Julia Swift Orvis

Orvis was born in Dixon, Illinois, the daughter of Franklin Keese Orvis and Susanna Appleton Swift Orvis.^[1] Her father was a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War, serving as a white first lieutenant of the 26th United States Colored Infantry Regiment.^[2] He manufactured plows and ran a hotel in Illinois after the war; he also wrote a letter of support to suffragist Amy Kirby Post in 1872.^[3]

Orvis earned a bachelor's degree from Vassar College in 1895, where Lucy Maynard Salmon was her mentor.^[4] She pursued graduate studies at Cornell University and the Sorbonne,^[5] with a fellowship from the Women's Education Association of Boston. She completed doctoral work at Cornell University in 1907,^[6] with a dissertation titled "The Committees of the Constituent Assembly: A Study in the Origins of Committee Government in France".

Orvis taught European history and political science at Wellesley College for 42 years, from 1899; she became an associate professor in 1907, and retired in 1941 as professor emeritus.^[1][6] Orvis and fellow faculty member Phillips Bradley^[7] co-founded the campus book store, Hathaway House Bookshop, in 1925.^[8] She also ran a faculty club, and gave lectures to alumnae and community groups.^[6][9][10]

Orvis was known for political and humanitarian activities beyond campus.^[11] She wrote A Brief History of Poland (1916,).^[12] From 1920 to 1925, she was executive secretary of the Society to Eliminate Economic Causes of War.^[6] From 1937 she represented her precinct in Wellesley town meetings.^[13] After retirement, she raised money for the Persian Relief Fund.^[14]

Orvis died at a hospital in Boston in 1949. She was 76 years old.^[6] Hathaway House Bookshop continued as the campus book store until 1979.^[8][15][16]