Special Features - Slideshow

Orra White Hitchcock’s Classroom Art

"Drawing of an Octopus", 1828-1840, 58 x 49 cm., Pen and ink on linen Image courtesy of Edward and Orra White Hitchcock Papers, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library.

About this Image

The octopus is in the cephalopod family, meaning that it has a head with eyes and tentacles with suckers. Cephalopods have existed for about 500 million years. Orra White Hitchcock was knowledgeable about conchology, which may have led her to portray a sea creature.