Featured Article Summary #258

Mary Alison Frantz (1903–1995) was an American archaeological photographer and Byzantine scholar known especially for her work in Greece. Born in Minnesota, she developed an interest in photography while living briefly in Scotland, then studied classics at Smith College and later earned her PhD from Columbia in 1937. She joined the Agora of Athens excavations in 1934, gradually taking on more of the photography role until becoming the official photographer in 1939, and she also photographed Linear B tablets from Pylos that supported the early work of deciphering the script. During World War II, she worked for the Office of Strategic Services and later for U.S. programs and diplomatic efforts, including helping establish the Fulbright Program in Greece. After leaving the Agora excavations in 1964, she collaborated widely with other scholars and produced major research and photography on topics ranging from Ottoman Greece to Byzantine architecture and Aegean Bronze Age artifacts. Her pioneering work helped strengthen post-classical archaeology in Greece and she is widely regarded as one of the leading photographers of ancient Greek antiquities. Mary Alison Frantz was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1903 and, after her father died, moved to Edinburgh where she was taught at home and received her first camera, which sparked her interest in photography. She later studied at Smith College, graduating in 1924 in classics, and then spent a year in Rome as a fellow of the American Academy, making an early trip to Greece. She went on to research Byzantine art with Charles Rufus Morey, taught and studied through links between Princeton and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and earned her PhD in 1937 from Columbia because Princeton would not admit women; during the early 1930s, she also worked as a librarian at the ASCSA and began photographing ancient Greek monuments. Alison Frantz began her career in January 1934 with the Athenian Agora excavations, initially assisting Lucy Talcott with recording work and often volunteering without pay. During the 1930s, she focused on Byzantine painting and studied frescoes, including discussions with Photis Kontoglou about fresco techniques. From 1935 onward she took on increasing responsibility for photographic documentation, became official photographer in 1939, and in 1939 photographed hundreds of Linear B tablets from Pylos; her images later helped scholars, including Michael Ventris, decipher the script as early Greek. After Italy invaded Greece in 1940, archaeology there was paused. Alison Frantz helped raise and manage relief efforts through the American School Committee for Aid to Greece, including organizing fundraising and publishing the book This Is Greece, which helped support aid. She later moved to Washington, D.C., worked at Dumbarton Oaks and compiled indexes, and then joined the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) where she interviewed political exiles and analyzed information for Allied intelligence, working closely with Rodney Young and then William Blegen. After the war, ASCSA was used to help carry out US policy in Greece, especially through Marshall Plan aid. In 1946, Alison Frantz worked with Carl Blegen on an Allied mission to observe the Greek elections, and she helped train other American observers in Greek history and culture. Later, she returned to the Agora excavations, worked for the US Information Service, and served as cultural attaché at the US embassy in Athens, where she helped restore the Athens Symphony Orchestra and helped launch the Fulbright Program that brought scholars to the ASCSA.