Japan-Nantucket (Rashomon): BONUS - Florence Easton Conable: The Legacy Lives On

04/10/25 • 29 min

In this final bonus episode of Season 6, we invite back on Jascin Leonardo Finger from the Maria Mitchell Association to discuss what role Florence Easton Conable played in the the founding of the organization and the greater influence she and her contemporaries had on women's rights at-large.

SHOW NOTES
If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

Special thanks to Kurt Gally, Alyssa Gouw, and the team at the Monrovia California Public Library for their research assistance on this episode.
The founding and growth of the Maria Mitchell Association is documented on the Association website.
Florence Conable might have become re-acquainted with Capt. Arthur Fisher when he visited Nantucket in 1904.
Florence’s friendships and social activities on Nantucket blended into her life in Monrovia. For example, she likely met Capt. Richard and Caroline Swain when they visited Nantucket in 1912 (discussed in Episode 6). The following January, Florence hosted a Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A. R.) event in Monrovia where Caroline was one of the guests of honor and gave a talk about Japan. The other Guests of Honor were Mrs. Eleanor Williams Morgan, Regent of the Nantucket D.A.R. Chapter, and Helen Parker Willard, wife of Henry K. Willard, the young man Florence first met at the Surfside Depot party in 1882 (discussed in Episode 11).
The Willards summered on Nantucket and wintered in Pasadena. They were close friends with Florence (while her Sconset cottage was being renovated in 1913, Florence stayed with the Willard’s at “Wesco”, their house on Orange St). Florence and the Willard’s were also members of the “Silver Grays”, an informal group that socialized and travelled together in Southern California.
It’s also possible that during her stay with the Willards, Florence met Capt. Peter’s Hussey daughter, Phoebe Hussey Allen, whose family was renting a cottage just around the corner in Gorham’s Court. (Phoebe is the only one of Peter Hussey’s children known to have visited Nantucket).
Florence may have later seen Richard and Caroline Swain during their extended visit to North America in 1921-22. If not on Nantucket that summer, then possibly in Monrovia when they passed through California on their way back to Asia.
To put in perspective how much changed during the era we explored this season, consider this article from the June 14, 1930, I&M:
“From California to Nantucket in Ninety-six Hours. Mrs. Morris Conable arrived in Nantucket, Wednesday evening, to spend the summer at her cottage in 'Sconset, and made the trip across the country from California to Nantucket in four days. She left there Saturday evening and in 96 hours was heading in over Nantucket bar. Fast train service and close connections at Chicago and Boston favored her in the journey.”
Unimpressive today, but when Peter Hussey made his first voyage to the Pacific in 1847 at the start of our series, four months would have been a noteworthy time...

SHOW NOTES
If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

Special thanks to Kurt Gally, Alyssa Gouw, and the team at the Monrovia California Public Library for their research assistance on this episode.
The founding and growth of the Maria Mitchell Association is documented on the Association website.
Florence Conable might have become re-acquainted with Capt. Arthur Fisher when he visited Nantucket in 1904.
Florence’s friendships and social activities on Nantucket blended into her life in Monrovia. For example, she likely met Capt. Richard and Caroline Swain when they visited Nantucket in 1912 (discussed in Episode 6). The following January, Florence hosted a Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A. R.) event in Monrovia where Caroline was one of the guests of honor and gave a talk about Japan. The other Guests of Honor were Mrs. Eleanor Williams Morgan, Regent of the Nantucket D.A.R. Chapter, and Helen Parker Willard, wife of Henry K. Willard, the young man Florence first met at the Surfside Depot party in 1882 (discussed in Episode 11).
The Willards summered on Nantucket and wintered in Pasadena. They were close friends with Florence (while her Sconset cottage was being renovated in 1913, Florence stayed with the Willard’s at “Wesco”, their house on Orange St). Florence and the Willard’s were also members of the “Silver Grays”, an informal group that socialized and travelled together in Southern California.
It’s also possible that during her stay with the Willards, Florence met Capt. Peter’s Hussey daughter, Phoebe Hussey Allen, whose family was renting a cottage just around the corner in Gorham’s Court. (Phoebe is the only one of Peter Hussey’s children known to have visited Nantucket).
Florence may have later seen Richard and Caroline Swain during their extended visit to North America in 1921-22. If not on Nantucket that summer, then possibly in Monrovia when they passed through California on their way back to Asia.
To put in perspective how much changed during the era we explored this season, consider this article from the June 14, 1930, I&M:
“From California to Nantucket in Ninety-six Hours. Mrs. Morris Conable arrived in Nantucket, Wednesday evening, to spend the summer at her cottage in 'Sconset, and made the trip across the country from California to Nantucket in four days. She left there Saturday evening and in 96 hours was heading in over Nantucket bar. Fast train service and close connections at Chicago and Boston favored her in the journey.”
Unimpressive today, but when Peter Hussey made his first voyage to the Pacific in 1847 at the start of our series, four months would have been a noteworthy time...

Previous Episode

Japan-Nantucket (Rashomon): BONUS - Florence Easton Conable: The College Years

In this second episode about Florence Easton Conable, Jim and Janet speak with Vassar’s Head of Special Collections and College Historian Ronald Patkus about what the emerging women's college was like when Florence arrived on campus.

This is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It is hosted and edited by Janet Forest. It was researched, fact checked and co-hosted by Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri. Special thanks to Shire Video for production support.
SHOW NOTES: If something piqued your interest and it isn’t in the Show Notes, please email [email protected]. and include “Podcast Question” in the subject header.

Sample questions for the 1878 Vassar College Entrance Examination were included in its Annual Catalog. (Florence Easton did particularly well on the Greek and Latin sections; how would you do?)
Link to the Vassar College Digital Library
- Photo of Main Building ca. 1860’s.
- The Trigonometry Ceremony remained a tradition until the 1890s. Florence Easton’s Nantucket education prepared her for the material, something we will discuss in our next episode.
Ella Gardner (‘77) and Florence Easton (‘82) were the only students from Nantucket listed as graduates of Vassar College in its early decades. However, eight other Nantucket women attended as Special or Preparatory students, and/or were enrolled but did not graduate:
- Charlotte Puffer Baxter: Special, 1871-72
- Phebe West Bunker: Special/College 1871-1873
- Charlotte Eliza Coffin: College, 1869-70
- Francis Mitchell Macy: (Niece of Maria Mitchell), School of Art,1878-79.
- Helen Marshall: College, 1872-73
- Emma Louise Nickerson: Special, 1871-72
- Annie Eliza Spencer: Preparatory,1874-75
- Maria Mitchell Starbuck: Special, 1868-70
Many other young woman would be added if we included those with Nantucket ancestry. Brooklyn-born Elizabeth Coffin graduated in 1870, and Florence’s classmate, Susan Coffin Coleman was from Cleveland.
The drop in Nantucket attendees reflects both the island’s declining population and the establishment of competing women’s colleges.
The scrapbooks of Florence Easton’s classmates, Jesse Wheeler and Anne Wyman, give a sense of their campus life.
See the Show Notes for Episode 8 (The Daughters of the Samurai) for a discussion of Florence’s scrapbook of her Vassar years, which includes a photo of Sutematsu Yamakawa Oyama