Akeley, Mary Jobe (1878–1966)

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Akeley, Mary Jobe (1878–1966)

American explorer, author, and photographer. Name variations: Mary Lee Jobe. Born Mary Leonore Jobe in Tappan, Ohio, on January 29, 1878; died in Stonington, Connecticut, on July 19, 1966; daughter of Sarah Jane Pittis and Richard Watson Jobe; granted Ph.B., Scio College, 1897, A.M., Columbia University, 1909; married Carl Ethan Akeley, on October 18, 1924; children: none.

Awards:

Canadian government named Mount Jobe in her honor, 1925; awarded Belgium Cross of the Knight, 1929, made trustee of the American Museum of Natural Science, 1938.

Mary Jobe Akeley undertook her first journey of exploration to Canada in 1909. Subsequent expeditions led to the naming of one of that nation's highest peaks, Mt. Jobe, in her honor. From 1916 to 1930, Mary operated Camp Mystic in Mystic, Connecticut. In 1924, she married Carl Ethan Akeley, a year after his divorce from Delia Akeley . His death two years later in Africa forced Mary to return to the United States. A writer and photographer, Mary Akeley was a popular staple on the lecture circuit. In later years, she continued to travel in Africa and Canada. She died of a stroke at her home in Stonington, Connecticut, in 1966.