ANNIE SMITH PECK: PAN-AMERICANIST

by

Caroline Louise Houle

A Thesis

Presented to

The Faculty of Humboldt State University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

In Social Science: Geography

May, 1999 ANNIE SMITH PECK: PAN-AMERICANIST

by

Caroline Louise Houle

Approved by the Master's Thesis Committee:

Date

Albert W. Harris, Committee Member Date ber Date tor Date

Ronald A. Fritzsche, Date Interim, Dean for Research and Graduate Studies ABSTRACT ANNIE SMITH PECK: PAN-AMERICANIST

by Caroline Louise Houle

Annie Smith Peck, a scholar, explorer and Pan-Americanist, educated the general public and businessmen about geography, especially Latin American geography. Peck wrote and lectured to Americans about tourist sights, archeology, exploration, mountaineering, and Latin America- including travel, industry, and trade.

Peck also educated Latin Americans about the United States. This was significant because, as is the case today, the American public was geographically illiterate. The Pan-American movement, the idea of peace between North and South America, was in full force at the time, and thus Peck was one of the movers and shakers in the movement. Peck believed education was the most important means of freedom for the impoverished- in both North and South America. Methodologies include: letters to the editor by Peck, newspaper articles about her, and correspondence between her and other explorers and diplomats. I also read Pecks writings, including her four books and many of her newspaper and magazine articles. I reviewed numerous articles and books about South American politics and diplomacy in the early 1900s. Historical organizations, corporations, colleges, and other groups she had contact with, such as the Wisconsin State Historical Society, and Smith College, provided materials about Peck. Information about other explorers of her time, Pecks friends, and diplomatic acquaintances also yielded much primary biographical knowledge.

iii I conclude that Peck contributed to the geographic education of North and

South Americans as a mover and shaker in the Pan-American movement. In doing so, she attempted to promote peace and understanding between the Americas.

iv PREFACE

As a geographer, one of my hobbies and interests is geographic exploration, in particular mountaineering. I became interested in Annie Smith Peck by reading books about women explorers, travelers, and mountaineers. I was interested in Peck because not only did she explore and mountain climb, but she also promoted geographic awareness and world peace, especially between the Americas. I was impressed that she had a Masters degree and taught at universities in a time when that was rare for a woman. She also was a suffragist and a feminist, and she planned all her trips and raised funds on her own. Although there were many women explorers who were rich and/or traveled with their husbands, very few impressed me as much as Annie Peck, who did all of this without ever marrying, while supporting herself financially. Peck gave her neighbor, Alexander Kaddison, information to write her biography. Unfortunately he never wrote it. The best summaries of Peck's life are in the book, Women of the Four Winds, and an interview with her done in 1925 for Success magazine. I found many other short accounts about Annie Peck in exploration books, mountaineering books, and women's history books. They usually were only a page or two long. Almost all chronicles of her life focus on her mountaineering and exploring career. They only briefly mention she was an archeologist, a suffragist activist, held a Masters degree, and was a teacher as well as an university instructor. What surprises me most is that the sources only briefly mention Peck promoting geographic awareness and peace between North and South America. This was the most important accomplishment of her life, to her, to society, and to me.

v Most of what I have written about this impressive period of her life is based on her books and articles, as well as articles about her.

In the 1978 issue of TABS: Aids for Ending Sexism in School the author mentions that information on Annie Smith Peck is hard to find. I agree that it is spread through many universities and historical organizations, but I had no trouble finding information about her life.

Most information I found seemed to be accurate, but I found several errors by the media. In Notable American Women Peck is given credit for reaching the summit of

Mount Sorata in Bolivia. She attempted to climb the mountain, but never reached the summit. Most errors exaggerate her mountaineering accomplishments or refer to her as a school marm, instead of a university instructor.

The National Archives supposedly has correspondence and files about Annie

Peck, but I had no luck finding these. Singer Corporation could find no visual records of the promotional placards of Annie Peck which they gave out in the 1890s with the purchase of a new sewing machine. Other organizations were helpful searching for information but found nothing, such as the Association of American Geographers, and the National Geographic Society. Some I have had no response from, such as the

American Association of University Women, and Stanford University. The Society of

Women Geographers of which Peck was a member, gave their records to the Library of

Congress in 1988. I ordered this information from the Library of Congress, but after several attempts never received it.

I would especially like to thank the University of Michigan, Rhode Island

College, Providence Public Library, the New York Public Library, and Sally Greenwood, coauthor of Women in High Places, for their valuable information.

vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT iii

PREFACE v LIST OF FIGURES viii Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. PECK'S TRIPS TO EUPOPE AND THE BEGINNING OF HER LECTURING AND WRITING CAREER 4

3. PECK'S MOUNTAINEERING TRIPS TO LATIN AMERICA 12 4. ANNIE PECK AND PAN-AMERICANISM 22 5. CONCLUSION 43

vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page

1. Timeline of Annie Peck's Mountaineering Trips to Latin America 16

viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Annie Smith Peck was not only a distinguished archeologist, mountaineer and explorer, but most importantly she educated North and South Americans about geography. Much has been written about her explorations, especially her famous first ascent of Mount Huascaran in Peru, as well as her climb of the Matterhorn. Although these were impressive accomplishments, especially for a woman living in an age of few female mountaineers, what was also notable and largely ignored by writers and researchers today, was Peck as a Pan-American movement activist and her attempts to promote peace and education between the Americas.

Peck's childhood, schooling, and teaching career contributed to her becoming a famous mountaineer, which paved the way for her becoming a Pan-American activist. In this chapter I will discuss Annie Peck's childhood, schooling, and young adulthood in the United States, that led her to her interest to mountaineering, education, and Latin America.

Annie Smith Peck was born October 19, 1850, in Providence, Rhode Island. Unlike most girls, especially in that time, she was a tomboy and loved to compete with her three older brothers in sport. She was involved in many sports, from swimming to horseback riding. Her brothers were not very athletic; therefore, Annie Peck believed they did not influence her later interest in mountain climbing.'

"Climbing High Mountains, Miss Annie S. Peck Tells how her Love for it Finally Made her a Record Breaker,"New York Times, 9 January 1898, sec. 2, p. 2.

1 2 Peck was an overachiever and did well in everything she learned, from academia to sports. Peck said in an interview later in life: I was a very timid child, early afraid of the dark. Later my older brothers made fun of me for being cowardly, so when eight or ten years of age I sat down all by myself and resolved that in the future I would do what other people did whether I was afraid or not. This resolution I carried out and overcame my timidity.' Peck's family visited the Adirondack and White mountains for summer vacations. As a

young adult, Peck visited the west and climbed Mount Shasta (and in Yosemite National Park).

While being an active child and interested in the outdoors, Annie Peck was also an overachiever scholastically. She grew up in an upper class family; her father owned a wood and coal yard and served in the Rhode Island State Legislature. Peck's parents believed a classical education was important for their children. Peck, in the tradition of wealthy New England families, went to mostly private girl's schools. Peck first went to Benefit Street School. She next went to Doctor Stockbridge's

School for Young Ladies, and then to Providence High School. In 1872, at age twenty- two, Peck graduated from Rhode Island State Normal School in the school's first class. After graduating, Annie Peck taught in Providence public schools, and then became a preceptress of a high school in Saginaw, Michigan.

Because women were not allowed to attend Brown University (where her brothers went), after four years of teaching, Peck entered the University of Michigan, which began admitting women in 1870. She took a condensed course of a two-year term in seven months. In 1878, Peck received her B.A. in Greek; forty-six men and eight women were in her graduating class. In 1881, at the age of thirty-one, she attained her M.A. in Greek from the University of Michigan.

2J. Alden Brett, " On Top of the World," Success (March 1925): 48. 3 Throughout her school career Peck always earned high grades and graduated with honors. Brett wrote: What Annie Peck really mastered at the University of Michigan was the great art of doing things- of courageous achievement. To that beautiful, soul-satisfying, now old-fashioned equipment called a classical education, she added a thoroughly modern, practical knowledge of business, politics and current events-world and domestic. These have stood her in good stead as she has become the great interpreter of the two American continents? While attending college, Peck taught summer school at Bartholomew's School for girls in Cincinnati, Ohio. She then became a preceptress of a high school in Montclair, New Jersey. Peck taught Greek, Latin, French, German, history, elocution, mathematics, and music throughout her teaching career. After receiving her M.A., Peck taught Latin and elocution at Purdue University from 1881 to 1883. This made her one of the first American women to become a college professor.

Peck's childhood and young adult experiences, including her interest in sports and the outdoors, and her education, were the foundation for her later Pan-American activism which including writing and lecturing. These early experiences led Peck to an interest in exploration, teaching, and peace.

3Ibid., 49. CHAPTER TWO PECK'S TRIPS TO EUROPE AND THE BEGINNING OF HER LECTURING AND WRITING CAREER

In this chapter I will show how Peck's experiences in Europe propelled her onto the lecture circuit and to journal writing, teaching the American public about geography. Peck's experiences in Europe and her lecturing and writing about the geography of Europe, prepared her for becoming an expert and teacher about Latin America through her books, journal articles, and lectures. Her time in Europe contributed to her interest in geography and gave her a well respected background, as an archeologist, and later a teacher and promoter of Pan-Americanism. In 1884, at age thirty-four, Peck went to Europe to study on a scholarship. She studied music and German in Germany, visited archeological sites in Italy, and was the first woman to be admitted to the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece. During this time, Peck wrote her first articles for magazines. Peck wrote about her experiences at the American School of Classical Studies. She wrote about what to expect at the school, and the logistics of getting there. It cost about one-hundred and fifty

American dollars to go either from Germany or Naples to the school, and Peck believed "A lady can make the journey alone in perfect comfort and safety, providing, at least, that she is not too young or beautiful and has a smattering of German."'

'Annie S. Peck, "American School of Classical Studies "Journal of Education (18 March 1886): 171.

