Marion Elizabeth Blake was a classical language

Classical language

A classical language is a language with a literature that is classical. According to UC Berkeley linguist George L. Hart, it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich...

s professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 who is known for her work in researching the technology of Roman construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

. Dr. Blake died in Rome, Italy, in 1961.

Blake's Background

Marion Blake was born in New Britain, Connecticut

New Britain, Connecticut

New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....

, where she was the daughter of Arthur C. Blake and Elizabeth Snow Blake. Ms. Blake attended college at the Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...

, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1913, majoring in the Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 and Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 languages. Blake earned her Master of Arts degree

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 (1917) and her Ph.D. degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 (1921) from Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 in New York State.

Blake's Career

Dr. Blake was a professor of classical languages at a series of five American colleges during the years from 1912 through 1938: the Illinois College

Illinois College

Illinois College is a private, liberal arts college, affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church , and located in Jacksonville, Illinois. It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree . It was founded in 1829 by the Illinois Band,...

 (1921–22), Converse College

Converse College

Converse College is a liberal arts women's college in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. It was established by a group of Spartanburg citizens and named after Dexter Edgar Converse.-History:...

 (1922–28), the Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...

 (1929–36), Sweet Briar College

Sweet Briar College

Sweet Briar College is a liberal arts women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia, about north of Lynchburg, Virginia. The school's Latin motto translates as: "She who has earned the rose may bear it."...

 (1936), and Winthrop College (1937–38).

Next, Dr. Blake took a professional position as a research associate in Roman Archaeology at the Carnegie Institute

Carnegie Institution for Science

The Carnegie Institution for Science is an organization in the United States established to support scientific research....

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, (1938–47), and then she worked in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 at the American Academy in Rome

American Academy in Rome

The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...

 from 1947 to 1961.

The later work of Dr. Blake - that in Roman construction technology - was closely connected with that of Dr. Esther Boise Van Deman

Esther Boise Van Deman

Esther Boise Van Deman was a leading archaeologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was born in South Salem, Ohio to Joseph Van Deman and his second wife Martha Millspaugh. She was the youngest of six children including two boys by her father's first marriage.- Education and career...

. Dr. Blake took up the task of completing Dr. Van Deman's unfinished manuscript on Roman construction technology following her death in 1937.
Ironically, Dr. Blake's third and final book, Roman construction in Italy from Nerva through the Antonines, was completed after her own death in 1961 by yet another woman author, Doris Taylor Bishop (1917–69).

Blake's Publications

• Ancient Roman construction in Italy from the prehistoric period to Augustus. A chronological study based in part upon the material accumulated by Esther Boise Van Deman. (Washington, 1947).
• Roman construction in Italy from Tiberius through the Flavians. (Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1959).
• Roman construction in Italy from Nerva through the Antonines. Edited and completed by Doris Taylor Bishop (1917–69). (Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, 1973).