CHANNING, Eva. 18?? — 1???. U.S. Student of Indology. Born in a wealthy Boston family, studied at Boston University, graduated 1877. Then studied in Paris and Leipzig (with special permission) until 1882. Probably became a teacher in Boston. She was the first female member of both the American Oriental Society and the American Philological Association and acquainted with Whitney. She is described as a free spirit, adventurous and outspoken. Nantuckethistoricalassociation homepage mentions an Eva Ch. born in 17.5.1854. Vassar Collections homepage mentions one letter by her to Marian Parker Whitney as late as 1898. Probably she was that “Eva Ch. of Boston, who visited California in summer 1908 [and] was a firm believer in national parks” (Merchant).

A likely, but unconfirmed case is the suffragist Eva Channing. Boston 17.5.1854 — Tryon, Polk County, North Carolina 23.3.1930. Daughter of William Francis Channing and Susan Elizabeth Burdick. Her biography by Zoë Hill (https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009657343) does not mention her studies and ignores writings and other activities not directly connected with the suffrage movement. But in her articles in the Woman’s Journal she dealt both with Boston University (1879) and “Progress in Germany” (1891), which makes the cause very likely, indeed.

Publications: M.A. thesis Myth-Genesis explained by Comparative Mythology. Manuscript 1877.

– “On Negative Clauses in the Rigveda”, JAOS 13, 1889, PAOS for 1886, xcix-cii.

– Translated: Delbrück, Introduction to the Study of Language. 14+142 p. Lp. 1882 (with her preface, x-xii); Pestalozzi, Leonard and Gertrude. 10+181 p. Boston 1885.

– Review of Delbrück’s Einleitung. AJPh 5, 1884, 251f.

Sources: Works in the N.U.C.; S.G. Alter, William Dwight Whitney and the Science of Language. Baltimore 2005, 312, note 68; C. Merchant, Earthcare. Women and the Environment. L. 1996, 133; S.L. Singer, Adventure Abroad. North American Women at German-Speaking Universities, 1868–1915. L. 2003, 56f.; several archives contain letters by Eva Ch. – perhaps they should be studied.