4 5 Peck wrote about her school: "Visits to historical spots, in which the study of topography and archaeology may be most happily combined with physical exercise and enjoyment of fresh air and natural beauty.2 Peck wrote several articles about Greek and Roman archeology, including the statues discovered at the Acropolis, theories of origins of various artifacts, and about the contemporary geography of Greece. Peck wrote in detail about a local Greek middle class wedding she attended, an Albanian peasantry reception, and the city of Athens, among other topics. Peck stayed in Europe a year-and-a-half, and then returned to the United States when her scholarship ran out.3 When she returned to the United States she taught Latin at Smith College in 1886. She also began to give parlor lectures on archaeology, as well as the contemporary geography of Greece. This was the beginning of her career as a lecturer. Peck gave up teaching in colleges by 1892, and began making a living by lecturing and writing. After 1892, Peck was no longer doing parlor lectures, but was lecturing before organizations, colleges, churches, and in other public places. Peck used her own photographs as stereoscopic images to augment her lectures. She lectured about archeology and the geography of places she visited in Europe. Topics included the countryside, Innsbruck and resorts in the region, castles, the Alps, the Acropolis, modern

Athens, Greek mythology, and Greek archaeology. In 1893 Peck lectured about modem Athens and Greece, before the American Geographic Society in Chickening Hall, New York.4 She made $125 for a series of three lectures and $50 for a single lecture. Peck often worked for lecture companies such as

2Ibid.

3Linda Peavy, and Ursula Smith, Women Who Changed Things, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983), 125-26.

4“Archeological Speech,"New York Times, 14 November 1893, p. 2. 6 the popular Chautauqua Assembly and Lyceum Bureau. They promoted her as a "profound classical scholar, a distinguished archaeologist and an accomplished musician." 5

Other places Peck spoke included: The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; The Boston Art Club; the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts; many times before the

Chicago Art Institute; The Peoples Church in Minneapolis; and in most of the large cities

in the United States, often several times .6 Peck made both lay and scientific speeches about Greece and Greek archeology.

References listed on the placards advertising her talks included such notable people as: James B. Angell, president of the University of Michigan; Dr. Frederic Allen; Dr. Benjamin Andrews (who later helped fund her 1903 expedition to Bolivia), president of Brown University; and Albert Harkness, professor of Greek at Brown University.7 Peck received numerous praises from professors and reviewers. Her speeches were very popular and she often spoke to a full house. Many professors of Greek archeology believed she was one of the most scholarly persons they ever knew. Dr. Benjamin Andrews wrote: "Miss Annie Peck is well known to me as an enthusiastic and successful student of Greek Art. She has had the best advantages which America or Europe affords for broad cultivation in her chosen department, and I consider her

attainments to be very remarkable."8 J.A. Fowler commented: Miss Peck is an archaeologist of no mean order. . . . and is called by competent judges one of the most scholarly and accomplished ladies in the U.S. It is small praise to say, after what she has accomplished, that she has a pleasing personality, an unusually graceful manner, and a charm of voice, which is clear and distinct when telling a story of thrilling interest; she holds an audience in rapt attention.9

5Peavy and Smith, 126.

6Lecture Placards, "Illustrated Lectures on Ancient and Modern Greece," n.p., n.d.

8Ibid.

9J. A. Fowler , "Mountain Climbing as a Pleasure and a Science: What Miss Annie S. Peck, M. A. has Accomplished," The Phrenological Journal (May 1906): 142. 7 A.W. Greely, vice president of the National Geographic Society, who later nominated Peck to the Royal Geographic Society, commented "Miss Peck's lecture before the National Geographic Society was greatly enjoyed by our members, who spoke in terms of the highest praise of the subject matter, the stereopticon plates shown, and the manner of delivery."10 C. Wesley Emerson, M.D., President of the Emerson College of Oratory wrote:

"1 can hardly find words in which to express my admiration of Miss Peck's lecture. . . . A student listening to one of her lectures will get a better idea of ancient art than by reading a number of well written volumes on the subject."11 Peck received great reviews from newspapers such as the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Cincinnati Tribune, and Chicago Globe. The Providence Journal wrote "Miss Peck described the Acropolis of Athens in a manner which indicated careful study, and the audience was held spellbound until the close.12 The Boston Traveler commented that

"Notwithstanding that this subject has been many times lectured upon, there was a practical directness in Miss Peck's manner which gave to her descriptions a vivid understanding of the scenes that is not always experienced."13 The Lynn Daily Evening wrote in 1892: "Her subject at first might have been thought dry and uninteresting, but under her magic touch it was fascinating, and praises of the lecture were on every tongue at its conclusion."14 The reviewers often mentioned that she had an excellent voice, excellent presentation skills, wonderful stereoscopic views, kept the audience enthralled and made one feel like they were there.

10Lecture Placards, "Illustrated Lectures on Ancient and Modem Greece," n.p., n.d.

14Ibid.11Ibid.12Ibid.13Ibid.

8 In 1893 Annie Peck was mentioned in A Woman of the Century: Leading American Women in All Walks of Life, a source-book of famous women. The book described Peck as an educator, musician, profound classical scholar and distinguished archaeologist.15 Century Magazine hired Peck to write about the Passion plays of Switzerland in 1895. The Passion plays at Vorder-Thiersee, Tyrol, a farming community, were religious plays performed every ten years since the Middle Ages. They reenacted scenes from the bible. Peck wrote and spoke about how to get there, what the plays were like, and interviewed the local actors and actresses. She reviewed the plays and mentioned the local inhabitants and geography. Peck was the first person to publicize the festival, which had been rediscovered several years earlier. She later wrote about the Passion plays at Horitz in Bohemia, and at Oberammergau, in 1900.16 The next topic that Peck began lecturing about was her climb of the Matterhorn. In 1885, Peck became interested in the Matterhorn after listening to a lecture by Dr. David Jordan (an American naturalist, explorer, and peace advocate) while she was in Europe. He described the Matterhorn as a dreadful place, which made Peck curious to at least look at it.17

In 1895, after visiting the Passion plays in the Alps, Peck decided to climb the Matterhorn. She was afraid that if she did not take the opportunity while there, something might happen which would prevent her from ever visiting Switzerland again until she was too old, and she would never fulfill her dream.18 On August 21, 1895, at age forty-five, Peck climbed the Matterhorn; it took her six hours, a quick climb. Two Swiss guides, Jean Baptiste Aymonod, who was

15Elizabeth Fagg Olds Women of the Four Winds, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1985), 10. 16Lecture Placards: Redpath Lyceum Bureau, Boston and Chicago, 1900-1901. 17J.A. Fowler, 142. 18Ibid. 9 recommended by Dr. David Jordan, and Silvain Pession assisted her.19 Peck wrote "The following morning, full of delightful recollections of my perfect day on the Matterhorn, slightly indignant with those friends who had marred my otherwise joyful anticipations by their foolish forebodings, and hoping that I may be able to do it again some day."20 Climbing the Matterhorn gave Peck instant fame. She promoted a studio photograph of her in her climbing outfit. She wore canvas pants she made herself, hiking boots made especially for her in Switzerland, and a soft felt hat tied with a veil. Her outfit gave her more notoriety than the fact that she was one of the first woman to climb the peak. Singer Company began giving away a packet of pictures of Annie Peck in her climbing gear, with each purchase of a sewing machine. Singer officials said that they wanted women to realize while they were working hard at the machine, that women could also climb mountains.21 These collector packets of various famous women, including the American singer, Lillian Russell, were a Singer sales gimmick.22 After climbing the Matterhorn in 1896, Annie Peck decided mountain climbing might be a more popular topic to speak about. Peck stopped publicizing archaeology and instead began speaking and writing about her mountaineering experiences, as well as geography. Topics she talked about included tourism in Switzerland, the Matterhorn and other climbs in the Alps, and the Paris Exposition, which she attended. For the Matterhorn speeches, Peck showed many photographs of the Matterhorn which were unique. Peck had a special lecture series for women's clubs on mountaineering for women. Now her lecture placards proclaimed Peck "Queen of the Climbers". 23

19"A Woman's Ascent of the Matterhorn," Rhode Island College Scrapbooks, 130.

21Fagg Olds, 12.

22Robert Bruce Davies, Peacefully Working to Conquer the World: Singer Sewing Machines in Foreign Markets 1854-1920, (United States: Arno Press Inc., 1976), 99.

23Fagg Olds, 12. 10 Peck received great reviews for her mountaineering and geographic presentations. The Washington Post wrote about her Matterhorn talk before the National Geographic Society: "The large auditorium upstairs and down was crowded, and even standing-room was difficult to find. The lecture was thoroughly enjoyed, and at many points the speaker was interrupted by enthusiastic applause. The illustrations were among the finest ever seen here."24 The largest audiences in the history of the National Geographic Society attended three of her presentations. In 1902, Peck's Matterhorn speech in Salem, Massachusetts, was booked an hour in advance. Only one-third of those who wished to see her would fit in the auditorium.25 Providence Mayor McGuinness introduced Peck at one talk on the Matterhorn, as the star attraction.26 Although her Matterhorn speech was popular, many preferred her talk, "Afoot and Alone in Tyrol."27 This presentation was about her hikes in the Tyrol region of the Alps before she climbed the Matterhorn. The New York Tribune, Boston Herald and many other newspapers were impressed by Peck. She was complemented for a fine delivery, vivid descriptions and clarity in speaking. At her series of lectures at Infantry Hall, where she spoke twice a week for several months, Governor Geo. H. Utter of Rhode Island, and Mayor A. S. Miller of Providence introduced Peck at several of the lectures.28 One reviewer wrote: "She spoke of glaciers and crevasses of snow fields and mountain storms with the familiarity of one who might be describing a trip through the subway of her own city. What I admire, even more than the modesty of the climbers recital is the wonderful pluck of this intrepid lady, to which her narrative bears

24Lecture Placards: Redpath, 1900-1901.

25Lecture Placards: Redpath Lyceum Bureau, Boston and Chicago, 1902-1903.

26Lecture Placards: Redpath, 1900-1901. 27Lecture Placards: Infantry Hall, Freeman and Sons Printers, 1904. 28Ibid. 11 testimony." 29 Another wrote: "Miss Peck's lectures on the Matterhorn, Tyrol and Switzerland are illustrated with unique wonderful views that can not be duplicated in this country." 30 Yet another commented "It is believed that no other person on the lecture platform, so well informed on these matters, has so high a reputation for fine delivery, lectures of absorbing interest, and accurate information."31 Peck's travels in Europe and her traveling the lecture circuit, as well as writing articles, helped her gain a reputation as a distinguished orator and writer. These skills and her excellent reputation would later help her be recognized as an authority on Latin

American relations. Her publicized Matterhorn climb brought her into the public eye.

29Peavy and Smith, 128.

30Lecture Placards: Redpath, 1902-1903.

