Mary Schäffer Warren

Mary T. S. Schäffer Warren
Born Mary Townsend Sharples
1861 (1861)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Died 1939 (aged 77–78)
Banff, Alberta
Nationality American-Canadian
Known for Painting, Photography, Writing
Spouse(s)
Charles Schäffer (m. 1890–1903)

Billy Warren (m. 1915)

Mary Schäffer Warren (1861 – 1939) was an American-Canadian naturalist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. She was known for her experiences in the Canadian Rockies in the early 20th century.[1]

Biography

Warren was born Mary Townsend Sharples in 1861 in West Chester, Pennsylvania.[2] She studied flower painting with George Cochran Lambdin.[2]

Illustration from "Alpine flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains"

In 1889 Sharples embarked on her first visit to the Canadian Rockies, accompanied by her fellow art student, Mary Vaux.[3][4] In 1890 she married Dr. Charles Schäffer, an amateur botanist, whom she had met the previous year at Glacier House, the Canadian Pacific Railway's hotel in the Selkirk Mountains.[3] The couple would spend summers and autumns traveling in the Canadian Rockies. Their winters were spent in Philadelphia.[2] Charles Schäffer died in 1903, as did Mary's father and mother.[5]

In 1904, Schäffer returned to the Canadian Rockies with her friend Mollie Adams[3] determined to complete a botanical guide that her husband had started.[2] To complete this project Schäffer collected botanical specimens and learned the skill of photography.[3] In 1907 Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains was published, with text by Stewardson Brown and drawings and photographs by Schäffer.[6]

In 1912 Schäffer moved permanently to Banff, Alberta. In 1915 she married her longtime friend and mountain guide William "Billy" Warren.[7]

Mary Schäffer Warren published articles about her explorations of the Rockies.[2] Many have been collected in This Wild Spirit: Women in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.[8]

She died in 1939 in Banff.[2]

Legacy

In 1909, a mountain in Yoho National Park was named Mount Schaffer in her honor.[9] In 2003, the University of Alberta named their newest student residence Schäffer Hall as a tribute to Schäffer Warren.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Mary Schäffer Warren in the Canadian Rockies". Peaks & People. Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Warren, Mary T. S. Schäffer". Canadian Women Artists History Initiative. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Birrell, Dave. "Schaffer, Mary". PeakFinder. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Mary Schaffer Warren". historiccalgary. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Mary Schäffer Warren: Mountain Woman Extraordinaire". Experience the Mountain Parks. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Brown, Stewardson (1907). Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. New York : G.P. Putnam.
  7. ↑ Birrell, Dave. "Warren, Billy". PeakFinder. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Skidmore, Colleen, ed. (2006). This Wild Spirit: Women in the Rocky Mountains of Canada (1st ed.). Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. ISBN 0888644663.
  9. ↑ Birrell, Dave. "Mount Schaffer". PeakFinder. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Schäffer Hall | Residence Service University of Alberta". Residence Services University of Alberta. 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
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