Eli Whitney Museum

One hundred fifty years ago, Mary Henrietta Kingsley was born to George Kingsley and Mary Bailey. Her father was a physician and adventurer. His library became her school. When both her parents died, Mary set off to explore Western Africa in part to complete his work, in part to best his accomplishments. The journal of her adventures is still in print. You will find her thoughts clear, direct, and inspiring.

Create a journal that maps and illustrates Mary Kingsley's travels. Make Mary in her still traditional clothes (with her pistol and Bowie knife), a model of the steamboat that ferried her, the canoe she paddled. Make artifacts fo the Fang people she first documented and defended. Learn how she identified her three previously undocumented species of fish. Learn how she kept her independence, refusing to be called a new woman to live by old rules.

Ichthyologist, Dr. Kelly Stiver will visit to talk about her adventures with fishes.

This is a first in a series devoted to adventurous women. Karen Lenahan is the Museum's chief administrator. She contributes time to the Community Foundation's Fund for Women and Girls, advocates for future adventurous women.