Megan Marshall

Blanche Ames Ames (1878–1969) and Oakes Ames (1874–1950)

History & Biography

“The Ameses’ rigorously maintained egalitarian marriage, which spanned the first half of the twentieth century, stands out in Elizabeth Fideler’s authoritative telling as an exemplar for our own era of contested gender roles: two remarkable individuals with contrasting temperaments who became ‘partners in science’ and facilitated each other’s passions, from orchids to woman’s suffrage and bodily freedom. Fideler has done twenty-first-century readers a tremendous service in resurrecting the lives and times of Blanche and Oakes Ames.”