Virginia Grace

Virginia Randolph Grace (1901–1994) was an American archaeologist, known for her lifelong work into amphoras and their stamped handles.

She attended Bryn Mawr College, graduating in 1922, after which she taught English and mathematics to secondary-school students for several years. In 1927 she returned to Bryn Mawr interpolating her studies with a year at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and earning her PhD in 1934, working with stamped amphora handles.

Archaeological work

Grace's work has included excavating Pergamon, Halai and tombs at Lapithos in Cyprus, and a lifelong affiliation with the Agora Excavations, starting in 1932. In 1935, she worked on the Bryn Mawr Tarsus excavations. She was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and received two Guggenheim Fellowships to advance her research, the first in 1938. She worked with the U.S. State Department, the O.S.S. Greek Affairs offices in Istanbul, İzmir, Cairo, and at Athens National Museum.