Annie Smith Peck (1850 – 1935) was an American mountaineer and lecturer, who dedicated herself to promoting travel and exploration.
"I can't change"
Born October 19, 1850, in Providence, Rhode Island, Annie Smith Peck was the youngest of five children. 'Ann Power Smith Peck and George Bacheler Peck, jurist, merchant and member of the United States House of Representatives. Annie was educated in Providence, in schools for young girls, before entering Rhode Island Normal School , a school preparing to become a teacher. For a while, she taught Latin at Providence high school, without losing sight of her real goal:to continue her studies and enter university. Like her father and brothers, she wants to be admitted to Brown University, but the establishment only accepts men.
Unable to integrate Brown, Annie moved to Michigan and taught languages and mathematics at Saginaw High School until 1874. However, she did not give up her dream of continuing her education, and wanted to join the University of Michigan. . Her family tries to discourage her, for a time, considering it folly that she should wish to be admitted to university at 24 only to graduate at the “advanced” age of 27. Undaunted, Annie writes to her father to explain that she does not understand that he can recommend a path different from hers or that of her brothers. "I can't change", she writes. "This is what I've wanted for years" . George lets himself be convinced and agrees to support his studies, as he did for his brothers. Annie then joined the University of Michigan, which had been open to women for three years, and graduated in Greek and classical languages in 1871. She then went to Europe and continued her studies in Hanover and then Athens, where she became the first woman admitted to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
The ascent of the Matterhorn
In 1885, Annie Smith Peck discovered a passion for mountaineering and climbed a few peaks and passes in Italy, Switzerland and Greece, up to around 3,000 meters above sea level. Between 1881 and 1892, she became a professor at Smith College, a women's university in Massachusetts where she taught archeology and Latin. She began to make a name for herself as a lecturer and earned enough of her living between her lectures and her writings on archaeology, mountaineering and travel to stop teaching in 1892.
At the same time, Annie continues to climb mid-altitude mountains in Europe and the United States. In 1895, she became famous by climbing the Matterhorn (4,478 meters, in the Alps), but not for her athletic performance. Annie indeed made the climb in pants and at this time, in the United States, women were arrested for wearing such clothes in public. Annie's ascent therefore caused quite a stir in the press as well as in public opinion.
Passion for Latin America
Annie Smith Peck then embarked on exploration in Latin America, promoting peaceful ties between South America and North America. She is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and continues her writing and speaking work to support geographic education and exploration. In Mexico, she climbs higher peaks:the peak of Orizaba (5,636 meters), Mount Popocatépetl (5,426 meters). In 1908, after two unsuccessful attempts, she became, with two Swiss mountaineering guides, the first person to climb the northern summit of Huascaran, which culminates at 6,655 meters. She was then 58 years old. She will write a book about this experience: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 . Despite her age, Annie continued mountaineering and notably conquered one of the peaks of Mount Coropuna (6,425 meters) in 1911, at the age of 61.
Annie was an ardent campaigner for women's right to vote and notably became president of a suffragette association, the Joan of Arc Suffrage League . In 1929-1930, she undertook a series of air travels in South America to inspire people to travel and explore. In 1935, she embarked on a world tour but fell ill in Greece and returned to New York.
Annie Smith Peck died on July 18, 1935 in New York.