31Annie S. Peck, The South American Tour: A Descriptive Guide, 3d ed., (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1924), back of book advertisement. CHAFFER THREE PECK'S MOUNTAINEERING TRIPS TO LATIN AMERICA

Pecks first exploration trips to Latin America introduced the continent, its geography, and its people to Peck, and inspired Peck to teach the people of North and South America about each other and promote Pan-Americanism. She made connections with important people in Latin America that would help her with her later success as an author, and as a promoter of geographic education about the Americas, as well as contribute to her fame. Climbing the Matterhorn caused Peck to take mountaineering seriously. In order to live up to that fame, and with an interest in Latin America, Peck decided to attempt

Mount Orizaba and Mount Popocatepetl (El Popo) in Mexico. Orizaba (18,696 feet) was the highest point that had been reached in North America. Orizaba is the third highest peak in North America and El Popo is the fifth highest. The New York Sunday World newspaper funded her trip to Mexico, on the condition she suggested, that she would plant a banner on the peak of El Popo with the newspaper's name on it.1 The mountains were easier goals than Peck expected. On April 17, 1897, Annie Peck climbed El Popo; two weeks later she climbed Mount Orizaba. Few men, and no women had been this high in North America. The first recorded climb of Orizaba had been by American soldiers, during the Mexican-American War, in

1848. Peck now shared the North American world record in altitude for an American in North America, since the taller peaks in Alaska and Canada had not yet been climbed.

1Fagg Olds, 14.

12 13 Peck lectured about her travels in Mexico, including the geography, a bull fight, and a trip to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The Mexican Minister to Washington, Mattias Romero commented, "Miss Peck's lecture on Mexico is the best that I have ever heard; far superior to Stoddard's."2 Richard Stoddard was an American poet and critic. After her successes in Mexico, Peck decided she wanted to climb the tallest peak in the Americas. In her words: "My next thought was to do a little genuine exploration, to conquer a virgin peak, to attain some height where no man had previously stood."3 Another reason Peck wished to visit South America, was because of the increasing

American interest in South America. She hoped to draw attention to the region, thus promoting travel, commerce and trade between the two continents which she believed, would lead to peace. This fact was more important to her than any scientific contributions.4 In her own words: A greater knowledge of the characteristics and wonderful scenery of this most interesting country and a further acquaintance with our southern neighbors, widely differing among themselves as well as from us, may well be worth while.5

The sort of exploration which I had undertaken would seem of a far more practical nature than that of the polar regions. While every portion of the globe is undoubtedly worthy of investigation, and is certain at some time to be explored, the inhabited regions of the earth, especially those of our own hemisphere, which, for their magnificent scenery invite travel, and for their mineral and agricultural riches invite commerce, should at once become better known to us. Mountain climbing for itself alone, to many, nay, to nearly all of our people, might not seem worthwhile; worse, it might appear folly: but as a means of drawing attention to a section of country that should be world famed for the splendor of its great mountains, no less for the mineral riches along their slopes, it seemed that my efforts might appeal in a practical way to practical men.6

2Lecture Placards: Redpath Lyceum Bureau, Boston and Chicago, 1900-1901.

3Annie S. Peck, A Search for the Apex of South America: High Mountain Climbing in Peru and Bolivia Including the Conquest of Huascaran with some Observations on the Country and People Below, (New York: Dodd Mead, 1911), x. Ibid.,4 xi. 5 Miss Annie S. Peck Now on Her Way to South America: Her Former Trip," New York Times, 10 July 1904, 13.

6Peck, Apex, 216-217. 14 Mount Sorata (Illampu) in Bolivia, or Mount Aconcagua in Chile, was believed to be the tallest peak in Latin America, estimated between 21,000 and 25,000 feet (Mount Sorata is not even one of the ten tallest mountains in South America, but many areas had not yet been explored or measured). In 1897, two members of the Fitzgerald expedition climbed Mount Aconcagua, the tallest peak in the Americas, so Peck did not want to climb it and hoped other peaks were taller. By the time Peck explored in South America, in the early 1900s, the third through sixth tallest peaks had not been discovered yet, and many mountains were still nameless. On June 16, 1903 Peck, with her hired help, set sail from New York on her first trip to South America. It was not until 1918 that there was a regular steamship service to western South America? The group switched boats in Colon, Panama, after taking the train a short distance to cross the isthmus, as the Panama Canal was not yet finished. Peck commented on Americans in Panama: It would be needless to say that due respect to the House of God should be shown by the removal of the hat, and by courteous behavior, but for the astonishing ill manners and rudeness displayed by some American boors which have tended to make us unpopular with many Latin Americans. If we really are so superior as some of us fancy, it would be well to exhibit this by our good breeding. To avoid shocking the prejudices of others, and in some cases to do better than we would be done by, will increase the pleasure of a trip and pave the way for business advantage.8 The party stopped at Arequipa, Peru. The Latin American officials Peck met on her trips appreciated the benefits resulting from such travel as hers and thus were always friendly. Peck brought letters of introduction to present in La Paz, Bolivia. These would help her find places to stay, and with them she met many local dignitaries.9 In La Paz Peck attended a dinner for officials which included an American diplomat, William B.

7 Valerie J. Fifer, U.S. Perceptions of Latin America 1850-1930: The 'New West' South of Capricorn?, (Manchester, United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, 1991), 155.

8Annie S. Peck, "Panama as a Health Resort," New York Times, 31 July 1904, 32. 9Marion Tiding, Women into the Unknown: A Sourcebook on Women Explorers and Travelers, (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1989), 210. 15 Sorsby (who owned a gold mine in Ecuador and edited several newspapers); Secretary of State, Señor Villasohn; and Mr. Sheppard, superintendent of the new railroad.' This expedition was a disaster as the weather turned bad, the scientist got altitude sickness, and the Indian porters went on strike when the scientist gave up. Peck estimated they had reached an elevation of 20,500 feet; the American Alpine Club later estimated her elevation at 19,000 feet. Peck attempted the mountain again after sending her hired help on their way. Señor Juan Maria Fulles from La Paz, who owned half of Mount Sorata, offered his Indian workers to serve as porters. Peck took two Indians with her on her second attempt. The weather again turned stormy and due to recurrent avalanches and the lateness of the season, they had to abandon the attempt. Sorata was not successfully climbed until 1928, more than twenty years later. Peck spend time in La Paz and observed the people. She visited with the Peruvian minister to the United States, Don Felipe Pardo. Peck visited a women's hospital, churches, convents and universities. She noted that education for the Indians was gravely needed, but there was only a small revenue for this endeavor and the idea of keeping the lower classes in a state of ignorance prevailed. Peck believed in order for a nation to develop, all the inhabitants needed to be educated." Peck then rode horseback, with several companions, seventy miles across the Pampa of Islay desert on the way to Lima. In Lima, Peck visited with the people. One man bragged to her he had twenty-eight children of one mother in twenty-four years, to which Peck wrote, "It may be unnecessary to state that his wife was a Peruvian, or that she was dead, as are one half of the children also.12

Peck, Apex., 28-31. 10 Ibid., 77. 11 12Ibid., 99. 16 Peck visited Oroyo, a mining town, and the Oroyo Railroad, the highest railroad on earth at 15,665 feet. Peck was always very interested in mining and railroads in South

America, since she believed better transportation and communication would lead to commerce and hence peace between the nations. Peck visited a school for girls that had a book on conduct which she thought would be useful for American schools.

Back at her home in New York City, Peck wrote and spoke about Panama and

Bolivia during the next year. She predicted development in Panama, as well as South

America. She wrote that in Panama real estate is held at absolutely prohibitive prices, so that it may be that we shall have new American towns springing up in the canal zone, leaving the Panamanian's out in the cold.13

FIGURE 1

TIMELINE OF ANNIE PECK'S MOUNTAINEERING TRIPS TO LATIN AMERICA

Mt. Coropuna Mt. Huascaran Mt. Huascaran/Raura Mts. Mt. Sorata/Huascaran Mt. Sorata Mt. Orizaba/El Popo

95 00 05 8 910 1 19 19 1 1915

The next year, in 1904, after raising funds, Peck went back to South America. On this trip Peck hoped to climb Mount Sorata, Mount Sajama in Bolivia, or Mount

Huascaran in Peru. A Peruvian engineer, Señor Lucio R. Landerer, had told her

13Peck, "Panama as a Health Resort" 18. 17 Huascaran was 25,000 feet tall and the tallest mountain in the Americas (actually it is 22,205 feet tall, and not the tallest).14 While in Panama, Peck went to a banquet attended by the Panamanian president, Senor Amador, the Panamanian Congress, as well as representatives of the

French and United States Government, who were there discussing canal rights. A Peruvian, Guillermo A. Wagner, superintendent of a silver mine, met Peck in Mollendo, Peru.15 A new president, Ismael Montes, had just been inaugurated in Bolivia, so there were festivities in La Paz.

On Mount Sorata, the Austrian guide and Peck constantly argued about which routes to take, and the Austrian finally would not go any further. He said that if Peck persisted in going contrary to his judgment that she could take her own chances. They had come within at least fifteen-hundred feet of the summit. It was now too late in the season to plan another trip to Sorata. Peck decided to climb further north. Peck resolved to climb Huascaran instead of Sajama because Huascaran was a more challenging mountain, yet unclimbed, and more remote and supposedly in more scenic country. It was not until 1932, when a large German party visited the region, that the area was extensively explored and climbed.

In the town of Yungay, at the foot of Mount Huascaran, Peck stayed with the wealthy Vinetea sisters, who became like family to her. From Yungay, Peck thought the north peak of double-peaked Huascaran looked easier to climb; both peaks looked about the same height. A large number of people from the town, including the governor, Señor Rosendo Arias, and the local newspaper editor, accompanied Peck for the beginning of the mountaineering expedition.

14Annie S. Peck, "A Woman in the Andes" Harpers Monthly Magazine (December 1906): 3. 15Peck, Apex, 131-32. 18 With unreliable help and the avalanche danger too great, as it was late in the season, Peck had to turn back after two attempts, at about 19,500 feet. Peck returned to New York for the season and then went back to South America in 1906, after raising more funds for an attempt on Huascaran. Once again, with unreliable help, she gave up her attempt and instead visited Lima and South American mines. In Lima she met an American, Mr. Thomas F. Sedgwick, who was working for a sugar experiment station. She received valuable information for her books from him about the sugar industry. United States Secretary of State, Elihu Root, was winding up his famous 1906 tour or South America. Peck attended a banquet held by the Peruvian government and President Jose Pardo in honor of Mr. Root and Pan-Americanism. Peck toured Cerro de Pasco, the world's highest mining establishment. She visited with the consulting engineer, Mr. Frank Klepetko and the superintendent, J.J. Case. She then explored the Raura Mountains and the headwaters of the Amazon River.

