Fanny Bullock Workman
Famous partnerships | William Hunter Workman |
---|---|
Family | |
Spouse |
William Hunter Workman
(m. 1882) |
Children | 2, including Rachel |
Fanny Bullock Workman (January 8, 1859 – January 22, 1925) was an American
Born to a wealthy family, Workman was educated in the finest schools available to women and traveled in Europe. Her marriage to William Hunter Workman cemented these advantages, and, after being introduced to climbing in New Hampshire, Fanny Workman traveled the world with him. They were able to capitalize on their wealth and connections to voyage around Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The couple had two children, but Fanny Workman was not a motherly type; they left their children in schools and with nurses, and Workman saw herself as a New Woman who could equal any man. The Workmans began their travels with bicycle tours of Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Algeria and India. They cycled thousands of miles, sleeping wherever they could find shelter. They wrote books about each trip and Fanny frequently commented on the state of the lives of women that she saw. Their early bicycle tour narratives were better received than their mountaineering books.
At the end of their cycling trip through India, the couple escaped to the
After their trips to the Himalaya, the Workmans gave lectures about their travels. They were invited to learned societies; Fanny Workman became the first American woman to lecture at the Sorbonne and the second to speak at the Royal Geographical Society. She received many medals of honor from European climbing and geographical societies and was recognized as one of the foremost climbers of her day. She demonstrated that a woman could climb in high altitudes just as well as a man and helped break down the gender barrier in mountaineering.
Early life
Workman was born January 8, 1859, in
In 1879, Fanny returned to the United States and on June 16, 1882, married
William introduced Fanny to climbing after their marriage,
Move to Europe and cycling tours
In 1889 the Workman family relocated to Germany citing William's health, although Pauly speculates that this may have been merely a pretext, for he recovered surprisingly quickly.[9] The couple's second child, Siegfried, was born shortly after they arrived in Dresden.[9] Fanny chose not to conform to the traditionally circumscribed roles of wife and mother, and became an author and adventurer.[15] Less than a year had gone by since Siegfried's birth when the two children were entrusted to nurses, allowing both parents to embark on a series of journeys on a safety bicycle, a recently popular invention.[5][page needed]
She lived a vigorous life that diverged from idealized femininity in the 1800s.
Whar started as simple trips to near cities soon transformed into complex cycling expeditions through countries like Italy, France, or Switzerland.
Together, the Workmans explored the world and co-wrote eight travel books that describe the people, art, and architecture of the areas they journeyed through, jowever she always did most of the writing.
Stephanie Tingley writes, in her encyclopedia entry on Workman's travel writing, that there is an implied feminist criticism of the hardships women experienced and the inferior status of the women in the societies she encountered.
Between 1888 and 1893, the Workmans took bicycling tours of Switzerland, France, and Italy. In 1891, Fanny became one of the first women to climb
Fanny opted not to write a book about her journey to Egypt, likely because she recognised that she could not rely on her bicycle to spark curiosity in the country's saturated touris attractions.[4]
India
The Workmans' trip to India,
The trip was grueling. They often had little food or water, dealt with swarms of mosquitoes, fixed as many as 40 bicycle tire punctures per day, and slept in rat-infested quarters.
Labor issues
During the summer of 1898, the couple decided to escape the heat and explore the western
The Workmans struggled with labor problems continually, needing local porters to carry gear for them because they could not carry a sufficient amount for themselves for a multi-month expedition. They had to transport Mummery tents, eider sleeping bags, camera equipment, scientific instruments, and a large supply of food.[35][36] The porters were skeptical of the entire venture.[36] The locals rarely climbed mountains and were not used to taking orders from a woman, which made Fanny's position difficult.[36] The Workmans tried to solve these problems with condescension and high-handedness. Kenneth Mason maintains in his history of Himalayan mountaineering, written in 1955, that "The Workmans were, on their journeys, the victims of their own faults. They were too impatient and rarely tried to understand the mentality of the porters and so did not get the best out of them."[37] Labor problems beset all of their expeditions because, as Miller puts it, "Almost alone of Victorian travellers, the Workmans had absolutely no sympathy or even common-sense understanding of the local people, into whose poor and remote villages they burst with trains of followers demanding service and supplies."[38] In her chapter on Workman, Miller argues that the couple, being American, did not have the same sense of caste or class that British explorers had: "the Workmans, like most of their countrymen, plunged in their enterprises headlong, expecting their enormous energy to overcome all obstacles. They were justifiably criticized by the British for their callous, incompetent behavior toward the Indians."[39]
Mountaineering in the Himalayas
We had breathed the atmosphere of that great mountain-world, had drunk of the swirling waters of its glaciers, and feasted our eyes on the incomparable beauty and majesty of its towering peaks, and, as time passed on, its charms asserted their power anew and called to us with irresistible, siren strains to return yet once again to those regions, the grandeur of which satisfies so fully the sense of the beautiful and sublime.
