Elizabeth Hartley

Elizabeth Grayson Hartley, (née Blank, 1947 – 31 January 2018) was an American archaeologist and curator. She spent most of her career as the Keeper of Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum in York.

Career Hartley attended the Kent Place School (Summit, New Jersey) and Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Massachusetts). After graduating she studied at the University of Edinburgh and the University of London.

She was appointed the first Keeper of Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum in 1971 and worked in this post until her retirement in 2007. The museum acquired some important objects during this time, including the Coppergate Helmet, and the Middleham Jewel.

Peter Addyman described her as ‘[the] most determined, imaginative and devoted American expert – whose legacy to her adopted city will extend far into the future’.

Exhibitions Hartley oversaw the development of several important exhibitions in the Yorkshire Museum. The 1976 exhibition "The Viking Kingdom of York" was seen by over 78,000 visitors. Hartley was "the driving force" behind the exhibition, which attracted over 58,000 visitors.

Beyond the Yorkshire Museum, in 1978 Hartley developed an exhibition for the Malton Museum in advance of the museum moving premises from the Milton Rooms to the Old Town hall.

She was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in November 1995, and was a trustee of the Malton Museum.

Personal life Elizabeth G. Hartley (née Blank) was originally from Summit, New Jersey. They married in 1973 at St Columba's United Reformed Church, York.

Selected publications Hall, R. A. and Hartley, E. 1976. The Viking Kingdom of York. York, Yorkshire Museum. Hartley, E. 1985. Roman Life at the Yorkshire Museum. York, Yorkshire Museum. Hartley, E. 1985. Anglo-Saxon & Viking life at the Yorkshire Museum : gallery guide. York, Yorkshire Museum Wilson, P., Hartley, E., and Wacher, S. 2003. 'John Stewart Wacher BSc, MIFA, FSA: an archaeological bibliography', in Wilson, P. (ed) The archaeology of Roman towns: studies in honour of John S. Wacher. Oxford, Oxbow. xvi. Hartley, E., Hawkes, J., Henig, M., and Mee, F. (eds) 2006. Constantine the Great: York's Roman Emperor. Lund Humphries Hartley, E. with Bidwell, P., 2012. "Excavations of an early Roman fort and Watling Street at Wigston Parva, 1969 to 1970", Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society 86, 117-134. Hartley, E. No date. 'Roman Interiors' (Interim Report). York, York Archaeological Trust