Peck was the first white woman to explore this region, which was still incompletely defined on maps and rarely visited, even today. She attempted one unnamed peak and climbed another by herself. Peck wrote: Triumph at last! It was not by any means the loftiest peak in South America, but it was the first ascent of a mountain higher than Mount Blanc, the monarch of the Alps, and I had done it alone. Surely that was better than nothing. I drew a long breath and for a moment enjoyed my triumph, truly, happier far more than when two years later I reached the summit of the great Huascaran.16 Two years later, in 1908, Peck returned to Peru to attempt Huascaran, this time with funding from Harpers Magazine and accompanied by two Swiss guides. In San Jacinto, Peru, Peck stayed with the wealthy Bryson family, as she had on previous trips.

The Brysons were part owners of an estate, with the new Peruvian president, Augusto Leguia.

16Ibid., 299. 19 This time, after two attempts, Peck finally succeeded. She attained the summit, along with her Swiss guides. In 1908 Peck received a solid silver stirrup from the Lima Geographical Society for her climb of Huascaran, when she was the first women to address the society in Spanish. She spoke to a full house about her Huascaran climb, and many others who wanted to listen were turned away for lack of space. Peck also received a gold medal from the government of Peru, instigated by President Leguia.17 It was rewarded to her in recognition of her services to Peru through her exploration and writings, and for her climb of Huascaran.

Peck had now climbed the highest peak by an American man or woman in the Americas; she held that record in 1932, when she died. Europeans had already climbed

Mount Aconcagua and Mount Illimani in Bolivia, which were both taller than Huascaran. Mount Huascaran was not climbed again until 1932 when a German party climbed the slightly taller south peak. Today Huascaran is a popular mountaineering destination.

Most people use the route Peck pioneered on the west face. Peck wrote: While claiming no scientific merit for the discovery of unknown lands, nevertheless, in a small way I feel something of an explorer's pride in having visited a tiny section of the earth's surface unfamiliar not only to Americans but to the majority of Peruvians, a section too that will one day become famous the world over presenting as it does an extraordinary combination of attractions, including a scenic splendor surpassing that of Chamonix.18

In 1928 the Lima Geographical Society named the north peak of Huascaran "Cumbre Ana Peck" (Annie Peck's Peak) in Peck's honor. The Peruvian government included her first name, in order to show that a woman had been the first to climb it.19 Pecks's first Book, The Search for the Apex of America: High Mountain

Climbing in Peru and Bolivia, including the Conquest of Huascaran, with Some Observations on the Country and People Below, received rave reviews. It was published

Ibid., 367. 17

18Ibid., 100.

19"Peru to Name Peak for Miss Peck," New York Times, 12 January 1928, 18.

20 in 1911, three years after her final success on Huascaran. The Literary Digest of New York wrote "An amazingly interesting book of South American exploration." 20 The Spectator of London commented: Here is a book which no mountaineer should miss, for it is a story of infinite patience and sterling courage. It was a splendid performance, carried through in the teeth of difficulties which to most people would have seemed insuperable, and Miss Peck well deserved the medal bestowed upon her by the Government of Peru.21 Peck received great reviews from other parts of the country, such as from the Portland Journal in Oregon and also many from Britain.

In 1910, Peck was the guest of honor at a Camp Fire Club ladies dinner at the Hotel Astor in New York City. Two hundred members attended the dinner and presentation by Peck about Mount Huascaran, her explorations in the Raura Range and

the geography of Peru. Ernest Thompson Seton, who with his wife, Grace Gallatin Thompson Seton, founded the Campfire Girls; and a renowned nature writer; attended the

lecture as did the author Irving Bachellier. Mark Twain attended Peck's lecture about mountaineering at the New York Smith Club. Peck's presentations about Huascaran were very popular. The Reverend Dr. Charles F. Aked wrote about her lecture on Huascaran before the American Geographical Society:

Heartiest congratulations. You were magnificent. The revelation of human endurance made in the course of your lecture, your calm courage and skill almost pass belief. The pictures were very beautiful indeed. We must certainly have you at the forum.22 Peck's last major mountain climbing expedition was to the Peruvian volcano, Mount Coropuna, in 1911. Peck had read in a book that it was taller than Aconcagua and

20Annie S. Peck, The South American Tour: A Descriptive Guide 3d ed., (New York: .George H. Doran Co., 1924), back of book advertisement

2223Ibid. 21 she had seen it from steam boat trips to Bolivia. Four Peruvian porters, one Peruvian scientist and a German guide accompanied Peck. She stayed at local dignitary's homes.

On July 16, 1911 Peck's group climbed two of the mountain's five peaks, which had looked the tallest from a distance. Peck planted a banner on the higher peak which read "votes for women" that had the Joan of Arc Equal Suffrage League logo on it, of which Peck was a member. She measured the peaks to be approximately 21,000 feet, shorter than Aconcagua. The climbs were much easier than Huascaran. Peck also made first ascents of two other lower-elevation mountains in the vicinity. Today Coropuna is rarely visited, it is in the remote Valley of the Volcanoes near the town of Andagua, Peru.

We have seen in this chapter how Peck's exploration trips to Latin America introduced the continent, its geography, industries, communication systems, and its people to her. With these expeditions she began to write and speak to Americans about

Latin America. She made connections with South American politicians, American diplomats and business-men that would help her with her later books, help her be a promoter of geographic education about the Americas, and contribute to her reputation as a great interpreter of the two Americas. CHAPTER FOUR ANNIE PECK AND PAN-AMERICANISM Her friends maintain, while she has won fame as the world's foremost woman mountain climber, that is incidental to her other achievements. She is known widely as an author, scholar and educator. On the occasion of her various expeditions to the southern hemisphere, her work among South American women is said to have made her better known among them than any other North American woman.1 Peck's trips to South America increased her interest in promoting peace and understanding between North and Latin America (Pan-Americanism). As we have already seen, Peck contributed to the geographic education of North Americans. She continued this through her books, articles, and lectures, as well as teaching Latin Americans about North America and promoting Pan-Americanism in North and South

America. She was a mover and shaker in the Pan-American movement. During the 1920s and 1930s the Pan-American movement gained momentum. The movement had its origins in the international peace movement. Pan-Americanism was a branch of the peace movement, since Pan-Americanism promoted peace between the Western Hemisphere republics. The objective was to promote closer social,

economic, financial, and political relations between the independent republics of the Western Hemisphere by promoting tourism, information exchange, and arbitration of all

disputes. The origins of Pan-Americanism began in 1818 when Simon Bolivar, the famous

South American liberator from Spanish rule, wrote:

1 "Former Rhode Islander Called Leading Woman Mountain Climber " Evening Bulletin, 5 June 1924.

22 23 "The new world should be constituted by free and independent nations, united among themselves by a body of law common to all of them, to govern their foreign relations."2 Henry Clay, United States Secretary of State from 1825 to 1829, is considered the first

Pan-Americanist in the United States. He organized a campaign for recognition of South American states in 1818 and suggested a Human Freedom League of America Republics. Interest in Pan-Americanism waned and little was accomplished until after the United States Civil War. In 1889, Secretary of State James Blaine formulated the first

Pan-American Conference, held in Washington D.C. with the purpose of preventing war between American nations? From then on they were held every five years. Blaine favored Pan-Americanism as the best way to eliminate inter-American wars which had negative impacts on commerce. He also believed the Western Hemisphere had common interests. Blaine supported mediation and arbitration treaties as well as trade agreements.4

The creation of the American Information Bureau (in 1908 reorganized into the Pan-American Union) was the success of the conference.5 William Eleroy Curtis was the first director of the Information Bureau, from 1890 to 1893. He laid the groundwork for the Union's information service, wrote numerous booklets, began publishing the first Handbook of the American Republics, and organized an impressive exhibit about Latin

America at the Worlds Fair in Chicago in 1893.6

2Ezequiel Padilla, Free Men of America (Chicago: Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., 1943), 28-29. 3John Barrett, The Pan-American Union: Peace, Friendship and Commerce, (Washington D.C.: The Pan-American Union, 1911), 175. 4 Richard K. Showman, and Lyman S. Judson, The Monroe Doctrine: and the Growth of Western Hemisphere Solidarity, (New York: The H.W. Wilson Co., 1941), 23.

Ibid., 24-25. 5

6Fifer, 153-54. 24 After 1900, Pan-Americanism became increasingly popular.7 The second Pan- American conference was held in 1901-02 in Mexico City. The focus of the conference was political and commercial. In 1906, the next conference in Rio De Janeiro focused on debt. At the conference, Secretary of State, Elihu Root commented: "We [The United States] neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every American Republic."8 When the construction of the American Panama Canal began in 1904 there was an even greater demand for current information on South America. Secretary Root traveled to all the South American republics in 1906 to promote peaceful relations. This was the first time in history that a United States Secretary of State had made such a visit; he gave a new impetus to the movement. The South Americans welcomed him everywhere he went. Peck was in Peru at the time of his visit and attended a banquet in his honor. Secretary Root promoted universal education, spoke about the evils of laissez faire capitalism and the evils of making a profit by abusing others. He received a Nobel peace prize in 1912. The Pan-American Union was the major organization of American nations. Its purpose was to promote commerce, peace and understanding among all the American republics, by fostering economic, juridical, social and cultural relations. It also served as a distributor of the Latin American information industry, since Latin America was still largely unknown. By the 1920s it was the most advanced international peace organization. 9 John Barrett was an American advisor and arbitrator in international economics and controversies. Barrett was the director of the Pan-American Union from 1907 to

7 Arthur C. F. Beales, and Lincoln MacVeagh, The History of Peace (New York: The Dial Press, 1931), 250.

8Showman, and Judson, 26. Beales, and MacVeagh, 328. 9 25 1920 and made it a powerful world-recognized international organization. He promoted peace, friendship, and commerce and increased Pan-American trade. He was the founder of the Pan-American Society of the United States, a delegate at the Pan-American Science Congress in 1916, and the organizer of the first Pan-American Commercial Conference in 1911. Barrett was decorated Order of Liberator by Venezuela in 1910 in recognition of services in behalf of Pan-Americanism.

Despite criticisms of the United States using the Union to take control of Latin American nations, accomplishments of the Union included cultural exchange, correspondence, commerce, a library with the largest collection of information on Latin America by the 1920s, a monthly bulletin, and conferences. Other organizations that were important promoters of Pan-Americanism were the American Geographical Society, managed by Isaiah Bowman in the late 1910s, and the National Geographic Society, led by Alexander Graham Bell and his son-in-law Gilbert

H. Grosvenor. The National Geographic Society created a beautiful wall map of Latin America in 1921.10 The American Geographical Society mapped Latin America at a scale of 1:1,000,000, a huge project that was not completed until 1945.11 The National Geographic Society brought geography to the general North American public, in particular Latin America, at the turn of the century.