— William and Fanny Workman, The Call of the Snowy Hispar[35]
After travelling to the Himalaya the first time, the Workmans became entranced with climbing and mountaineering. Over a span of 14 years, they traveled eight times to the area, which at the time was almost completely unexplored and unmapped.[11][40] Their trips were made without the benefit of modern lightweight equipment, freeze-dried foods, sunblock, or radios. On each expedition, they explored, surveyed, and photographed, ultimately reporting on their findings and creating maps.[40] The couple shared and alternated responsibilities; one year Fanny would organize the logistics of their journey and William would work on the scientific projects and the next year they would reverse roles.[41]
After their first trip to the Himalaya and subsequent labor problems, the Workmans hired
As soon as she was able, Fanny Workman published accounts of her feats, such as an article in the
In 1902, the Workmans returned to the Himalaya and became the first Westerners to explore the Chogo Lungma Glacier, starting in
After returning from their travels, the Workmans lectured all over Europe. Fanny lectured in English, German, or French, as the occasion required. At one talk in
The Workmans returned to Kashmir in 1906, and were the first Westerners to explore the Nun Kun massif. For this trip, the couple hired six Italian porters from the Alps, 200 local porters, and Savoye returned as guide.[24] As Isserman, Weaver and Molenaar explain in their history of Himalayan mountaineering, the Workmans despised the local porters but were forced to recruit them; "their otherwise invaluable books read like one long, anguished harangue against the lazy, lying, thieving, mutinous cheats on whom they unhappily depended for local support".[55] They planned a sequence of four camps from 17,657 feet (5,382 m) to 21,000 feet (6,400 m). Despite labor problems, the Workmans spent the night higher than any previous mountaineers—20,278 feet (6,181 m) on top of Z1 on Nun Kun—at what they called "Camp America".[56][57] William wrote of Fanny:
She concentrated her attention on the end in view, often disregarding the difficulties and even the dangers that might lie in the way of accomplishment. She went forward with a determination to succeed and a courage that won success where a less determined effort would have failed. She believed in taking advantage of every opportunity. She was no quitter, and was never the first to suggest turning back in the face of discouraging circumstances.[41]
The map the Workmans made during this trip was of low quality. According to Mason, the couple did not have a good sense of topographical direction, which meant that their measurements were inaccurate and unusable by the Survey of India.[58]
Pinnacle Peak and altitude record
From 20,278 feet (6,181 m), at the age of 47 in 1906, Workman climbed up to
Workman vigorously defended her Pinnacle Peak altitude record against all other claimants, especially
Hispar and Siachen glaciers
In 1908, the Workmans returned to the
The Workmans' exploration of the Rose Glacier and the 45-mile-long (72 km) Siachen Glacier in Baltistan around Masherbrum in 1911 and 1912 was the most important achievement of their careers because it was the widest and longest subpolar glacier in the world and at the time, the least explored and accessible glacier as well.[59] For two months, the Workmans explored the 45-mile glacier, climbed several mountains, and mapped the area. They spent the entire time over 15,000 feet (4,600 m), the high point being Indira Col, which they summitted and named.[64] On this expedition, one of their Italian guides fell into a crevasse and died; Fanny was lucky to escape. The others were badly shaken but decided to carry on.[65] Fanny led them across the Sia La pass (18,700 feet or 5,700 metres) near the head of the Siachen Glacier and through a previously unexplored region to the Kaberi Glacier. This exploration and the resulting book were among her greatest accomplishments.[66] As she wrote in her book about the trip, Two Summers in the Ice-Wilds of Eastern Karakoram, she organized and led this expedition: "Dr. Hunter Workman accompanied me, this time, in charge with me of commissariat and as photographer and glacialist, but I was the responsible leader of this expedition, and on my efforts, in a large measure, must depend the success or failure of it".[67] At one 21,000-foot (6,400 m) plateau, Fanny unfurled a "Votes for Women" newspaper and her husband snapped an iconic picture.[11][68] They took trained Alpine guides and surveyors including Grant Peterkin and Surjan Singh,[69] whose contributions ensured that, unlike numerous other maps the Workmans helped create, their map of the Siachen Glacier remained unchallenged for many years.[70]
Later life and death
After their 1908–12 trip, the couple stopped exploring and turned to writing and lecturing, primarily because of the onset of
Workman fell ill in 1917 and died after a long illness in 1925 in Cannes, France. Her ashes were buried in Massachusetts, and are now reinterred along with her husband's, under a monument in Worcester, Massachusetts' Rural Cemetery that reads "Pioneer Himalayan Explorers". In her will, she left $125,000 to four colleges, Radcliffe, Wellesley, Smith, and Bryn Mawr;[2][11][71][72][73] the bequests were demonstrative of her long-lasting interest in the advancement of women's rights, and her belief that women were the equals of men.[74]
Legacy
The object of placing my full name in connection with the [Siachen Glacier] expedition ... is not because I wish in any way to thrust myself forward, but solely that in the accomplishments of women, now and in the future, it should be known to them and stated in print that a woman was the initiator and special leader of this expedition. When, later, woman occupies her acknowledged position as an individual worker in all fields, as well as those of exploration, no such emphasis of her work will be needed; but that day has not fully arrived, and at present it behooves women, for the benefit of their sex, to put what they do, at least, on record.
