Open today 10 am – 5 pm

ARCE-PA Lecture

Amelia Edwards’ U.S. Lecture Tour and the Beginnings of American Egyptology

Penn Museum

Saturday, Mar. 29 2025, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm ET

PAY AT THE DOOR

General admission $10; Penn Museum members, faculty, and staff $7; Students with ID $5; Free for ARCE members and children 12 and under

vintage photos of two women

The American Research Center in Egypt, Pennsylvania Chapter, aims to educate the citizens of Pennsylvania and the greater Philadelphia region about the culture and history of Egypt from the ancient through Islamic Periods.

On a cold November evening in 1889, novelist and Egyptologist Amelia Edwards took the stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to give a lecture entitled “The Buried Cities of Ancient Egypt” to 2,400 people. Over the next four months, she gave more than 100 similar lectures all over the northeastern U.S., piquing interest in Egyptology everywhere she went. Alongside her every step of the way was Kate Bradbury, her secretary, assistant, and friend. This lecture outlines the journey of Edwards and Bradbury and the impact they had on the Egyptology in the U.S.

We often attribute the rise of Egyptology in U.S. with the 1892 World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago or the founding of the University of Chicago in 1895. But using Bradbury’s letters home during the tour, newspaper reports, Edwards’ lectures, and other contemporaneous sources, one could argue that the catalyst for widespread public interest in Egyptology might have started with this women-led lecture tour in the winter of 1889-90.

Come early for light refreshments at 3 pm.

About the Speaker

Kathleen Sheppard.

Kathleen Sheppard, Ph.D.,

Kathleen Sheppard, Ph.D., is a professor of history at Missouri University of Science and Technology. She has spent her career telling the stories of women in Egyptology. Her most recent book is Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age (St. Martins Press, 2024).

25-03-29