The Pan-American movement was at the height of its activities in the years that Peck visited South America, and it is no wonder that she became involved in the movement. After climbing Coropuna in 1911, Peck began expanding her Pan-American activism. She spoke in North and South America about industry, education, and Pan- Americanism. In 1912, Peck gave lectures in Spanish, in La Paz and Buenos Aries, about relations between the Untied States and South America. These lectures were attended by

10Ibid., 161-62. 11Fifer, 159. 26 the presidents of both South American nations. She did a lecture circuit of South America in 1912, 1916, and from 1922 to 1924. To South Americans she spoke about North American tourist attractions, industries, and American universities and technical schools. Peck always augmented her lectures with numerous stereoscopic views. Peck lectured in Spanish or Portuguese in all the major cities in South America.12 She gave three lectures to the Library of the National Council of Women in Buenos Aires and addressed a thousand business-men on the leading United States industries in 1916. Her 1916 trip was financed by several corporations. The topics she lectured on were, Peck thought, in the interests of friendship and trade.13 Dr. Luis E. Zuberbuhler presented Peck to the audience at a lecture in Argentina. In 1925, when he was the president of the Bank of the Nation in Argentina, he sent Peck valuable information for the revision of her book, Industrial and Commercial South America.14 In North America, Peck talked and wrote about the South American tourist tour, she lectured about South American countries either singly or in a series. Peck lectured on special topics as organizations desired. She discussed the resources, education systems, industry, and opportunity in South America. Peck's second book, published in 1913, The South American Tour: A Descriptive

Guide, was a basic geographic handbook for travelers, or those interested in South America. It included numerous photographs, mostly taken by Peck. She also had a reference section in the back of her book with approximately one-hundred other books on South America, for interested persons to read. Peck commented why she wrote this book:

12Miss Peck Goes out to Climb Heights," New York Times, 3 June 1911, 11.

13"To Lecture in South America," New York Times, 22 November 1915, 12.

14Annie S. Peck, Flying Over South America: Twenty Thousand Miles by Air, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., Riverside Press Cambridge, 1932), 190-191. 27 To all Americans both of the Northland and of the South this book with due modesty is inscribed, in the hope that by inciting to travel and acquaintance it may promote commercial intercourse, with the resulting ties of mutual benefit and respect: in the hope, too, that the slender cord now feebly entwining the various Republics may soon draw them all into more intimate relations of friendship; at last into a harmonious Sisterhood, in which neither age nor size shall confer superior rights, but mutual confidence based upon the foundations of justice shall insure perpetual peace.15 In her preface to the fourth edition she wrote "It is time that people should no longer ask,

"Where is Peru?" confuse Argentina with a breakfast food, or be unaware of the location and excellences of the fourth and fifth largest cities on this hemisphere."16 General John J. Pershing called her book the best guidebook on South America ever written.17

Scientific America and the New York Times gave the book excellent reviews.18 The Pan-American Union was instrumental in books being written about Latin America, as it was the largest promoter and distributor of all Latin American information, from tourism, to commerce and education. By the 1920's there were many books about South America. The Pan-American Union and writers were the largest promoters of Latin American travel, as the travel industry (resorts and steamship companies) was just beginning in Latin America. The Union planned trips for individuals and groups. John Barrett commissioned the first book by the Union in 1909, Practical Guide to Latin America; it included travel preparation, costs, routes and sight-seeing.19 Valerie Fifer wrote "Other travelers were soon encouraged to do the same, none more successfully than the mountaineer and lecturer Annie Peck, whose South American Tour, first published in 1913, went through several editions in the next ten years." 20 By 1921 a

15Peck, The South American Tour,

16Ibid., xii. 17Lisa Cron, and Lucy Picco Simpson, "Annie Smith Peck a Woman at the Top," TABS: Aids for Ending Sexism in School, 1978.

18Annie S. Peck, Industrial and Commercial South America, 2d ed., (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1927), back of book advertisement.

19Fifer, 157.20Ibid 28 British man, William Koebel, noticed the Americans were way ahead in the Latin American information industry. He decided to compete, and produced the first South American Handbook; its current edition is still known as the best general guide book of South America today.21 Peck was very thorough in her book, mentioning such things as which newspapers were good or bad in cities and countries she wrote about. For example, Peck wrote about the Buenos Aires newspapers, "Instead of the great quantity of trivial gossip about public and private individuals such as in America, they have news of State and mercantile, commercial matters at home and abroad and scientific and literary information."22 Peck predicted that many of the Andean mountains would, for at least another generation, be visited only by adventurous explorers. Peck wrote about imperialism: "Our boasted love of peace contrasted with our objectives to the world court and League of Nations. Our disavowal of imperialism while invading the rights of Haiti, Santo Domingo and Nicaragua.23 Peck continued later: "It is time we perceived we are part of a small world, that we have a responsibility, not to bully or dictate, not to show others how they should go, but to have understanding of their difficulties and to realize that our sympathetic aid will be helpful to ourselves as well as others."24

In 1922 Peck published her third book Industrial and Commercial South America. Both this book and The South American Tour were on the Pan-American Union's recommended reading list and used by many business-men and corporations.25 The publishers of Industrial and Commercial South America, wrote:

21Fifer, 158.

22Peck, South American Tour, 247.

23 Annie S. Peck, "Some Burning Questions "New York Times, 5 November 1928, 22.

24 Annie S. Peck, "We are also of the World," New York Times 20 December 1931, 2.

25Fagg Olds, 63. 29 A mine of information in regard to the several countries of the southern continent- their cities and ports; transportation systems, exterior and interior; physical characteristics and natural resources; their products and possibilities, agricultural, mineral, stock-raising and forestry. For the manufacturer, the exporter and importer, for the traveler, the student and the general reader interested in South America, this book is indispensable.'

The Standard, a Buenos Aires paper wrote "Miss Peck has studied her subject at length and her observation is keen, whilst her judgment is sound, and her book can be confidently recommended for those who seek unbiased information." 27 The New

Statesman of London wrote "A handbook which of its kind could scarcely be bettered." 28

She received first-rate reviews from newspapers all over the country and in other nations.

Industrial and Commercial South America was Peck's most popular book. It was updated by Peck and reprinted several times, and even reprinted by Gordon Press in 1977 for a price of seventy-five dollars.29 Peck wrote in the preface to her revised edition in

1927 that "Industrial and Commercial South America received so many flattering encomiums from officials of the various Republics, from well-know experts, scholars, bankers, commercial men, and the press as to inspire the conviction that a new and revised edition would receive a still more cordial welcome.30 She gave appreciation to officials of various countries and to large companies who helped with research material for her book. Peck wrote the book because:

It was prepared with the desire to aid in promoting acquaintance with our neighbors at the south; and more especially for the advancement of our commercial relations, our investments and trade, with the appropriate sequence of understanding and friendship. . . . A few far-sighted statesmen like James G. Blaine years ago realized that a broader field of action would soon become essential to our continued prosperity. A few manufacturers supplemented their domestic business with a modicum of foreign trade. . . . Under our democratic form of government it is particularly essential that all should understand the advantages of foreign trade for the welfare of the entire nation,

26Peck, South American Tour back of book review of Industrial and Commercial South America.

28Ibid.

29Letter from Katherine Sadler of Widdershins to Caroline Houle, 1994.

30Peck, Industrial South America, preface. 30 that this may not be hampered by the narrow views of local-thinking politicians, jealous of the prosperity of other individuals or sections.31

Industrial and Commercial South America covered some of the same topics as

The South American Tour, such as history and politics. Peck was more detailed about the politics and the region as a whole in Industrial and Commercial South America and less detailed about tourist destinations and cities. The American Woman Writers Reference

Guide wrote that this book was basically a statistical handbook written for the business person with little regard for human problems.32 It is an economic geography book that would have been useful for business persons, college classes, and for anyone interested in

South America.

Peck analyzed the resources of each nation and then suggested areas to invest in and how much money could be made. For example she wrote about land in Brazil:

To develop two thousand acres of land a capital of $30,000 is estimated as necessary, to give a net return for the first seven years which would average $31,865 a year, one- hundred and five per cent on the capital; with gross receipts for the last year of $3,000,000. If the profits come to half the estimate the investment would seem a good one.33

Peck wrote about regions that she thought should be developed. For example, she suggested that in Venezuela an electric railway connecting service from the lower

Orinoco River with that above the Maipures Rapids would help promote that region.

34 She mentioned that with the opening of the Madeira-Mamore Railway in Bolivia, the

Amazon region of Bolivia would develop. On the other hand, she wrote about certain areas, such as in Uruguay, where the rural population would be too sparse to maintain good roads if they were constructed.

31Ibid., xi-xvi.

32Lisa Mainiero, ed., American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present, (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1981), 364-365.

33Peck, Industrial South America, 410.

34Ibid., 75. 31 Peck commented that with the introduction of new methods, modern machinery and better transportation systems such as aviation, great wealth would be the result. She mentioned which industries would be the safest to invest in each country. Peck suggested better ways to improve different industries. For example, she suggested increasing the output of sugar in Ecuador in order to make more alcohol. This would increase the profit and hence the country's living standard.

Peck also saw ideas in South America that she thought North Americans should adapt. She wrote that in Santiago the system of electric cars was a feature New York might imitate to its advantage, and open-air markets as in Lima would be a boom to New

York City.

Peck was patriotic to the United States, yet she respected other cultures' customs.

She wrote:

While we may believe our country to be the greatest and best, and our ways and manner of living superior, we must bear in mind that others arc equally loyal to their own. . . . Many South Americans have a wider knowledge of the world, greater culture and taste, and these in general are more punctilious in manners and dress than the majority of Americans. . . . While preserving our own tastes and ideals, we must have equal respect for theirs. . . . quite unlike the spirit in common among us, that everything different is thereby inferior, that we can teach the world everything, and that we have nothing to learn. Such an attitude is merely a mark of ignorance and provincialism.35

Peck remarked: "We should cater to the taste of prospective customers instead of sending what we think they ought to want or what we should like to get rid of, that prices and terms of sale should not be frequently changed and that competent, trustworthy agents should be employed and much left to their discretion."36

Peck mentioned the importance of geographic awareness for business people and what could happen if the geography is not studied beforehand. For example, in 1925 at a mine in Argentina, the mining company sent down portable houses with one side of the

35Ibid., 431-32. 36Annie S. Peck, "Our Opportunity in South America " Prosperity: the Republican National Magazine (October 1915): 43. 32 house having screens only. The mine was in a district where it snows in winter, so the employees would freeze to death in a three-sided house built for tropical regions.37

Peck suggested establishing American banks in South America, which is a common practice today all over the world. At the time only W. R. Grace Company and

National City Bank had branches in South America. Peck remarked that with local banks in closer touch with the manufacturers of their section, they would naturally facilitate

business and serve as valuable centers of credit information.38

Peck was very interested in Latin-American politics and policy. She wrote about

American policy in Latin America, Peru's internal politics, and the Tacna-Arica border dispute between Peru and Chile.

