talks with the development team to find what it takes to pull off this event year after year.

If you want to get involved in this year's Plunge, visit our website at https://nantucketatheneum.org/turkey-plunge-2024/

If you have done the plunge in the past and want to share your story, you can record a voice memo on your phone and email it to [email protected]. Please put "Turkey Plunge 2024" in the subject line.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is written, hosted and edited by Janet Forest. Special thanks for Director of Development Maggie O'Reilly, Marketing and Design specialist Anastasia Tumash, and Head of Outreach Lisa Lothian. 

The 23rd Annual Thanksgiving Cold Turkey Plunge to benefit the Weezie Library for Children is just around the corner. In this three-part special special edition of the podcast, Janet talks with the development team to find what it takes to pull off this event year after year.

If you want to get involved in this year's Plunge, visit our website at https://nantucketatheneum.org/turkey-plunge-2024/

If you have done the plunge in the past and want to share your story, you can record a voice memo on your phone and email it to [email protected]. Please put "Turkey Plunge 2024" in the subject line.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is written, hosted and edited by Janet Forest. Special thanks for Director of Development Maggie O'Reilly, Marketing and Design specialist Anastasia Tumash, and Head of Outreach Lisa Lothian. 

The 23rd Annual Cold Turkey Plunge to benefit the Weezie Library for Children is just around the corner. In this three-part special special edition of the podcast, Janet talks with the development team to find what it takes to pull off this event year after year.

If you want to get involved in this year's Plunge, visit our website at https://nantucketatheneum.org/turkey-plunge-2024/

If you have done the plunge in the past and want to share your story, you can record a voice memo on your phone and email it to [email protected]. Please put "Turkey Plunge 2024 in the subject line."

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is written, hosted and edited by Janet Forest. Special thanks for Director of Development Maggie O'Reilly, Marketing and Design specialist Anastasia Tumash, and Head of Outreach Lisa Lothian. 

Jim and Janet are back with a bonus episode about Lafcadio Hearn, a curious character that was among the Americans who became enamored with Japanese culture. He is a man of many worlds and many cultures, who found his true identity in Japan.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Thank you to Reference Library Associate James Grieder for joining us for this discussion. Special thanks to Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES: If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header. 

• As we can see in this picture taken with his wife, Setsuko Koizumi, (1868-1932) , Lafcadio Hearn was almost always photographed in profile. 
  
  
• The reference to one of Hearn’s translators as “Kakuzo’s brother” is to Yoshisaburo Kakuzo, sibling of Okakura Kakuzo, who we met in our discussion of William Bigelow. (While it’s unlikely they met in person, Bigelow and Hearn moved in the same circles.) 
  
  
• In November 1906, the same year he published “The Way of Tea”, and had joined the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at Bigelow’s request, Okakura Kakuzo wrote a letter to the New York Times defending Hearn and his writings, saying “….We may differ with his philosophy or quarrel with his deductions, but of all foreign authors he has reached nearest the heart of our people…” 
  
  
• Setsuko Koizumi published a loving memoir of her life with Lafcadio Hearn in 1918, filled with insights into his personality, their working process, and family life. 
  
  
• Hearn’s essay on Jiujutsu, was published as Chapter VII of “Out of the East: Reveries and Studies in New Japan” (1895). · TBH some of the variations bring the count down a bit, but a Keyword search in CLAMS on Oct 8, 2024, with “Lafcadio Hearn” yielded 100 items. 
  
  
• Watchers of Shogun would benefit from reading his essay, “A Conservative”, included in Hearn’s “Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life”
  
  
• Former Atheneum Staff Member Liz Kelly talked about Lafcadio Hearn in our virtual program "Treasures from the Vault" which can be found on our YouTube channel.

© The Nantucket Atheneum

In this final episode of season 6, Jim and I invite our colleague James Grieder to join us to discuss The Great Wave by Christopher Banfey. James has personal connection to one of the characters featured in Banfey's book.

This is the last episode in this season, but be sure to click that subscribe button, os you don't miss any bonus episodes and future seasons!

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Thank you to Reference Library Associate James Grieder for joining us for this discussion. Special thanks to the Berkshire Athenaeum for use of their space and Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES: If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header. 

• Google Books has online versions of Edward Morse’s Japan Diaries: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
  
  
• Independent Researcher Hina Hirayama recently transcribed the original diaries for her paper The Self-Fashioning of E. S. Morse: A Comparison of Japan Day by Day and Its Primary Source . She demonstrates that Morse’s “…authorial voice sought to accommodate the historical, social, and personal changes that had occurred since his travels…”, and, like many travel documentaries today, marginalized his support network and travelling companions to create an aura of a lone adventurer in a strange land.
  
  
• The Lowell Institute where Dr. Morse gave his lecture on Japan is still active.
  
  
• While Dr. Morse may have encountered our three Nantucket Captain’s during his travels in Japan, he certainly would have met Capt. Peter Hussey when the latter returned to America in 1888 and settled in Salem Mass. 
  
  
• Besides traveling with Capt. Richard Swain on their voyage from Japan to China, Isabella Stewart and Jack Gardner then stayed with two grown daughters of Warren F. Delano Jr., one in Shanghai and the other in Hong Kong. Both had married partners in Delano’s old firm, Russell & Co. As he resided part of the year in Shanghai, it’s likely Capt. Swain knew them as well. 
  
