Many women played a role in the history of The Boston Athenæum, a library supported by memberships and one of the oldest libraries in America. Poet and celebrity Amy Lowell (1874-1925) was the first woman to be appointed to the Board of Directors. As a girl, Lowell had free run of the Athenæum. In 1903 when the trustees threatened to tear down the building, Amy Lowell led the protest. Her poetry flourished when, during a sojourn in Paris, she discovered French symbolism as expressed in the branch of poetry called “Imagism.” She edited works of poetry, as well as bringing out collections of her own work.The Athenæum’s art collection includes: Puck and Owl, a sculpture by Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908); a portrait of Hannah Adams (1755-1831), a scholar and author who was the first woman to be given reading privileges at the library; and a portrait by John Singer Sargent of Annie Adams Fields (1834-1915). Fields was a noted writer, poet, and social philanthropist, who conducted a literary salon.
