Plates Illustrating the Geology and Scenery of Massachusetts

In 1833 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sponsored the publication of the first geological survey of the state, prepared by Edward Hitchcock, a professor at Amherst College. Many states issued such publications in the 1820s and 30s, reflecting both a general interest in geology and a desire by governments to identify commercially valuable deposits of coal, stone, and minerals. As Edward prepared the study, he worked in close partnership with his wife, Orra White Hitchcock, an accomplished artist. She was responsible for all the illustrations that accompanied the report, including a series of landscapes meant to convey the larger geological features of the state, as well as more detailed technical drawings of particular geological formations.

Orra Hitchcock’s drawings were reproduced (rather appropriately) in the then-young medium of lithography by the Boston firm of Pendleton’s, which was established in 1825 as the first commercial lithographic press in the United States. All the plates in the Report are signed “Mrs. Hitchcock del.” or “Drawn by Mrs. Hitchcock,” giving Orra Hitchcock a prominent place in one of the earliest US publications in scientific geology. Like other such firms, Pendleton’s was a pioneer in employing women as commercial artists. Since many women were trained in drawing, and lithographic drawing could be done at home, lithography was one of the first professional avenues open to women in the arts. Over the course of their fifty-year marriage, Orra made thousands of drawings for Edward’s publications, as well as large and elaborate murals for use in the classroom.