Marion Blake papers

The Marion Elizabeth Blake Papers consist of correspondence; a travel diary; writings, including academic papers for her masters and Ph.D. degrees (Cornell University) and two published archaeological articles; biographical information; archaeological photographs and sketches; photographs of Blake, and photographs taken on a visit to Scandinavia in 1930. Of particular note are the letters she wrote to Cora L. Eastman, 1937-1961, discussing her life in Rome at the start of World War II and her research conducted in Roman construction at the American Academy in Rome, and her writings, all of which deal with Roman construction and archaeology, a topic which occupied a significant part of her life. The letters discuss people and events at the American Academy in Rome, social conditions, visits to the opera, events in the deDaehn family, with whom Blake boarded, travels in Italy, air raids in Sicily, bombings, wartime shortages and restrictions, Mussolini's power, and the Marshall Plan. Also of particular note is the travel diary from Blake's trip to Scandinavia in 1930, in which she documents the itinerary of her stops in Oslo, Norway, Stockholm, Sweden, Danzig, Poland, and Visby, Gotland, Sweden, and her thoughts on each destination along the trip.