— Fanny Workman, Two Summers in the Ice-Wilds of Eastern Karakoram[74]
Women in climbing
Along with Annie Smith Peck, Workman was recognized during the early 20th century as one of the most famous female climbers in the world.[75] Their rivalry demonstrated that women could climb the most remote and difficult terrain on the planet. Women had climbed regularly in the Alps since the 1850s, but in the Himalayas, mountaineering had been dominated by wealthy English men.[76] No other women, however, climbed in the Himalaya until well after World War I, by which time improvements in equipment and organization had shifted that nature of risks and difficulties of expeditions.[77]
Workman, herself an ardent feminist and a supporter of women's suffrage, wanted her readers to understand how her contributions and achievements reflected all women's potential.[23] In her writings, Workman described herself as "questioning or violating the norms of Victorian female propriety".[67] She demonstrated that women were strong enough to thrive outside the home by showing how easy it was for her to endure strenuous physical activities like bicycling long distances in hot, humid places or mountaineering in cold temperatures and high altitudes.[67] Workman challenged a masculine realm; her obituary in the Alpine Journal alluded to the challenges she faced, saying that she "felt that she suffered from 'sex antagonism'".[78] The author of the piece added: "it is possible that some unconscious feeling let us say of the novelty of a woman's intrusion into the domain of exploration so long reserved to man, may in some quarters have existed ... there tended to arise ... an atmosphere shall we say of aloofness?"[78] However, in her study of Victorian mountaineering, Ann Colley suggests that gender discrimination was more overt at lower elevations and in regular life than at higher elevations, such as in the Himalaya. Colley states, "Away from such petty opinion emanating from society pressures, up high, above the snow line or in distant regions, women climbers could more fully experience equality and power ... If they chose, they could be just as sportsmanlike or competitive as the men."[79] In her entry about Workman in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Tingley sums Workman up as "an aggressive, determined, and uncompromising turn-of-the-century American woman traveler" and "one of the first women to work as a professional mountaineer and surveyor and to write about the expeditions she and her husband took to the most remote reaches of the Himalaya. She was an outspoken advocate of woman's suffrage and made it clear that she considered herself to be a role model for other women travelers and mountaineers."[10]
As a result of the money Workman left in her will, Wellesley College offers a $16,000 fellowship named after Fanny Workman for graduate study in any discipline to a Wellesley graduate each year.[80] Bryn Mawr established a Fanny Bullock Workman Traveling Fellowship, which is awarded to Ph.D candidates in Archaeology or Art History when funds permit.[81]
Exploration of the Himalaya
The many books and articles produced by the Workmans are "still useful" according to Mason, especially for their photographs and illustrations, but their maps are "deceptive and not always reliable".[82] One assessment states that although the Workmans excelled at describing meteorological conditions, glaciology, and how high altitudes affected human health and fitness, they were poor topographers.[2] The Workmans were some of the first mountaineers to grasp that the Himalaya were the place for the ultimate climbing challenge and their explorations helped evolve mountaineering from strenuous recreation into a serious, regulated competitive sport.[83] According to Isserman, Weaver and Molenaar, "that the Workmans were intrepid explorers and climbers none could possibly doubt, but they were also aggressive self-promoters who in their eagerness for recognition and honors sometimes exaggerated the originality and significance of what they had done."[47] In their final assessment, Isserman, Weaver and Molenaar say "they had logged more miles and climbed more peaks than anyone to date; they had produced five sumptuously illustrated and widely read expedition volumes; and by simple virtue of her sex Fanny of course had set an invaluable Himalayan precedent. But the Workmans were not great mountaineers. At their best they were vigorous and competent patrons who followed capably in the hard-won steps of their Italian guides."[72] However, in his chapter on Workman, Pauly writes that "the few recent accounts of Fanny Workman have tended to slight or belittle her achievements, but contemporaries, unaware of the far greater accomplishments to come, held the Workmans in high regard."[84] They were the first Americans to explore the Himalaya in depth and break the British monopoly over Himalayan mountaineering.[72]
Bibliography
Books
- Algerian memories : a bicycle tour over the Atlas to the Sahara. London: T.F. Unwin. 1895. p. 216.