Peck gave up her support for President Wilson (president from 1913-1921), who she had campaigned for in 1912. Three years later she changed her mind because of his policy in regards to Latin America, in particular Mexico. She remarked: "The U.S. would lose sixty percent of its new trade with South America at the close of the war unless our poor business methods were altered." 39 She wrote about Wilson: "The policy of our present administration towards Mexico (whatever may be thought of its wisdom from other points of view) has at least allayed the suspicion that we wish to embark on a career of conquest on this hemisphere."40

Wilson's 'Mexico Policy' was to intervene in Mexico. Wilson believed he could restore democracy in Mexico (at Civil War from 1910-1920) by forcing them to do so.

The United States became involved in the war because of a concern about border support from rebels, and to protect American investment interests in Mexico. Wilson withheld recognition of their government, controlled the supply of arms to Mexico, discouraged

37Peck, Industrial South America, 321. 38Peck, "Our Opportunity in South America," 40. 39Condemns President Wilson's Mexican Policy "New York Times, 29 September 1916, 5. 40Peck, "Our Opportunity in South America," 41. 33 loans to Mexico and sent warships to the oil rich port of Tampico.41 World War I caused the withdrawal of American troops from Mexico.

Peck often wrote about Peru and especially President Leguia. Peck believed president Augusto Leguia of Peru to be an excellent leader. He awarded Peck her gold medal in 1908 and was a friend of hers. Leguia had good relations with the Catholic

Church. In 1923, he dedicated the country to the Sacred Heart, which caused widespread protest among students and workers. He attempted to check the power of the old aristocracy and replace it with a new financial and commercial power. Leguia multiplied the debt ten times with loans from the United States. After the depression of 1929 dried up investments, his administration weakened and then an army revolt caused him to resign and he was put in prison.42 He built roads, irrigation projects, improved sanitation, encouraged aviation and was a forward-looking president. Others blamed his overborrowing of foreign loans on his overthrow.43 Peck wrote about his fall from power in 1930, when he died in prison,

A large landholder was a conspirator against president Leguia, preferring to employ Indians and Half-breeds at fifty cents a day rather than risk the purchasing of some of them on the installment plan as proposed, small tracts of land which they could cultivate themselves. Leguia's idea of building up a middle-class was not popular with some aristocrats.44

She continued:

Leguia had stabilized the sol [Peruvian dollar] at 40 cents, now it is 28 cents. Interest was paid promptly. Now for the first time Peru has defaulted. That Leguia was an excellent financier and the ablest president in South America was frequently asserted by American and other foreigners. Following the insurrection last August I remarked

4I J. Lloyd Mecham, A Survey of United States Latin American Relations, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1%5), 356.

42Robcrt J. Alexander Biographical Dictionary of Latin American and Caribbean Political Leaders, (New York: Greenwood Press, 1988), 250-251. Herbert43 Adams Gibbons, The New Map of South America, (New York: the Century Co., 1928), 145-63.

44Peck Hying Over South America, 68-69. 34 to a Peruvian of the diplomatic service: "President Leguia has done more for his country in ten years than the others had in forty" "More than a hundred" the gentleman responded.45

Peck wrote about Sanchez Cerro, Leguia's successor:

Reading a second time in the New York Times he's a martyr I should like to quote from a letter I received recently from Lima, where I have so many friends. That no one there by chance seeing this statement, could recognize the writer and possibly take vengeance. I knew, previously enough of conditions in Peru to be sure he was anything but a martyr. My friend wrote "The new president, Benevides, seems a good man and things are getting more peaceful now. Sanchez Cerro's time was a reign of terror. He could hardly expect any other end than assassination. I was in the church here when the first attempt was made, fortunately at the other side, and the shots did not come near, but 1 certainly got a shock. His way of treating poor old Leguia was shameful. When he was dying he would not allow his son to see him and stopped the cars from Lima to Callao on the funeral day. But in spite of him, there was a wonderful manifestation. The people went on foot, men and women. The cemetery is half way between Lima and Callao, I have read the fashionable Church of La Merced was thronged by the best people and at a recent service commemorating Leguia, the real martyr on the anniversary of his death."46

Luis M. Sanchez Cerro was president of Peru from 1930 to 1931 and from 1932 to 1933.

He attended Chorrillos Military Academy in 1910, alternating service between training and attempts to overthrow Leguia. In 1929, Leguia promoted Sanchez to Lieutenant

Colonel; Sanchez then overthrew Leguia. When Sanchez assumed power he executed eight rebellious sailors, deported twenty-three representatives of the constituent assembly, crushed rebellions in Trujillo, Huaraz, and Cajamarca and ordered thousands of members of the rival party, Apristas, imprisoned. He was assassinated in 1933, ending his reign of terror.47

Peck wrote about Colombia in the 1930s, "That under the new president, the capable and broad-minded Dr. Olaya, this country, possessing great wealth and minerals, in possibilities for agriculture, forestry and other industries will soon be on a firm financial footing and enter upon an era of greater development."48

45Annie S. Peck, "Leguia Regime Defended," New York Times, 18 July 1931, 16.

46Annie S. Peck, "Sanchez Cerro not a Martyr," New York Times 12 May 1934, 14. 47Alexander, 321-22.

48Peck, Flying Over South America, 23-24. 35 Peck was very interested in one of the most important disputes in South America in the early 1900s. The Tacna-Arica controversy between Peru and Chile had long been the principle diplomatic issue in South America. The dispute went back to the `War of the Pacific' which began in 1879 when Chileans invaded Bolivian nitrate fields. Peru aided Bolivia, thus Chile invaded Peru as well. From 1880 to 1882 Chilean forces occupied Lima. In 1883 a peace treaty of Ancon was signed which ceded the Peruvian province of Tarapaca to Chile and consented to Chilean occupation of the Peruvian provinces of Tacna and Arica for ten years. Ten years later the residents would decide by plebiscite whether to return to Peru. Another result of this treaty was that Bolivia ceded the seacoast to Chile.

It was not until 1910 that the plebiscite became a concern, since Peru had been busy with other problems. In 1910, Peru protested the closing of churches in Tacna-

Arica, as well as Chileans expelling Peruvians, so that if there was a vote there would be a Chilean majority. In 1918 there were riots in Tacna and Arica.

By 1920 there were troops on each side of the Chilean-Peruvian border. This action alarmed the League of Nations. The United States did not want international intervention since it should be a 'Western Hemisphere' problem to be solved by Western

Hemisphere inhabitants. The Peruvian government sought help from the United States, a

Peruvian tradition in times of crisis; especially since Leguia was friendly with the United

States. The Chilean leader knew this and believed Peru would influence the United

States if it became involved. In 1920, Chile's attitude changed with a new president,

Arturo Alessandri Palma.

President Wilson intervened in the Tacna-Arica dispute in 1921 and sent the

Secretary of State to mediate, which did not end the conflict. Warren G. Harding, who

Peck supported for president, was elected in 1921. Harding corresponded with Palma who trusted Harding to see Chile's side of the conflict. 36 Harding was well liked in Latin America, because, contrary to the three previous administrations, Roosevelt, Taft and especially Wilson, Harding was against United

States intervention in Latin American politics. Harding had a calm and sincere approach to problems which Latin Americans liked.49 Wilson had alienated Latin Americans with his intervention in Mexico and the Caribbean. Harding withdrew troops that Wilson had sent to the Dominican Republic. Harding often worked with his Secretary of State,

Charles Evans Hughes, on Latin American affairs. Harding had a special interest in Latin

America, and when he had been a senator in Ohio he had proposed a law to teach Spanish in the United States. He realized the inability of commercial agents and business-men to speak Spanish. This perception was ahead of his time, although Peck realized and wrote about it as wells.50

Harding died suddenly in 1923, but he had set the scene for successful resolution of the Tacna-Arica dispute. Calvin Coolidge assumed the presidency in 1923, who Peck had supported for president. His administration finally successfully mediated the dispute.

Ambassador Moore arranged a meeting between the presidents of Chile and Peru. Peck wrote that this should have been done originally. They signed a compromise; Peru got

Tacna back, while Chile kept Arica.

Peck believed that since Peru already had lost the nitrate-rich province of

Tarapaca to Chile, that Peru should get Tacna and Arica back. She also thought that Peru deserved retribution for its residents of Tacna-Arica being terrorized by Chileans. She continued: "The Chilean plenipotentiary, Senor Jovina Nova, who signed the treaty in

1884, then declared that Chile had absolutely no idea of retaining the provinces beyond

49Kenneth J. Grieb The Latin American Policy of Warren G. Harding, (Fort Worth, Texas: The Texas Christian University Press, 1977), 169. 50Ibid., 1-2. 37 the stipulated time."51 She mentioned that Peru was friendly towards other nations and deserved justice.

Peck wrote a letter to president Coolidge about the Tacna-Arica dispute. Her letter was handed over to the State department and Peck received word it had been read with interest and attention.52 Peck also wrote to General Pershing, who was negotiating a resolution, whom she had met in Lima in 1925: "1 once wrote to him explaining the situation as I viewed it, with the statement that the Peruvians had been driven out more or less for the last thirty years. Accordingly the general made the proviso that only those born there should be qualified to vote." 53 Peck suggested that if the land was given back to Peru, that some should be given to Bolivia so that Bolivia could have sea access, or else make the city of Arica a free port.

Peck's interest in Latin America included politics, tourism, commerce and education; yet she never lost her interest in exploration. Peck's last trip to Latin America was an airplane expedition around South America from November 1929 to June 1930, at age eighty. Peck planned to ride as a passenger in every airline engaged in regular service in South America and the Caribbean, in order to show how easy it was to do, and hence promote tourism and trade. Just several months earlier, in February 1929, it was announced that air service would soon be inaugurated from Panama south. Peck's final

book, Flying Over South America: Twenty Thousand Miles by Air, was published in

1932. Peck wrote about her adventures and the geography of the places she visited on

this final trip to Latin America.

