Alice Dixon Le Plongeon

Early life

Alice Dixon was born in London on 12 December 1851, the second of nine children of Henry Dixon and Sophia Cook. Her father, a copper-plate printer who became a successful photographer, was recognized for his contributions to panchromatic photography and for photographing London architecture for the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London. Alice learned photography from him and worked as his assistant. Her uncle, Dr. Jacob Dixon, practiced Spiritualism, and Alice became involved in the Spiritualist movement in England at a young age.

In 1871 she participated in a séance at his home, where a spirit predicted she would marry before twenty and move far from England. Later that year she met Augustus Le Plongeon, a French-American photographer and amateur archaeologist, while he studied Mexican and Maya artifacts at the British Museum. She told her mother she would marry him. Twenty-five years her senior, Augustus had traveled in Chile, California, and Peru and was preparing an expedition to Yucatán.

Alice studied John L. Stephens's Incidents of Travel in Yucatan and agreed to join him. They traveled from London to New York to complete preparations.

Career

The couple married in New York before traveling to Mexico in 1873. After arriving in Mérida, Alice Dixon Le Plongeon became seriously ill with yellow fever; Augustus nursed her back to health. They learned Yucatec Maya and made a short first trip to Uxmal to explore and photograph. During the Caste War between the Maya (Chan Santa Cruz) and the Yucatán army, they left Mérida in 1875 for Chichen Itza with a military escort.

In the field they took photographs, sketched drawings and maps, made molds of bas-reliefs, and dug excavation tunnels. Their equipment included two Scovill view cameras with various lenses; they produced 3D stereo images and developed them in an on-site darkroom. They hired local Maya men to clear vegetation, and the crew endured illness, hunger, heat, insects, and dangerous wildlife. They also worked around Mérida and at Mayapan.

In 1878 they traveled to British Honduras before financial difficulties forced a return to the United States for sponsorship. From 1880 to 1884 they spent time in Mexico City and continued work in Yucatán, making trips back to New York when finances were strained. Sponsors included Pierre Lorillard and Phoebe Hearst. In New York they gave lectures and tried to sell their bas-relief molds.

Findings and theories

From murals and statues at Chichen Itza, the Le Plongeons developed theories about past Maya rulers, constructing a narrative of Queen Moo and her brother and consort Prince Coh (also called Prince Chaacmol). They eventually believed the ancient Maya had helped found ancient Egyptian civilization and the lost civilization of Atlantis. In November 1875 they unearthed a large statue of a reclining man near the Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars at Chichen Itza, which they believed represented Prince Chaacmol. Named Chacmool, the statue was praised by the American Geographical Society. Nearby artifacts included flint, ceramic pieces, and a piece of jadeite that Augustus set in a gold brooch; Alice kept and wore this talisman for the rest of her life.

Life in New York

In 1884 the Le Plongeons left Mexico and settled in New York, where Alice focused on writing and lecturing. She published articles, organized field notes, and became involved in social movements, including Sorosis and the New York Diet Kitchen Association. She had strong interests in Spiritualism, Freemasonry, and the Rosicrucians, and was active in the Theosophical Society. The archaeological community was unwelcoming to their theories about Queen Moo, and Alice wrote that she was 'bitterly indignant' about the lack of recognition.

Despite criticism, they continued writing and lecturing. In 1886 she published Here and There in Yucatan, in 1902 her epic poem Queen Moo's Talisman, and from 1909 to 1911 A Dream of Atlantis in serial form in The World Magazine. Augustus's health declined in summer 1908; Alice cared for him until his death in December. She continued writing and lecturing but was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 1910 and died on 8 June at New York Women's Hospital.