- Sketches awheel in modern Iberia. London: Unwin. 1897. p. 280.
- In the ice world of Himálaya, among the peaks and passes of Ladakh, Nubra, Suru, and Baltistan. New York: Cassell & Company, Limited. 1900. p. 204.
- Ice-Bound Heights of the Mustagh: An Account of Two seasons of Pioneer Exploration and High Climbing in the Baltistan Himalaya. London: A. Constable & Co. 1908. p. 444.
- Peaks and Glaciers of Nun Kun: A Record of Pioneer-Exploration and Mountaineering in the Punjab Himalaya. London: Constable and Company Ltd. 1909. p. 411.
- The Call of the Snowy Hispar: A Narrative of Exploration and Mountaineering on the Northern Frontier of India. New York: Scribner. 1911. p. 520.
- Two Summers in the Ice-Wilds of Eastern Karakoram: The Exploration of Nineteen Hundred Square Miles of Mountain and Glacier. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company. 1916. p. 578.
Articles
- "Among the Great Himalayan Glaciers." National Geographic 13 (Nov. 1920): 405–406.
- "First Ascents of the Hoh Lumba and the Sosbon Glaciers in the Northwest Himalayas." Independent 55 (December 31, 1903): 3108–12.
- Through Town and Jungle: Fourteen Thousand Miles A-Wheel Among the Temples and People of the Indian Plain. London: Unwin, 1904.
- "Miss Peck and Mrs. Workman." Scientific American 102 (Feb 12 and April 16, 1910); 143, 319.
- "Recent First Ascents in the Himalaya." Independent 68 (June 2, 1910): 1202–10.
- "Conquering the Great Rose." Harper 129 (June 1914): 44–45.
- "Exploring the Rose." Independent 85 (January 10, 1916): 54–56.
- "Four Miles High." Independent 86 (June 5, 1916): 377–378.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Pauly 2012a, p. 33.
- ^ a b c Kraig 1999.
- ^ a b Miller 1976, p. 103.
- ^ a b c d e f Pauly 2012b.
- ^ a b c Pauly 2012a.
- ^ a b c Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, p. 51.
- ^ Plint 1992–1993, p. 231.
- ^ "New Publications". The Record-Union. Sacramento, California. June 5, 1886. p. 4. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Pauly 2012a, p. 34.
- ^ a b Tingley 1998, p. 360.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Leonard, Brendan (November 14, 2012). "Historical Badass: Climber and Explorer Fanny Bullock Workman". Adventure Journal. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 39.
- ^ Appalachia, The Journal of the Appalachian Mountain Club. Vol 4, pages 161,163,223 & 255
- ^ Ernie-Steighner 2009, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e Pauly, Thomas H. (March–April 2012). "Vita: Fanny Bullock Workman". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c Miller 1976, pp. 101, 105.
- ^ Miller 1976, p. 104.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, pp. 34–35, 66.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 36.
- Newspapers.com
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 66.
- ^ a b Tingley 1998, p. 361.
- ^ a b Tingley 1998, p. 363.
- ^ a b c Pauly 2012a, p. 49.
- ^ Miller 1976, p. 106.
- ^ a b c Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d Tingley 1998, p. 362.
- ^ Plint & 1992–1993, p. 232.
- ^ a b Pauly 2012a, p. 37.
- ^ a b Tinling 1989, p. 308.
- ^ a b c d Pauly 2012a, p. 38.
- ^ a b Miller 1976, p. 110.
