Rockhill, Edith Howell Perkins, 1870-1946
Biography
Edith Howell Perkins Rockhill was born in 1870 to J. Deming Perkins and Margretta Dotterer Perkins and spent most of her early life in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was a member of the Colonial Dames of America and co-founder of the Mary Floyd Talmadge chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She married William Woodville Rockhill, who was appointed to several consular positions with the government during the years 1897-1911. As the wife of a diplomat, Rockhill was responsible for entertaining many heads of state and being the social envoy for her husband. The duo traveled extensively on both official and leisure trips. Aside from sharing her husband’s duties, Rockhill championed her own causes including the American Central Committee for Russian Relief, which aided displaced refugees, and donated thousands of objects to the Library of Congress including books, manuscripts and pieces of art from Tibet and China. She died in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1946.