Elizabeth Kimball Kendall

Elizabeth Kimball Kendall (7 April 1855 – 21 May 1952) was an American professor of history and political science at Wellesley College.

Although she was born in Vermont, much of Kendall's early education was in Europe, where her father was a United States consul; she studied in Germany and France as well as at Oxford University.

At Wellesley, she taught a number of courses in history and political science and wrote several books, including three co-authored with Katharine Coman.

Kendall traveled frequently, making trips to Turkey, Dalmatia, Mongolia, England, India, and most notably, China, which she visited several times.

After retiring from Wellesley in 1920, Kendall taught at Yenching University in Beijing and lived at different times in China, the United States, and England, where she died.

[1] Her family lived in Europe while her father was consul as well as after his death, and Kendall's early studies took place in Germany and France.

[3] In 1879, having returned to the United States, Kendall began as an instructor at Wellesley College; at different times, she taught French, German, history and political science in this role.

[15] After her retirement, Kendall visited China again and taught at the Yenching University in Beijing, which had become a sister college of Wellesley in 1921.

[16] Having stayed in China for six years,[17] she then lived in England until World War II began in 1939, when she returned to the United States.

She passed through Tibet, sailed along the Yangtze, reached Hankou by train, and then arrived at the Gobi desert.

Taking the Trans-Siberian railway from Irkutsk, she finally arrived in Liverpool, and returned to the United States.