Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski

Who was Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski?

Wilhelmina Mary Feemster Jashemski was a noted scholar of the ancient site of Pompeii, where her archaeological investigations focused on the evidence of gardens and horticulture in the ancient city.

Jashemski was born in York, Nebraska. She studied at York College, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Chicago. She began teaching in 1935, and taught at Lindenwood College, Missouri, before serving on the faculty of the University of Maryland from 1946 to 1980.

Jashemski's work at Pompeii, Boscoreale, and Oplontis began in 1961 and continued until 1984. She also worked on the excavation of the gardens of the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli. Jashemski is viewed as a pioneer of the field of garden archaeology in the ancient Mediterranean. She was awarded the Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement by the Archaeological Institute of America in 1996, after the publication of the second volume of her work The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius.

Her husband was the physicist Stanley A. Jashemski, who photographed many of her excavations for publication.

Jashemski was a member of Takoma Park Presbyterian Church for more than fifty years.