In 1929, when the first air mail service between North and South America commenced, Peck wrote:

51Annie S. Peck, "Peru's Claims to Tacna-Arica," New York Times, 31 May 1925, 12. 53Ibid. 52Annie S. Peck, "Pershing as a Diplomat," New York Times, 26 August 1932, 16. 38 Thus a great stimulus will be given to inter-American trade and travel promoting closer relations between the peoples of the continents of North and South America... . Aviation is more important in South America. There are loftier mountains, plateaus with canyons, jungles with beasts, snakes and sometimes tribes of savage Indians.54

In 1926, the United States army flew a good-will flight to the capitals of twenty of the

South American republics. The army was followed by Charles Lindbergh a year later on another good-will flight. He visited Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico City and Central

America.55 Other than these two trips, no one had made such a thorough trip as Peck.

This journey was the longest journey by air by a North American traveler.

Peck flew in many local airlines; her purpose was to show how easy and safe it was to travel by air, so Americans would visit South America. She wanted to increase

North Americans' knowledge of South America (and South Americans, by their contact with the North Americans) and promote Pan-Americanism. She traveled up the larger tributaries of the Amazon Basin. Occasionally Peck took railroads when an important place was not accessible by air. In several regions she was the first woman passenger, such as in a Colombia gold and platinum mining district.

Peck had to rise early for each flight because airplanes did not yet have landing lights and thus needed to maximize daylight flying hours. The planes were small, often with open cockpits, and flying schedules were informal and often postponed because of the weather. Peck traveled on commercial and non-commercial airplanes, such as mail-planes.

In one incident on the ground, the plane had to be covered with canvas to protect it from the rain. Peck wrote " To unfasten the lacings was a long job in which neither the dignified colonel nor any bystander offered to assist. I should have given aid myself had my apparel and the position of the plane permitted." 56 Her pilot from Masisea to Iquitos

54Annie S. Peck, "Wings over South America," Scientific merica (July 1929): 46.

55Gibbons, The New Map of South America 363-64.

56Peck, Hying Over South America, 87. 39 commcnted "1 should like to have you for a passenger all the time." 57 Peck was

surprised considering her age, but admitted she had good nerves and was always calm

and cool. She wrote "But if you are afraid, why fuss? You can do nothing about it and

may better stay quiet in readiness to act, jump if occasion demands, spring out in case of

fire on landing or if down on the water." 58

Peck had her share of adventures. In Chile the plane had to make a forced landing

because there was a leak somewhere in the airplane. Peck wrote "Of course we did not

bother our crew by asking many questions, we were not in any danger."59 In southern

Chile the plane had to be given a push by some men to get it going. Another time, while

in flight the mechanic came back and asked for Peck's map which he had seen earlier,

since the crews' map had blown out of the open cockpit. Over the Brazilian jungle the

plane ran out of gas, so they landed near a stream. A canoe soon arrived and four hours

later it returned with gasoline.

Peck often only had four hours of sleep, since she was busy meeting with

officials, gathering data for her book and taking photographs. She skipped dinner on

occasion because she was too busy. Peck returned to New York in June 1930 after a tour

of eight months. About her trip being an adventure Peck commented:

The circuit of South America by air was then regarded by others as somewhat of an adventure; though to me, once embarked in an airplane at Barranquilla [Colombia], it was merely a novel and delightful journey on which I proceeded throughout the entire distance without a qualm. The very few slight imperfections or annoyances were trivial to one who in mountain climbing days had slept on floor or adobe benches in Indian cabins, in a tent with five Indians, or spent nine consecutive nights in a tent on a glacier, and risked life on an icy slope from which a Swiss guide (he said later) never expected to get down alive. . . . People have become so "soft" that luxury as well as safety is demanded by the majority of tourists.60

Ibid., 93. 57

Ibid. 58 Ibid., 142. 59 Ibid., 249. 60 40 Besides promoting Pan-Americanism through adventuring and writing, Peck attended several conferences. In 1912 Peck spoke about trade at the first annual Pan-

American Trade Conference. The General Secretary of the association, J. P.

Santamarina, wrote about her talk "She has exaggerated about the requirements of South

American trade when she attributed wrong doing to the merchants of this country."61 He defended her charge of business immorality of American exporters and manufacturers in the United States. "It was not the wrong intent, rather the result of misunderstanding of temperament. These things arc bound to clear away when North and South America come closer together in the bonds of commerce and have a better understanding of each other."62 The conference adapted resolutions favoring a policy of commercial reciprocity with South America and urged Congress to pass a subsidy bill.

In 1925 Peck was a delegate to the second Pan-American Conference of Women in connection with the third Pan-American Scientific Congress in Lima. Peck was the only American delegate who spoke in Spanish to the assembly. Her speech was titled:

What Women May Do to Promote Pan-American Friendship and Peace.63

Peck attended the 1922 International Exposition in Brazil, which was also a celebration of the nations' centennial. She commented that the Exposition received far less attention than it deserved. Peck was impressed that Brazil gave the best sites to foreigners and noted that the United States was uncommonly slow in setting up its exhibit, which was several months late. There were exhibits on leading industries in the

United States and other nations. Japan had a pagoda style pavilion; France emphasized its arts and industries. Great Britain displayed a relief map of the world, many square

61J.P. Santamarina, "Speaks for Honesty of Latin America," New York Times, 18 May 1912, 9. 62Ibid. 63Brett, "On Top of the World," 44. 41 yards in size. Italy emphasized art, wine, cartography and industries. Peck wrote that the grounds were less extensive than those at the San Francisco Exposition, but that the illumination was superior.64 In her article on the exposition, the editor of Current History introduced Peck as an authority on South American countries.65

Peck wrote about the Inter-American Commission of Women, when they were excluded from the 1933 Pan-American Conference:

The move by the United States to block the work of this group at the conference is not merely amazing. It can be constructed by others only as an insult to the women of the United States, since the obvious inference to be drawn is that women suffrage in the United States for the last thirteen years has been a failure. ... It is truly a disgrace to the country if, for so petty a reason our delegation refuses cooperation with the delegates from Central and South America. It appears the more extraordinary since the wife of the president, [Eleanor Roosevelt] unlike those of his predecessors, has been taking an active interest in public affairs. Let us hope a better mind will prevail for cooperation on the other matters before the conclusion of the conference. Too long have we held the attitude that "we won't play" unless all the rest do as we want them to.66

Peck began to slow down after her air-tour of South America, but she took one last trip. Peck started a seventy-five day world tour in 1935. She visited Greece and climbed up the steep ascent of the Acropolis in Athens, where fifty years ago she had

been a student. Peck wrote "I am a humanist, who could not leave the earth without one more glimpse of the pantheon." 67 She ended her world-tour prematurely, and went home to New York after her climb, as her health was failing. At age 85 Peck died of bronchial

pneumonia in her room at the Hotel Monterey in New York City on July 18, 1935.

Throughout her life, Peck was a member of, and often an officer in, numerous organizations. She was honorary vice-president of the International Peace Forum; honorary member of the Pan-American Trade Association; vice-president of the All-

64Annie S. Peck, "The International Exposition of Brazil," Current History, (March 1923): p. 102349. Ibid, 1043. 65 66Annie S. Peck, "Our Action at Montevideo," New York Times 21 December 1933, 20. 67Peavy and Smith, 140. 42 American Reciprocity Union; and one of the founders of the American Alpine Club in

1902. Peck was also a member of the Royal Geographic Society, which she was elected to in 1917; Association of Collegiate Alumnae; National Geographic Society; Joan of Arc

Suffrage League; Academy of Political and Social Science; and Pi Gamma Mu. She was elected to the newly formed Society of Women Geographers in 1928 and was the oldest member of that organization.

Annie Peck became involved in the Pan-American movement after becoming interested in Latin America while visiting South America on her mountaineering expeditions. She made several more trips to South America in order to promote Pan-

Americanism, in a time when the idea was gaining interest. Her books, articles, and lectures promoted Pan-Americanism through education and the support of tourism and

business activities in South America. Her books were very popular, and Peck was regarded as an expert on South America. Through her airplane journey, and the subsequent book about the trip, Peck showed how easy it was to fly in South America, hence promoting tourism and geographic education. Her writings about politics and policy in South and Central America gained her the title of 'sympatico' in Latin America.

Her obituaries honor her as a great archeologist, mountaineer and promoter of good-will between North and South America.

As we have seen, Annie Smith Peck educated North and South Americans about geography, and in so doing so, she attempted to promote peace and understanding between the Americas. She did this through writing articles for periodicals and newspapers, writing four books about South America, lecturing before North and Latin

American nations, attending conferences, and as a member of various organizations. CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

As we have seen, Annie Smith Peck, a scholar, explorer and Pan-Americanist, educated the general public and business-men in North America and Latin America about each other's lands. While contributing to geographic education, she attempted to promote Pan-Americanism. Her experience in academia prepared her for becoming a writer and orator, which gave her the skills necessary to teach others about Latin

America. Peck's climbs of the Matterhorn and Huascaran brought her into the limelight, so people paid attention to her. Her explorations in South America helped her learn about

the region and take a strong interest in it. She wrote:

My several expeditions to South America for mountain climbing aroused intense interest in the people, the scenery and resources so tempting me to devote the next twenty-five years, by means of books, visits and lectures to promoting acquaintance and understanding, intercourse and commercial relations with our neighbors to the South.1

These trips also helped her develop ties with important people and become friends

with South Americans. This preliminary experience was the building block that enabled

her to write and develop diplomatic relations with important people. For example,

because she was a friend of President Leguia of Peru, she was asked to write about him:

At the close of the celebration of the centenary of the battle of Ayacucho and of two Pan-American conventions, a large and beautiful autograph album was prepared for Leguia. For this I was invited to contribute a photograph and write a whole page.

1Peck Flying Over South America, 2.

43 44 My last few lines on the page: "When the next centenary of Ayacucho comes around, together with the heroes of that day, the name of Leguia will be honored as that of the great president who first set Peru on her forward march to the place he will rightfully hold as one of leading republics on this hemisphere."2

In 1930 Peck received the order of Al Amerito, the highest decoration in Chile, from the Chilean government. It was announced by Luis E. Feliu the Consul General of

Chile in the United States. In his letter to Miss Peck the Consul General wrote:

May I inform you that the government of Chile, in recognition of your distinguished service to Ibero-America and Chile; has on occasion of your 80th happy birthday decorated you with the order of AI Amerito, which is reserved for the best servants of humanity among the friends of Chile. The jewel and diploma of the order signed by the president of Chile will be delivered to you.3

Peck educated North and South Americans about each other through writing articles for periodicals, writing four books about South America, lecturing before

American and Latin American audiences, attending conferences, and as a member of various organizations. Peck's involvement and writings about politics and Pan-

Americanism in her books, articles and talks educated the public and encouraged Pan-

Americanism. Her books, especially The South American Tour and Industrial and

Commercial South America, taught North Americans about South America (and the educated South Americans about North America). These two guide books were considered by many experts to be the finest and most accurate guide volumes ever written about South America.4 Much of Peck's information on the history of the continent, the physical geography and even the economic information is still useful today. Harry

Franck, a contemporary Latin American writer of Peck's, referred to her as an excellent guide to the peoples of South America and uses an example of hers in his book, about the practical attire the Fast Indians wear in South America.5

Ibid. 2 3"Chile Honors Miss Peck," New York limes, 26 November 1930, 23.

