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William Copley Winslow Edit Profile

clergyman scientist writer

William Copley Winslow was an American archæologist, writer and clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Background

William C. Winslow was born on January 13, 1840, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of the Rev. Hubbard Winslow, a Congregationalist clergyman, and Susan Ward Cutler.

Education

After preparation at the Boston Latin School, he entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, and was graduated in 1862. His theological education he obtained at the General Seminary in New York between 1862 and 1865.

Career

On July 2 of the latter year he was ordained deacon and on May 3, 1867, priest, by Bishop Horatio Potter of New York. Shortly after his ordination he spent several months in Italy studying archaeology and ancient sculpture. Upon his return he assumed the rectorship of St. George's Church, Lee, Massachusetts. This position, which was his only full rectorship, he filled from 1867 to 1870. From 1877 to 1882 he was chaplain of St. Luke's Home in Boston. Winslow's literary work began while he was a student in college. In 1860 he was associated with two prominent students of Yale University in founding the University Quarterly Review, which was published for one year; while a senior he was co-editor of the Hamiltonian. After his graduation he was for a short time on the staff of the New York World and later (1864 - 1865), with the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng of St. George's Church, New York, was associate editor of Christian Times. Winslow's deepest interest, however, was in archaeological research. In 1880 his studies led him to visit the monuments and sites of Egypt and when the discovery of Pithom was announced, he began a correspondence with Sir Erasmus Wilson and Amelia B. Edwards, noted English Egyptian scholars, which led to his founding the American Branch of the Egypt Exploration Fund. In 1883 he became honorary treasurer of this Fund for America; in 1885, its vice-president; and in 1889, honorary secretary. For probably a dozen years after he founded the American Branch he devoted nearly all his time to its interests and to making Egypt known to the American people. During the years 1886 - 1889, as a result of Winslow's enthusiasm, the Boston Museum was enriched with a notable collection of Egyptian monuments, which included the statue of Rameses II, the gigantic column from Bubastis, the head of Hathor, the Hyksos sphinx, the statue of a son of Rameses II, the processional from Bubastis, and the palm-leaf column from Ahnas; besides these, among the precious relics obtained from Abydos, was the sard and gold sceptre of King Khasekhemui of the second dynasty, oldest known sceptre in the world, which was placed in the Museum in 1902. Winslow raised a great amount of money for Egyptian exploration and also persuaded Amelia B. Edwards to make her brilliant American lecture tour. Winslow also published "Israel in Egypt", "The Store City of Pithom" (1885), "A Greek City in Egypt" (1887), "The Egyptian Collection in Boston" (1890), "The Pilgrim Fathers in Holland" (1891) and "Papyri in the United States. " William C. Winslow died on February 2, 1925, at his home on Beacon Street in Boston, Massachusetts.

Achievements

  • Archaeologist and historical writer, William Copley Winslow was a recognized authority on New England Colonial history, and of world-wide fame in the field of Egyptological research and exploration. William C. Winslow was honorary fellow of the American Branch of the Egypt Exploration Fund, the Royal Archaeological Institute, corresponding member of the British Archaeological Association, honorary correspondent of the Victoria Institute, honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, and fellow of the Antiquarians of Scotland. He was on the honorary rolls of numerous state historical societies and also on those of the Nova Scotia and Quebec societies, and the Montreal Society of Natural History. His last important recognition was an election as honorary fellow of the Society of Oriental Research at Chicago in 1917. He received doctorates from many universities both in America and in Europe.

Works

Membership

William C. Winslow was honorary fellow of the American Branch of the Egypt Exploration Fund, the Royal Archaeological Institute, corresponding member of the British Archaeological Association, honorary correspondent of the Victoria Institute, honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, and fellow of the Antiquarians of Scotland. He was on the honorary rolls of numerous state historical societies and also on those of the Nova Scotia and Quebec societies, and the Montreal Society of Natural History. His last important recognition was an election as honorary fellow of the Society of Oriental Research at Chicago in 1917.

Connections

On June 20, 1867, William Copley Winslow married Harriet Stillman Hayward, by whom he had a daughter. After the death of his first wife in 1915, on May 24, 1917, he married Elizabeth Bruce Roelofson, who died on January 12, 1923.

Father:
Hubbard Winslow

Mother:
Susan Ward Winslow (Cutler)

Wife:
Harriet Stillman Winslow (Hayward)

Wife:
Elizabeth Bruce Winslow (Roelofson)

Daughter:
Mary Whitney Winslow