Mary Wright Gill () (May 19, 1867 – October 30, 1929) was a scientific illustrator who worked for the

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior D ...

(BAE) and other government agencies in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. She was married to BAE illustrator and photographer DeLancey Walker Gill.

Early life

Mary Wright Gill was born on May 19, 1867, in Washington, D.C. She was the daughter of Minna Wright (d. 1908) and had a brother, John Newton Wright. As a girl, due to health issues, she was taken out of school and enrolled in the School of Design at the University of Cincinnati, and became the youngest student ever to enroll in that program. When she returned to Washington, she began drawing on contract with the BAE under the direction of John Wesley Powell. Some of her early work was featured as part of the Smithsonian's contributions to the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States. In 1891, her work was featured in an exhibition for the Society of Washington Artists in the Woodward & Lothrop gallery. In an article about the exhibition, a reporter noted that (then) Mary Irwin Wright, through paid black and white illustrations for magazines like the ''

Century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

'' and '' St. Nicholas'' and commissioned works while abroad in London, "has already made considerable reputation and enough money to buy a house on Capitol Hill." She graduated from the University of Cincinnati School of Design with a degree in drawing and design in 1893. She also studied in New York with Kenyon Cox and in Washington with Edwin H. Blashfield.

Career

Mary Wright Gill was renowned for her drawings of "fidelity and accuracy." She worked as a contract artist for the

and produced many of the illustrations used in the BAE's annual reports, such as

Matilda Coxe Stevenson Matilda Coxe Stevenson (''née'' Evans) (May 12, 1849 – June 24, 1915), who also wrote under the name Tilly E. Stevenson, was an American Ethnology, ethnologist, geologist, explorer, and activist. She was a supporter of women in science, helpi ...

's ''The Zuni Indians''. She worked primarily in pen and ink, graphite, and watercolor. Her watercolor illustrations were sometimes composites based on series of photographs, lending them a hyperreal quality. Some of her illustrations, like the photographs taken by Stevenson, were not made with the same ethical protocols observed by ethnographers and documentarians today, and are considered culturally sensitive by contemporary Pueblo communities. In addition to those for the BAE, she illustrated many notable publications and books, including the ''Manual of the Grasses'', by

Albert Spear Hitchcock Albert Spear Hitchcock (September 4, 1865 – December 16, 1935) was an American botanist and agrostologist. Hitchcock graduated from the Iowa Agricultural College with bachelor's degree in 1884 and M.S. in 1886. From 1892 to 1901 he was a pro ...

. During her career, she had formative friendships with prominent women illustrators such as

Mary Agnes Chase Mary Agnes Chase (1869–1963) was an American botanist who specialized in agrostology, the study of grasses. Although lacking formal education past elementary school, Chase was able to rise through the ranks as a botanist at the United States De ...

; the two were among a group of women who had created a niche in the government for this professional line of work. They also had a playful relationship; Mary Wright Gill illustrated a children's book Chase created of an orphaned squirrel she "adopted" and named "Toodles."

Death and legacy

Mary Wright Gill died on October 30, 1929, in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

* https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/170401952/mary-gill
Drawing by Mary Wright Gill of Ceremony, New-Fire, The Kwakwantu Society of Beggars 16 August 1896
BAE GN 01817B5 06310900, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Bureau of American Ethnology-Smithsonian Institution Illustrations 1880s-1960s
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
MS 4108 Mary Wright Gill California Basin drawings
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Mary Wright Created via preloaddraft 1867 births 1929 deaths Scientific illustrators American women illustrators American illustrators Artists from Washington, D.C. University of Cincinnati alumni 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American women artists 19th-century American artists 20th-century American artists