Irene Aloha Wright

Irene Aloha Wright (December 19, 1879 – April 6, 1972) was an American historian.

Biography

Irene Wright was born on December 19, 1879, in Lake City, Colorado, to parents Henri Edward Wright and Letitia O. Wright. When she was sixteen, she left Lake City, and traveled to Mexico with $300. She studied Spanish and history while working as an English teacher for a wealthy Mexican family. In 1898, she graduated from the Virginia college for young ladies in Roanoke, Virginia, and from Stanford University six years later. From 1904-1905, she was a writer for the Havana Post in Havana, Cuba. The same year that she left the Post, she became a city editor of the Havana Telegraph, a post she would hold for three years. The next year, she purchased the Cuban Magazine, which she would own until 1914.[1]

In 1910, Irene Wright published her first book, Cuba, about the 1906 revolution in Cuba.[2] Four years later, in 1914, she moved to Seville, and researched extensively the Archives of the Indies. While there, she published several books, including Historia documentada de San Cristo, bal de la Habana en el siglo XVI (Documented History of Havana in the Sixteenth Century) (1927) and Documents concerning English voyages to the Spanish main, 1569-1580 (1932).[3] She compiled a variety of reports on the early Dutch slave trade for the Dutch government. In 1949, she published one of her last books, English Voyages to the Caribbean, 1580–1592.

From 1932 to 1936, Irene Wright served as a representative of The Library of Congress in Spain. She left that position to work for the United States National Archives as an associate archivist, a job she would work for two years. Wright subsequently became a Foreign affairs specialist for the Department of State, and served as chief of its cultural relations division for Latin America and as an attestation officer. She would serve in that capacity until 1952.[3]

Irene wright received awards from the governments of Spain and Cuba. She was awarded gold medals from both the Havana Academy of History and the Women Geographers of Washington.In 1953, Wright became president of the Society of Women Geographers. In addition, she was a member of the Royal Historical Society of England and the Royal Historical Society of the Netherlands.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Wright, Irene Aloha (1879–1972) - Caribbean History". encyclopedia.jrank.org. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  2. ↑ "Irene Aloha Wright collection - JH Libraries". catalyst.library.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  3. 1 2 "Irene Aloha Wright Papers" (PDF). Library of Congress.
  4. ↑ "Irene Aloha Wright, Historian Of the Caribbean, Is Dead at 92". The New York Times. 1972-04-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
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