Virginia Donaghe McClurg

Mary Virginia Donaghe McClurg (1857 - April 29, 1931) was Regent-General of National Colorado Cliff Dwellings Association, one of the first white women to view the prehistoric cliff dwellings near Mesa Verde.

[1] Mary Virginia Donaghe McClurg was born in 1857 in Virginia, the daughter of Dr. William Rice Donaghe (1830-1866), physician and surgeon in charge of an hospital for Union soldiers at Shiloh, and Susan Boylston Hardin Richardson (1832-1913).

She was related to John Eliot, whose translation of the Bible was one of the first books published in America, and to Thomas Stanton, Indian interpreter for the colonies.

In 1882 she was one of the first white women to view the prehistoric cliff dwellings near Mesa Verde.

[2] After her lecture before the College de France and the Trocadero Museum in Paris, the French Government decorated her with the title of Officier de Instruction Publique of France and awarded her the Gold Palm of the French Academy.

"[2] It was set to music in 1903 and sung by the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir at the Madison Square Garden.