  
• Woman were also swept into the “Muscular Christianity” movement. Seven years after Sutematsu Yamakawa graduated, Vassar College opened a new Gymnasium Building, which included a swimming pool. While its students were always required to take some form of daily exercise, the College gradually implemented programs that examined the health and physical abilities of incoming Freshwomen, created a personalized regimen and tracked their progress. It also expanded its sports and recreation offerings, and later added a “swimming requirement” to graduate. (Miss Yamakawa would have aced it). · Here is the link to the MFA BOSTON Japanese Collection. · James Grieder also wrote this article about William Sturgis Bigelow on Tuckernuck. 
  
  
• William Sturgis Bigelow also actively promoted Japanese scholars to positions in American institutions (particularly the MFA) and was a tireless advocate for the nation through his political connections. Christopher Benfey covers his efforts in detail. 

© The Nantucket Atheneum 

In this final episode of season 6, Jim and I invite our colleague James Grieder to join us to discuss The Great Wave by Christopher Banfey. James has personal connection to one of the characters featured in Banfey's book.

This is the last episode in this season, but be sure to click that subscribe button, os you don't miss any bonus episodes and future seasons!

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Thank you to Reference Library Associate James Grieder for joining us for this discussion. Special thanks to the Berkshire Athenaeum for use of their space and Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES: If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

• Google Books has online versions of Edward Morse’s Japan Diaries: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
  
  
• The Lowell Institute where Dr. Morse gave his lecture on Japan is still active.
  
  
• While Dr. Morse may have encountered our three Nantucket Captain’s during his travels in Japan, he certainly would have met Capt. Peter Hussey when the latter returned to America in 1888 and settled in Salem Mass.
  
  
• Besides travelling with Capt. Richard Swain on their voyage from Japan to China, Isabella Stewart and Jack Gardner then stayed with two grown daughters of Warren F. Delano Jr., one in Shanghai and the other in Hong Kong. Both had married partners in Delano’s old firm, Russell & Co. As he resided part of the year in Shanghai, it’s likely Capt. Swain knew them as well.
  
  
• Here is the link to the MFA BOSTON Japanese Collection.
  
  
• James Grieder also wrote this article about William Sturgis Bigelow on Tuckernuck.
  
  
• William Sturgis Bigelow also actively promoted Japanese scholars to positions in American institutions (particularly the MFA) and was a tireless advocate for the nation through his political connections. Christopher Benfey covers his efforts in detail.

© The Nantucket Atheneum 

This week we discuss another book that added context and a new perspective to our story of Nantucket expats in Japan was Daughter's of the Samurai by Janice Nimura.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to the Berkshire Athenaeum for use of their space and Shire Video for production support.

SHOW NOTES:
 If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

• Janica Nimura is also author of The Doctors Blackwell about Elizabeth Blackwell the first woman to received a M.D., and her sister Emily, who was even more skilled. Together they founded the first hospital staffed entirely by women, in New York City.
  
  
• While Sutematsu Yamakawa was the youngest of her siblings to travel to the West, at least two of her brothers and two of her sisters also made the journey.
  
  
• In the early 1860’s Kiyotaka Kuroda was a skilled swordsman of the Satsuma domain, deeply resentful of the Western “invaders”. After witnessing the British shelling of Kagoshima in 1863, he realized that only military parity would ensure Japan’s independence and immediately began to study western gunnery. This existential need for parity, as well as the recognition they embodied the samurai spirit, led Kuroda to consider the defeated Aizu and others a valuable asset to Japan’s future. After a turbulent career, he became Prime Minister of Japan in 1888.
  
  
• Though he went on to have a distinguished career in military service and education in the Satsuma-dominated Meiji Era, Hiroshi Yamakawa continued to support the exiled Aizu community for the rest of his life, at great personal and financial cost. 
  
  
• Soon after arriving in New Haven, it was clear that Sutematsu and Shige would assimilate faster in separate households, and Shigei was sent to live with the family of Rev. J. S. C. Abbott. Rev. Abbott had previously led the Nantucket Congregational Church, and Shige later recalled visiting the island with one of Rev. Abbotts’ daughters during a summer break. 
  
  
• Shige was not the first  citizen of Meijii Japan to visit Nantucket. Three students from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute stayed several weeks in 1872 and gave several newspaper interviews.
  
  
• While they were undoubtedly acquainted, neither Shige nor Sutematsu took a class with Maria Mitchell. However, Sutematsu’s classmate, Florence Easton, (later Conable) not only studied with Prof. Mitchell, but later supported the Maria Mitchell Association. In 1913 she hosted Capt. Richard and Caroline Swain at her home in Monrovia California. As Caroline also likely knew Sutematsu she was probably a point of conversation. Florence Easton Conable donated the scrapbook she kept at Vassar to the Maria Mitchell Association. Tucked into it is a “carte de visite” photo of Sutematsu taken at the Borgardus studio in New York City. A diary kept by another classmate, Anne Wyman Southworth, now in the Vassar collection, puts both Flora and Sutematsu at that studio on Jan 22nd, 1882.

© The Nantucket Atheneum