WELCOME to the Washington Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Founded on 24 April 1895 by twenty-two members living in Washington, the Washington society became the fourth local society of the AIA.
The Washington Society provides its members with between seven and nine lectures on archaeological topics each year presented by excavators and other experts in their field. The Society currently has nearly 300 members of widely varied interests, ages, and backgrounds that add depth and breadth to the intellectual interaction at lectures and at social events such as the Annual Dinner Lecture. New members are cordially welcomed.
The Washington Society’s history is marked by innovative projects and independent actions. In 1921 it organized a subsidiary business company, Art and Archaeology Press with $50,000 of capital stock, to publish a new popular magazine, Art and Archaeology, and in 1934 the Society withdrew from the AIA because of disagreement over the magazine. In 1948, when the AIA began publication of Archaeology, the Washington Society rejoined the national organization on February 2. It then had eighty-nine members.
In 1979, the Society organized a symposium, “Pompeii and the Vesuvian Landscape,” in recognition of the centennial year of the Institute and the 1900th anniversary of the eruption of Vesuvius. The Society also published a museum catalogue, Beyond the Shores of Tripoli, in conjunction with an archaeological exhibition at Harvard University.
In 1982 the Washington Society became the third largest local AIA society in North America, surpassed only by New York City and Southern California. In 1988 it established its first endowed lectureship, the Richard Hubbard Howland Lecture in Classical Archaeology, and in 1991, it added a second endowed lectureship in memory of Louise D. Davison.
On 24 April 1994, the Washington Society celebrated its 100th anniversary with a gala centenary dinner and a lecture by AIA past-president, Martha Joukowsky, at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. In December 1998, it again played host to the joint Annual Meetings of the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Philological Association
John Younger, University of Kansas
"Undeciphered Cretan Scripts: Recent Progress in Understanding Pictographic, Linear A and the Phaistos Disc"
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 6:30p.m. reception, 7p.m. lecture
George Washington University, Funger Hall 103 (2201 G St. NW)
Elisabeth Roberts Craft in Memorium
Elisabeth Craft passed away Sunday, December 19th, 2011 at Sibley Hospital, after a brief illness. She was 92. Elisabeth had been a member of the AIA Washington Society for many years. For the last 10 years, she was Assistant Secretary and in charge of making arrangements for the Student Travel Fellowship. She was a regular attendee of the AIA Annual Meeting and was a member of the AIA's Near East Interest Group.
During her career as a court reporter, Elisabeth traveled extensively, working for a transcription service. After she retired, she volunteered for several archaeological excavations and began her writing career. For more than 25 years, she volunteered at the Smithsonian, reconstructing pottery from the Tel Jemmeh archaeological site in Israel. She was the published author of three historical novels: A Spy for Hannibal, In the Court of the Queen, and The Ambassador's Daughter.
Two years ago, she celebrated her 90th birthday. Shortly thereafter, she hopped on a plane and traveled to Petra, which she had wanted to see for some time. Last year, in the fall, she flew to France to take French lessons and in January 2010, she attended the AIA Annual Meeting in Anaheim.She had a rich and full life. She was an officer in the Friday Morning Music Group and worked with many young musicians. She herself was a gifted pianist and continued to take lessons throughout her life, including an annual master class at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She was a member of the DAR and served as a docent in Constitution Hall for more than 25 years. She regularly ushered at the Shakespeare Theater and occasionally at Arena Stage. She loved opera and ballet. Recently, she was admitted to the Cosmos Club. And she loved to sew, turning out elegant designs that suited her figure perfectly.
Washington Society Member Wins AIA Award
Pamela Vandiver, now a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson , won the Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology at the AIA Annual Meeting in Montreal in 2006. Pamela was formerly Materials Archaeologist at the Smithsonian. At the University of Arizona , she set up the Program in Heritage Conservation Science which trains students to stabilize, preserve and understand ancient artifacts and how they were created and used.
Washington Society Wins AIA's First Annual Local Society Web Page Award for 2005/2006
Winners of new awards to local societies were announced at the AIA Council meeting held during the Annual Meeting in Montreal. Delegates from the Washington DC Society were thrilled and gratified to receive a check for $200 made out to the Society for the best Local Society Web Page for 2005/2006.
The Archaeological Institute of America, founded in Boston in 1879 by Charles Eliot Norton, is the oldest archaeological organization in North America, and with more than 11,000 members around the world, it is the largest. It is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and dedicated to the encouragement and support of archaeological research and publication and to the protection of the world's cultural heritage.
Members of the Institute have conducted fieldwork in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The AIA has further promoted archaeological studies by founding research centers and schools in seven countries, and it maintains close relations with these institutions, including the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the School of Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome, and others. It publishes the American Journal of Archaeology and Archaeology magazine. Institute headquarters is located at Boston University.