4Brett, 49.

5Harry A. Franck, Vagabonding Down the Andes (New York: The Century Co., 1917), 277. 45 John Barrett, the director of the Pan American Union, wrote the introduction to The

South American Tour.

Such a work by Miss Peck is a practical and timely contribution to the literature of the day. There are few persons better qualified to write a book of this character. . . it gives me great pleasure . . . to express the hope that this work of Miss Peck's will have a wide circulation and prove of deciding help in promoting travel to and through the Latin American countries.6

For an article Peck wrote for The Independent, the editor introduced her and wrote:

With the object of directing attention to the attractions of South American travel we have asked Miss Peck to answer some of the practical questions that come up whenever such an idea is suggested. Miss Peck knows South America from top to bottom, especially the top, for she has for more than ten years engaging in mountain explorations, and has planted her banner-which bears the strange device "Votes for Women"- on some of the highest peaks in the Andes.7

The Chilean editor of the Mercurio newspaper, Silva Vildosoia, in 1928, asked Peck to write a book about Chile, since he was so impressed by Industrial and Commercial South

America. Another prominent Chilean, who's name is not mentioned, was so impressed by The South American Tour that he asked her to write a book about Chile as well, in

1916.8 On her South American air trip, Peck met with Victor Pezet, who she had first met as the American Consul in Chimbote, Peru in 1906, who was very interested in Peck translating her book Industrial and Commercial South America into Spanish.9 Whether this was done or not is not clear.

Peck believed she had the expertise to serve as a Latin American diplomat for the

United States. Dr. Pardo, Minister to Washington from Peru, once remarked that Annie

Peck knew far more about Peru than he did.10 In 1921 there was a rumor circulating in

Washington D.C. that Peck was seeking an appointment as minister to Guatemala with

6Peck, South American Tour, v-vi. 7 Annie S. Peck, "The South American Tour: Why, When and Where to Go, What to See and How Much it Will Cost",The Independent, (June 5, 1913): 1285. 8"Miss Peck Replies," New York Times, 6 November 1926, 16. 9Peck, Flying Over South America, 102. 10Myra I I. Blosser, "They Said Annie was too Spindling to Grow Up, and Now 82, She Publishes Her Adventure in Flying Over All South America" Providence Journal, 18 December 1932, 2. 46 the Harding administration. Friends of Peck were hoping the Coolidge administration, after Harding's presidency, would give her an appointment; however, she never did sen e in a government post. Peck responded in an interview:

I do not know anything about it. "Would you accept it if offered?" I would certainly be more than pleased to accept any appointment to such a post. I have been to South America six times and am most sympathetic with any plan to establish best relationships with our country and those to the South of us. Although I have no expectation of being offered the post, I may be better qualified than some of the ministers who have been appointed in the past.11

Peck was known better in South America, where she was called 'simpatica', than in the United States, especially for her attempt to promote friendly relations between the continents. Well-known by 1929-30 when she made her final trip to South America by air, she was treated like a queen and was a government guest on several occasions. She wrote about her visit to Montevideo, Uruguay: "As usual I was visited by reporters, called on our officials and had a pleasant chat with the president in his home."12 In

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Peck met with dignitaries and the press interviewed her.

Peck was popular among South American society leaders and women prominent in educational and philanthropic work. She commented in Asunción, Paraguay: "Happy to meet again Doña Carolina Lena de Argerich, president from inauguration in 1903 of the Library of the National Council of Women. I first met her in 1916 when 1 gave in

Spanish a course of three lectures in the hall of the library."13

Peck wrote about her last visit to Colombia: "Although a stranger to everyone except by reputation. . . . I was greeted by our minister Mr. Caffery as by others whom I brought letters, I received many calls and invitations to lunch and dinner." 14 Peck had a fifteen minute meeting with the retired president of Colombia, Obadia, who was very

11"Miss Peck Feels Qualified," New York Times, 30 September 1921, 17. 12Peck, Hying Over South America, 196. Ibid., 190. 13 Ibid., 25. 14 47 interested in her air trip and the book about it. In Peru an army officer asked for her autograph. She was often entertained by civil officers and naval flying officers who

piloted the planes.

Peck was surprised to learn that her fame had reached the interior of Peru, where

in Iquitos, Peru, on the edge of the rainforest, her plane was welcomed by a crowd. Peck

was greeted as the 'Heroine of Huascaran.'15 She wrote:

It was assembled to greet Colonel Roberto Lopez, chief of the commission in marking the Colombia-Peru boundary. A few were also interested in the arrival of the heroine of Huascaran. Especially a young lieutenant who in addition to the cordial words and hand-shakes of the rest, gallantly impressed a kiss on the top of my head, a polite gesture duly applauded by the others.16

In the United States Peck was well-known also, although not as popular as in

South America. For example, Roger A. Johnson in a letter to the editor to the New York

Times wrote that he recognized Miss Peck's through familiarity with all South American countries.17 Mary Edith Butler commented:

I am rather amazed that in your list of super women you did not mention Annie Peck. She is more widely and favorably known among South Americans than any other American woman living and certainly second to none in example, service and variety and excellence of attainments. From the modifier with which the Chilean writer tagged the question, put to the League of Women Voters, I am inclined to believe that he, or she, had Annie in mind as one great woman citizen of the United States, and wondered what other women we had who carved brilliant and successful careers absolutely on their own without the assistance of father, brother, husband or husbands? ... Senor Ricardo Pillado, director of Commerce and Industry of Argentina testified to The South American Tour "1 know of no other work to compare with it for accuracy and information on this part of the world. It is the best book on South America I have seen." . . . It is this versatile woman, scholar, writer, lecturer, mountain climber, swimmer, oarswoman, horsewoman, splendid conversationalist, well-trained listener, at home in the drawing room, ball room, bridge table, adaptable to a tent on an ice field or to a long journey on a burro under the blistering sun and assuming we can produce eleven more who have hoisted themselves by their own boot-straps. They "do us proud."18

15Annie S. Peck, "Mount Huascaran," New York Times, 16 August 1932, 16. 16Peck, Hying Over South America, 89-90. 17Roger A. Johnson, "South American Names " New York Times, 31 December 1928, 14.

18Mary Edith Butler, "Annie Smith Peck," New York Times, 16 June 1922, 16. 48 Peck was nominated in 1924 as one of the world's twelve greatest women, by the League

of Women Voters.

On Peck's 80th birthday, friends organized a birthday party for her at the Hotel

Commodore in New York City. Peck was acclaimed as a messenger of good-will from

North America to Latin America in a remarkable and unique way.' Messages of

congratulations came from John Basset Moore (U.S. jurist, first U.S. judge on the World

Court and author of standard works on international law) and Carrie Chapman Catt (the

famous suffragist who founded the League of Women Voters and was involved in international disarmament). Those who attended her party included, John Barrett, former director of the Pan-American Union, Dr. Sebastiao Sampaio, the Consul General of

Brazil, and the Consul General of Colombia. John Bates Clark, professor of Emeritus of

Columbia University, and Dr. Fabian Franklin both spoke at the celebration. The New

York Times remarked:

John Barrett, former director general of the Pan-American Union, described Annie in an address of tribute as one of the most worthily distinguished women not only of the Americas, but the whole world and expressed the belief that she was the best- informed living woman on South America. "I never knew of any one more loyal to Latin America." he said.'

John L. Merrill, president of All American Cables Incorporated, spoke of the occasion as

one in which honor was paid to a great deed done by a great woman. Merrill was a

member of the Huguenot Society of America, President of the Pan-American Society in

1927, director of the Argentina-American Chamber of Commerce and treasurer of the

New York Botanical Garden.

Luis E. Feliu, consul general of Chile, told Peck that South Americans admired

Peck for rediscovering Latin America for North America. Jose Richling, Consul General

19" Miss Peck Hailed as Goodwill Envoy," New York 'limes, 25 November 1930, 30. 20Ibid. 49 of Uruguay, described Miss Peck as a messenger of good-will in her recent air tour of

South America.21

At Peck's 84th birthday party, the Director General of the Pan-American Union

commented:

Miss Peck's name is an open sesame throughout Peru. One of the loftiest summits of our Cordillera bears her name. Her memory is cherished as that of one who contributed to make known inaccessible parts of the land where she achieved her fame. I am voicing but what is the hearts of my countrymen when 1 most cordially wish her happy returns of the day.22

Today Peck is know mostly for her mountaineering fame, in particular her climbs

of Huascaran and the Matterhorn. Her enhancement of South American knowledge and

her career as an archeologist and scholar are only briefly mentioned in exploration,

mountaineering, biographical references and women's history books. I found Peck's

name in United States Perceptions of Latin America 1850-1930. This book mentioned

that Peck's South America Tour was the most successful book for encouraging travelers

to visit South America during the early 19005.23 Peck once remarked that her mountain

climbing has been merely an incident and an accident in a highly varied career. "I am

even trying to live it down."24

In Chapters One, Two, and Three, we have seen how Annie Peck's childhood,

academic background and mountaineering contributed to her interest in Latin America,

gave her valuable teaching, observing, and writing skills, and brought her into the

limelight. In Chapter Four we saw how Peck educated North and South Americans about

geography and thus how she attempted to promote peace and understanding between the

Americas. In conclusion, 1 discussed what Latin American and American dignitaries and

contemporaries said about Peck, again showing that she was an important figure in

Ibid. 21

22Blosser, 8.

Fifer, 157. 23 Brett, 44. 24 50 promoting Pan-Americanism through her speaking and writing career. So, in conclusion

I believe I have proved that Annie Peck did indeed educate North and South Americans, including the general public, statesmen, and business-men, about each others continent. I also have shown that Peck was a 'mover and shaker' in the Pan-American movement, in her attempts to educate and promote peace and understanding between the Americas. LITERATURE CITED

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