Edna Virginia Moffett

Edna Virginia Moffett
A middle-aged white woman with white hair, wearing glasses
Moffett, from the 1929 yearbook of Wellesley College
BornJanuary 28, 1870
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMarch 1, 1962 (age 92)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation(s)Historian, college professor

Edna Virginia Moffett (January 28, 1870 – March 1, 1962) was an American historian of medieval Europe, and a history professor at Wellesley College from 1902 to 1938.

Early life and education

Moffett was born in Richmond, Virginia,[1] the daughter of John Guthrie Moffett and Virginia Ellen Austin Moffett.[2] Her father, a Confederate States Army veteran of the American Civil War, died in 1884. She graduated from Vassar College in 1897, with Lucy Maynard Salmon as her mentor.[3][4] She earned a master's degree in 1901,[5] and a Ph.D. in 1907,[6] both from Cornell University,[7] where she held a President White Fellowship.[4][8] Her master's thesis was titled "François Baudouin, an early advocate of tolerance."[9] She pursued further studies in France and Germany, at the University of Besancon in 1905 and 1906, and at the University of Heidelberg from 1912 to 1913.[3]

Career

Moffett taught at Virginia Normal College from 1897 to 1900.[1] She was a history professor at Wellesley College from 1902 until she retired with emerita status in 1938.[10][11] She created a new course in medieval history,[3] and chaired the history department at Wellesley.[12] She took summer research trips to England, Spain, and France during her career.[3] She contributed articles to the Dictionary of American Biography,[13] and was director of the Virginia chapter of Association of Collegiate Alumnae.[14]

Moffett moved back to Richmond when she retired.[3] She spoke at a Kappa Delta Pi banquet in 1939.[13] In 1941, she taught an adult study course in church history at a Presbyterian church in Richmond.[15] In 1948, Wellesley College began an institute on medieval history, and honored Moffett at the launch of the program.[16]

Publications

  • A Grant of Spanish Mining Rights in 1521 (1927)[17]
  • A Lost Diploma of Otto III (1931)[18]
  • "The Diary of a Private on the First Expedition to Crown Point" (1932)[19]
  • "A Bulla of Otto III in America" (1934)[20]
  • "Wellesley North and South" (1948)[21]

Personal life and legacy

Moffett was under a conservatorship for several years[22] before she died in 1962, at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts,[23] at the age of 92.[24] Wellesley's Edna V. Moffett Fellowship supports graduate students in history.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b "Miss Edna Moffett, Richmond Native, Dies". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1962-03-02. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-07-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Mrs. Virginia E. Moffett". The Presbyterian of the South. 1917-01-31. p. 27. Retrieved 2025-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Wellesley History Professor to Make Home in Richmond; Miss Edna Moffett Taught at College for 36 Years". The Richmond News Leader. 1939-05-24. p. 28. Retrieved 2025-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Palmieri, Patricia Ann (1997-02-27). In Adamless Eden: The Community of Women Faculty at Wellesley. Yale University Press. p. 80, 168. ISBN 978-0-300-06388-2.
  5. ^ The Cornellian. Vol. 33. 1901. p. 69.
  6. ^ "Wellesley College". Boston Evening Transcript. 1907-07-01. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Virginia Woman Highly Honored". The Portsmouth Star. 1901-05-14. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Cornell University (1906). Cornell University Register and Catalogue.
  9. ^ Moffett, Edna Virginia. "Francois Baudouin, an early advocate of tolerance." master's thesis., Cornell University, 1901.
  10. ^ Edna V. Moffett papers, Wellesley College Archives.
  11. ^ "Virginia Ancestors of Wellesley College Are Recalled". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1952-02-10. p. 50. Retrieved 2025-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Wellesley College, Legenda (1929 yearbook): 24.
  13. ^ a b "Dr. Edna Moffett Will Speak at Fraternity Founder's Day Banquet". The Roanoke Times. 1939-01-29. p. 30. Retrieved 2025-07-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Report of the Committee on Credentials" The Association of Collegiate Alumnae Magazine 3(17)(January 1908): 113.
  15. ^ "Course for Young Adults". The Richmond News Leader. 1941-02-01. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-07-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Wellesley College Institute to Honor Miss Edna Moffett". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1948-11-11. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-07-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Moffett, Edna Virginia (1927). A Grant of Spanish Mining Rights in 1521.
  18. ^ Moffett, Edna Virginia. A Lost Diploma of Otto III. Century Press, 1931.
  19. ^ Moffett, Edna V.; Hill, James (1932). "The Diary of a Private on the First Expedition to Crown Point". The New England Quarterly. 5 (3): 602–618. doi:10.2307/359793. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 359793.
  20. ^ Moffett, E. V. (April 1934). "A Bulla of Otto III in America". Speculum. 9 (2): 213–217. doi:10.2307/2846598. ISSN 0038-7134. JSTOR 2846598.
  21. ^ Moffett, Edna V. "Wellesley North and South." Wellesley Magazine (1948).
  22. ^ "Notice in the Chancery Court of the City of Richmond". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1960-12-09. p. 40. Retrieved 2025-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Edna V. Moffett Dead in Wellesley". The Republican. 1962-03-02. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Edna Moffett, 92, History Professor". The New York Times. 1962-03-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  25. ^ "Edna V. Moffett Fellowship". Fastweb. Archived from the original on 2025-04-27. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
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