Elizabeth Kimball Kendall

Elizabeth Kimball Kendall FRGS (7 April 1855 – 21 May 1952) was an American professor of history and political science at Wellesley College. She made several journeys across Europe and Asia. The most significant of these was her 1911 voyage across China, her account of which, A Wayfarer in China: Impressions of a Trip Across West China and Mongolia, was published in 1913.

Although she was born in Vermont, much of Kendall's early education was in Europe, where her father was a United States consul; she studied in Germany and France as well as at Oxford. She later acquired a degree in law from Boston University and an M.A. from Radcliffe College. Joining Wellesley in 1879 as an instructor, Kendall became associate professor in 1892 and full professor in 1902. At Wellesley, she taught a number of courses in history and political science and wrote several books, including three co-authored with Katharine Coman. Kendall traveled frequently, making trips to Turkey, Dalmatia, Mongolia, England, India, and most notably, China, which she visited several times. After retiring from Wellesley in 1920, Kendall taught at the Yenching Academy in Beijing, and lived in China, the United States, and England, where she died.