Blair Niles (née Mary Blair Rice, 1880–1959) was an American novelist and travel writer. She was a founding member of the

Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and h ...

Early life and expeditions

Born Mary Blair Rice, Blair was born on ''The Oaks,'' her parents' plantation in Staunton, Virginia. She was educated at home by her mother, Marie Gordon "Gordy" Rice, who taught a night school for her four children and children of the sharecroppers. At age 14, Blair attended the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in Massachusetts and then the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where she studied domestic science. In 1902, she married

William Beebe Charles William Beebe ( ; July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological ...

, Curator of Birds at the New York Zoological Park, now the Bronx Zoo. Within the first year of their marriage, they went on three honeymoon expeditions: to Nova Scotia, Oak Lodge, a boarding house for naturalists on the Indian River in Florida, and to Cobb Island, Virginia. In 1904, they traveled to Mexico, and in 1908 and 1909, they traveled to Venezuela and British Guyana to scout out a location for a Tropical Research Station to be sponsored by the Bronx Zoo. When they published ''Our Search for Wilderness'' about their South American travels, Blair received the recognition she long desired: she was credited as a co-author, with her name listed first. Their plans to establish a Tropical Field Station in South America were interrupted when they received an offer from Anthony Kuser to underwrite an eighteen-month expedition to Asia to study and collect pheasants. In December 1910, they boarded the R.M.S. Lusitania to start th
pheasant expedition
They traveled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), India, China, Borneo, Indonesia, Malay, Japan, and Singapore.

Divorce and suffrage

In 1913, Blair traveled to Reno to divorce William Beebe on the grounds of cruelty. A few days after the divorce, she married architect Robert "Robin" Niles. For a few years, she worked in the suffrage movement and was a New York delegate to the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage.

Writing career

In the early 1920s, Blair began writing travel books. In 1923, she published ''Casual Wanderings in Ecuador''. ''Colombia: Land of Miracles'' followed in 1924, and ''Peruvian Pageant'' in 1937. She developed a new approach to writing travel books, which she called "the human travel book" in which she linked contemporary culture with the past by exploring history, traditions, and legends. Her breakthrough book was ''Black Haiti: A Biography of Africa's Eldest Daughter'' (1926), which told the story of the largest slave revolt in history led by Toussaint L'Overture. This book was closely followed by ''Condemned to Devil's Island'' (1928), the bestselling fictionalized account of the escapes of

René Belbenoît Jules René Lucien Belbenoît (; 4 April 1899 – 25 February 1959) was a French prisoner on Devil's Island who successfully escaped to the United States. He later published the memoirs, ''Dry Guillotine'' (1938) and ''Hell on Trial'' (1940), ab ...

, a prisoner on the

Devil's Island The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the Salvation Islands ...

penal colony in French Guiana. The book was made into a Hollywood movie, ''

Condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...

''. Blair was the first woman to visit Devil's Island. Her book is credited with drawing public attention to the prison, resulting in its eventual closure. When the Depression hit, Blair looked for places closer too home to investigate. In 1931, she published ''

Strange Brother ''Strange Brother'' is a gay novel written by Blair Niles published in 1931. The story is about a Platonic love, platonic relationship between a heterosexual woman and a gay man and takes place in New York City in the late 1920s and early 1930s. ...

'', the first book to compassionately portray gay men in Harlem. Blair then turned to writing books about Latin America, with a focus on the ancient Aztec, Incan, and Quiche civilizations. On the centennial of the Supreme Court's ''

United States v. The Amistad ''United States v. Schooner Amistad'', 40 U.S. (15 Pet.) 518 (1841), was a United States Supreme Court case resulting from the rebellion of Africans on board the Spanish schooner ''La Amistad'' in 1839.. It was an unusual freedom suit that in ...

'' decision, Blair wrote a novel that introduced to a new generation to the Court's decision, which held that kidnapped Africans were not the property of their “owners.” The book, called ''East by Day'', was selected as one of twenty books by readers of the ''New York Herald'' for Great Britain readers. It served as her atonement for her grandfather's role in the Civil War. She knew that her grandfather,

Roger Atkinson Pryor Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was a Virginian newspaper editor and politician who became known for his fiery oratory in favor of secession; he was elected both to national and Confederate office, and served as a gen ...

, spoke in Charleston, South Carolina urging the Confederates to open fire on Fort Sumter to force Virginia into secession. According to ''The New York Times'', this speech was the “match that exploded the powder magazine and brought on the war.” As one of Confederate General Beauregard's aides-de-camp, Roger declined the offer to fire the first cannon of the Civil War. This book motivated Blair to write ''East by Day.''

Society of Woman Geographers

In 1925, during tea with

Marguerite Harrison Marguerite Elton Harrison (1879–1967) was an American reporter, spy, filmmaker and translator. She was also one of the four founding members of the Society of Woman Geographers. Biography Harrison was born Marguerite Elton Baker, one of two d ...

