Anna Caulfield McKnight (born

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Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, November 22, 1866; died

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, Michigan, June 18, 1947) was an American traveler, lecturer on art and travel, club woman, woman suffragist, and businesswoman. Her oratory and

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a sin ...

slides taken on her travels made her a well-known lecturer in her time.

Early life

McKnight was born the daughter of John Caulfield (1838-1919), a prosperous Irish immigrant in

, Michigan, and his wife Esther Egan (1844-1923). The oldest of seven children, she was educated at Sacred Heart Academy in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and the "Harvard Annex" (soon to be

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

) in

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Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. At the Harvard Annex she studied art history with scholar Charles Eliot Norton, who encouraged her to study in Europe. In 1892 she left for Europe, where she studied with archaeologist

Giovanni Battista de Rossi Giovanni Battista (Carlo) de Rossi (23 February 1822 – 20 September 1894) was an Italian archaeologist, famous even outside his field for rediscovering early Christian catacombs. Life and works Born in Rome, he was the son of Commendatore Cam ...

and spent four years travelling.

Early lectures

Anna gave her first lectures after joining the Grand Rapids Ladies' Literary Club after her graduation from Sacred Heart Academy; friends suggested that she pursue lecturing as a career, and she went to the Harvard Annex with that in mind. In Europe she gave lectures and pursued material of interest, meeting with

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

for example (she later met

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

and

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

). On her return to the United States, she lectured widely at institutions such as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Chicago Art Institute, and

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

; her lecture at the French embassy in Washington, DC so impressed President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

that he invited Anna and her mother to visit him at his summer home on

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. She also spoke at the 1898 biennial meeting of the General Federation of Women's Clubs in

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. She was appointed a member of the Fine Arts department at the

Paris Exposition, 1900 The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

by United States Commissioner-General

Ferdinand Peck Ferdinand Wythe Peck (1848-1924) was a wealthy Chicago, Illinois, businessman and philanthropist, best known for financing Chicago's Auditorium Building. He was the youngest son of Mary Kent Peck and Phillip F.W. Peck. The family moved from Rho ...

Married life

On August 20, 1907 Anna married Grand Rapids lawyer and businessman William F. McKnight and retired from lecturing. She became an extremely active club woman, serving for example as president of the Grand Rapids Ladies' Literary Club (and bringing President Taft,

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and others to lecture there), organizer and president of the local Alliance française, president of the Drama Club, Director of the Michigan State Federation of Women's Clubs, director of the Equal Franchise Club, etc. McKnight also represented Michigan at a variety of events - the Second Pan-American Scientific Congress (1915), the Panama–Pacific International Exposition (1915), meetings of the National Civic Federation (1911-1912), the

National Conservation Exposition The National Conservation Exposition was an exposition held in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, between September 1, 1913 and November 1, 1913. The exposition celebrated the cause of bringing national attention to conservation activities, espe ...

of 1913, the National Rivers and Harbors Congress of 1913, and others.

Later life

Her husband William McKnight died in 1918, and Anna took over his positions as president of the White River Timber Company and vice-president of the Miami Lumber Company, among other positions.http://www.migenweb.org/kent/white1924/personal/mcknightac.html Transcription of bio from "History of Kent County: Personal Sketches", ed. Arthur S. White, 1924 She also began travelling and lecturing again, visiting Russia and India in the post-World War I years and lecturing abroad. In the 1930s she lectured in London and at the Louvre in Paris. France made her a member of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

, Officier de l'Instruction Publique. Even living abroad, she continued to be active in civic organizations, serving as vice-president of the American Artists Professional League of Paris from 1938 to 1940. Anna McKnight is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids, with her husband.

External links

Online exhibit of some of Anna Caulfield McKnight's slides

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKnight, Anna Caulfield 1866 births 1947 deaths People from Kent County, Michigan People from Grand Rapids, Michigan Lecturers