To my great grandfather, Thaddeus Hinkley, educator, humanitarian and advocate for the rights of women.

Early in his life he recognized the value of women and from that point on made it his goal to know every young woman he met.  He liked to know them as frequently as possible – often knowing more than one at a time.  As noble as his early aspirations were, he credits the native peoples he encountered on his travels with teaching him a new way to appreciate women.

To help him appreciate women in this new way, he would take several of his female students on safari.  His safaris were one of the few ways that women of his day could experience the travel and adventure traditionally reserved for men.  Therefore, in spite of the seemingly large number of female students who disappeared under unfortunate circumstances while in his charge, young ladies still eagerly enrolled in his classes to study and travel with the great man.  Interestingly enough, it was of the young ladies who disappeared that he said he felt the most special bond, as if a piece of each of them was now a part of him.

The photo above shows him teaching a biology lesson.  His students are clearly enthralled by the subject matter and by his teaching methods.  He believed that learning could only be accomplished through the practical application of information.  He was a pioneer of what today would be termed a hands-on approach to learning.