, Blair suggested the formation of a society for woman explorers because the all-men

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

banned women from membership. Marguerite endorsed the idea and they presented it to

Gertrude Emerson Sen Gertrude Emerson Sen (6 May 1890 – 1982) was an early 20th-century expert on Asia and a founding member of the Society of Woman Geographers. Early life and education Gertrude Emerson was the daughter of Alfred Emerson, Sr., and Alice Edwards ...

and Gertrude Mathews Shelby, also explorers. They recruited

Harriet Chalmers Adams Harriet Chalmers Adams (October 22, 1875 – July 17, 1937) was an American explorer, writer and photographer. She traveled extensively in South America, Asia and the South Pacific in the early 20th century, and published accounts of her journeys ...

as president of the newly formed

. The organization grew rapidly and admitted as members such illustrious women as

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...

Osa Johnson Martin Elmer Johnson (October 9, 1884 – January 13, 1937) and Osa Helen Johnson (née Leighty, March 14, 1894 – January 7, 1953) were married American adventurers and documentary filmmakers. In the first half of the 20th century the coupl ...

Annie Smith Peck Annie Smith Peck (October 19, 1850 – July 18, 1935) was an American mountaineer and adventurer. The northern peak of the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca mountain chain, Huascarán was named ''Cumbre Aña Peck'' in Peck's honor. She was an ardent suf ...

Louise Arner Boyd Louise Arner Boyd (September 16, 1887 – September 14, 1972) was an American explorer of Greenland and the Arctic, who wrote extensively of her scientific expeditions, and became the first woman to fly over the North Pole in 1955, after privately ...

, Josephine Peary,

Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, Pulitze ...

Malvina Hoffman Malvina Cornell Hoffman (June 15, 1885July 10, 1966) was an American sculptor and author, well known for her life-size bronze sculptures of people. She also worked in plaster and marble. Hoffman created portrait busts of working-class people and ...

Gloria Hollister Gloria Hollister Anable (June 11, 1900 – February 19, 1988) was an American explorer, scientist, and conservationist. She served as research associate in the Department of Tropical Research of the New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife C ...

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, and Te Ata, Membership was not limited to explorers, but included anyone whose published works (including art and music) contributed to the understanding of the countries on which the member specialized. The Society is still in existence today. More recent members include

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best know ...

Sylvia Earle Sylvia Alice Earle ( née Reade; born August 30, 1935) is an American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scien ...

, and

Kathryn Sullivan Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan (born October 3, 1951) is an American geologist, oceanographer, and a former NASA astronaut and US Navy officer. She was a crew member on three Space Shuttle missions. A graduate of University of California, Santa Cruz, ...

Ancestry

In 1859, Blair's grandfather,

, was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the United States House of Representatives, representing Virginia. Later he became a judge in New York State. Blair Niles was the granddaughter of Sara Rice Pryor and

Roger Pryor Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was a Virginian newspaper editor and politician who became known for his fiery oratory in favor of secession; he was elected both to national and Confederate office, and served as a gen ...

, and the daughter of Marie Gordon Pryor. Her unique namesake, "Mary Blair," is shared with her mother's sister, Mary Blair Pryor, her cousin Mary Blair Walker Zimmer, and several other women in her lineage, as documented in
"Mary Blair Destiny"
Her grandmother Sara Rice Pryor was also a widely-read author for her chronicling of life in antebellum Virginia. Blair Niles did not have any children of her own.

Honorable recognition

The City of Lima had awarded Blair a gold medal for her book, ''Peruvian Pageant'' on the 117th anniversary of the independence of Peru. In 1941, Blair Niles was awarded the Constance Skinner Award, now the Women's National Book Award. She was the second recipient of that award. In 1944, the

bestowed its third Gold medal on Blair.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* '
Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana
' (Mary Blair Beebe and William Beebe, 1910) * ''Casual Wanderings in Ecuador'' (1923) * ''Colombia: Land of Miracles'' (1924) * ''Black Haiti: A Biography of Africa's Eldest Daughter'' (1926) *''Maria Paluna'' (1934) *''Day of Immense Sun'' (1936) * ''Peruvian Pageant, A Journey In Time'' (1937) * ''The James: From Iron Gate to the Sea'' (1939) (

Rivers of America Series The Rivers of America Series is a landmark series of books on American rivers, for the most part written by literary figures rather than historians. The series spanned three publishers and thirty-seven years. History The Rivers of America Series ...

) *''Journeys in Time'' (1946) *''Passengers to Mexico: The Last Invasion of the Americas'' (1943) * ''Martha's Husband: An Informal Portrait of George Washington'' (1951)

Fiction

* ''Condemned to Devil's Island'' (1928) - turned into the 1929 film ''

'' * ''Free'' (1930) * ''

'' (1931) *''Light Again'', 1933 *''Maria Paluna'' (1934) * ''Day of the Immense Sun'' (1936) * ''East by Day'' (1941)