Meritt, Lucy Shoe, 1906-2003

Lucy T. Shoe Meritt began her career as a student, teacher, and scholar of classical archaeology and architecture in 1915, when at the age of nine she saw the stereoptical views of Pompeii in the Memorial Hall Museum in Philadelphia.

Her interest in the classics was heightened at college where she was trained by her teachers to "see what you look at" and to ask "what is the significance." She received her bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1927, her master's in 1928 and her doctorate in 1935.

She studied at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens from 1929-1934. It was during those years that she visited many classical sites in Greece and Asia Minor and made the drawings of the mouldings that appeared in her book, Profiles of Greek Mouldings, published in 1936.

She taught at Mount Holyoke College from 1937-1950. As a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome in 1937 and 1950, she investigated architectural mouldings in Italy. Her research was later published in two volumes, Profiles of Western Greek Mouldings (1952) and Etruscan and Republican Roman Mouldings (1965). She worked at the Roman site of Cosa in Tuscany and at the Greek site of Serra Orlando (Morgantina) in Sicily.

When the American School of Classical Studies in Athens established a publications office at Princeton, she was named Editor of Publications, a post she held from 1950-1972.

In 1972 Dr. Meritt returned to the family home in Austin, Texas and was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin from 1973 until her death in 2003.

She authored numerous publications and held many offices in professional organizations. She received numerous awards and honors, including honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Brown University and Hamilton College.

She was one of the world's foremost authorities on classical archaeology with particular reference to Greek, Etruscan, and Roman architecture, specifically profiles of mouldings. Her books and articles are considered definitive studies.

Virginia Phillips

September 11, 1996

Biographical sketch updated November 19, 2003.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, August 7, 1906

Married Benjamin Dean Meritt, 1964

Philadelphia High School for Girls, 1919-1923

Bryn Mawr College, 1923-1929

Bryn Mawr College, B.A. 1927; M A. 1928; Ph. D. 1935. Undergraduate majors in Department of Greek and Department of Classical Archaeology

American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Special Fellow in Archeology, September 1929-July 1934 (trip to Egypt December 1929-January 1930, visited Constantinople May 1930, returned to United States July-August 1931, visited British and Berlin Pergamon Museums September 1931); 1969-1970 (as wife of Annual Professor)

Prepared manuscript of Profiles of Greek Mouldings for publication by American School of Classical Studies and for acceptance as dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy degree from Bryn Mawr College, August 1934-October 1935

Smith College, Cataloger of slides and photographs, Department of Art, November 1935-June 1936

American Academy in Rome; Fellow, September 1936-June 1937; Research Fellow, September 1949-June 1950; and worked out from Academy April-August 1957

Mount Holyoke College, Assistant Professor, 1937-1941; Associate Professor, 1941-1950

Institute for Advanced Study, Annual Membership, 1948-1949; Member, 1950-1973

American School of Classical Studies, Editor of Publications, Princeton, New Jersey, 1950-1972

The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Classics, Visiting Professor, 1972-1973; Visiting Scholar, 1973-2003

Died in Austin, Texas, April 13, 2003

From the guide to the Lucy Shoe Meritt collection LSM Accession numbers: 1995001, 1996003, 1996005, 1996007, 1996010, 1996012, 1997007, 1998007, 1998010, 1999005, 1999007, 1999010, 2000036, ongoing ., 1929-1970, 1995-1997, (Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.)