author
Annie S. (Annie Smith) Peck
1850–1935
A fearless climber, teacher, and lecturer, she built an international reputation by scaling some of the highest peaks in the Americas at an age when most people were expected to slow down. Her life mixed scholarship, adventure, and a very public belief that women could do anything men could do.
2 Audiobooks
Industrial and commercial South America
by Annie S. (Annie Smith) Peck
The South American Tour
by Annie S. (Annie Smith) Peck
About the author
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Annie Smith Peck studied at the University of Michigan, earning degrees in Greek and classical studies before teaching Latin and public speaking. In midlife she turned seriously to mountaineering after seeing the Matterhorn, and soon became known for tackling major climbs in Europe and the Americas.
She gained wide attention for ascents including the Matterhorn and Mexico’s Orizaba, and became especially famous for her 1908 climb of Peru’s Huascarán. Her expeditions, lectures, and books helped make her one of the best-known American adventurers of her era.
Peck was also a strong supporter of women’s suffrage and often argued, by example as much as by speech, that women deserved the same opportunities as men. She kept traveling, writing, and climbing well into later life, leaving behind a story of grit, curiosity, and unusual independence.