- ^ " American Woman Cyclist in Java", Los Angeles Herald,, LA, Number 354, September 19, 1899. Retrieved on June 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c Miller 1976, p. 113.
- ^ a b Tinling 1989, p. 309.
- ^ a b c Pauly 2012a, p. 40.
- ^ a b c Mason 1955, p. 131.
- ^ Middleton 1965, p. 84.
- ^ Miller 1976, pp. 114–115.
- ^ a b c Tinling 1989, p. 305.
- ^ a b Miller 1976, p. 122.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 41.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 42.
- ^ Historian Michael Plint comments that the names "Mount Bullock Workman" and "Mount Siegfriedhorn are "long forgotten" (p. 234).
- ^ a b c d Pauly 2012a, p. 43.
- ^ Jordan 2009, p. 5.
- ^ a b c d Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, p. 53.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 44.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 46.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 47.
- ^ Plint 1992–1993, p. 234.
- ^ Middleton 1965, p. 81.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 48.
- ^ Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, p. 55.
- ^ Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Miller 1976, pp. 122–123.
- ^ Mason 1955, p. 111.
- ^ a b c Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, p. 56.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, pp. 64–65.
- ^ a b Miller 1976, p. 123.
- ^ Plint 1992–1993, p. 235.
- ^ Miller 1976, p. 124.
- ^ Plint 1992–1993, p. 236.
- ^ Miller 1976, p. 125.
- ^ Miller 1976, p. 126.
- ^ a b c Tingley 1998, p. 364.
- ^ Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Mason 1955, p. 139.
- ^ Middleton 1965, p. 88.
- ^ a b Middleton 1965, p. 89.
- ^ a b c Isserman, Weaver & Molenaar 2008, p. 57.
- ^ Tinling 1989, p. 310.
- ^ a b Miller 1976, p. 128.
- ^ Ellis 2001, p. 96.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Miller 1976, p. 120.
- ^ a b Colley 2010, p. 116.
- ^ Colley 2010, p. 136.
- ^ "Wellesley College Graduate Fellowships and Scholarships". Wellesley College. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ "Financial support". Bryn Mawr College. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
- ^ Mason 1955, p. 132.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 67.
- ^ Pauly 2012a, p. 197, note 2.
Cited sources
- Colley, Ann C. (2010). Victorians in the Mountains: Sinking the Sublime. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-0634-1.
- Ellis, Reuben (2001). Vertical Margins: Mountaineering and the Landscapes of Neoimperialism. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-17000-4.
- Ernie-Steighner, Jenny (2009). "Delightful Escapes: U.S. Female Mountaineers Travel Abroad, 1890–1915". Thinking Gender Papers. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
- Isserman, Maurice; Weaver, Stewart; Molenaar, Dee (2008). Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11501-7.
- Jordan, Jennifer (2009). Savage Summit: The Life and Death of the First Women of K2. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-175352-7.
- Kraig, Beth (1999). "Fanny Bullock Workman". In Garraty, John A.; Carnes, Mark C. (eds.). American National Biography. Vol. 23. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 877–879. ISBN 0-19-512802-8.
- Mason, Kenneth (1955). Abode of Snow: A History of Himalayan Exploration and Mountaineering. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. OCLC 654860160.
- OCLC 647618296.
- Miller, Luree (1976). On Top of the World: Five Women Explorers in Tibet. Frome: Padding Press Ltd. ISBN 0-8467-0138-3.
- Pauly, Thomas H. (2012a). Game Faces: Five Early American Champions and the Sports They Changed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-3817-6.
- Pauly, Thomas H. (2012b). Game Faces: Five Early American Champions and the Sports They Changed. UNP - Nebraska Paperback. JSTOR j.ctt1d9nqq2.
- Plint, Michael (1992–1993). "The Workmans: Travellers Extraordinary" (PDF). Alpine Journal. 97: 231–237. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- Tingley, Stephanie A. (1998). "Fanny Bullock Workman". In Ross, Donald; Schramer, James J. (eds.). Dictionary of Literary Biography: American Travel Writers, 1850–1915. Vol. 189. Detroit: Gale. pp. 360–365. ISBN 0-7876-1844-6.
- Tinling, Marion (1989). Women into the Unknown: A Sourcebook on Women Explorers and Travelers. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-25328-5.
Further reading
- Waterman, Laura (2000). “The Two Highest Women in the World: A Story,” in Laura and Guy Waterman, A Fine Kind of Madness: Mountain Adventures Tall and True, Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers Books, 2000.
External links
- Media related to Fanny Bullock Workman at Wikimedia Commons