Evening star., 1937-11-21
Miss Sclermerhorn, Expert
On Knights Of Malta, in D. C..
With Friend, Miss Jessie Ditto, She Has
Just Completed Nine Years of
Study abroad

Catholic Church through the medium
Of its central orders in Jerusalem,
Rhodes and Malta.
BY means OF Miss Schermerhorn's
word portrayal one sees the castles,
the churches, the farms and whole
fortified towns scattered all over Eu-
rope. and even held in independent
sovereignty by them. which were given
the Knights of Malta in gratitude for
their services to Christianity during
the Crusades. Many of these survive
today, sometimes preserved as ma
tional monuments. To them for the
purposes of historical identification
and study Miss Schermerhorn, ac-
companied by Miss Ditto, has travelled,
principally by auto. Their historical
pursuit of these Christian knights Of
old has led them into Normandy,
Southern France, Italy, Switzerland,
Spain and Portugal.
Just before the outbreak Of the war
in Spain Miss Ditto and Miss Scher-
merhorn spent considerable time near
the Royal Monastery of Sigena, near
Huesca, Spain, while Miss Schermer-
horn was engaged in writing the story
of the Spanish order Of the knights
of Malta and Of the converts of
nursing nuns, auxiliaries of the
Knights.
With distress, Miss Schermerhorn
reported: Many of these have since
been wantonly burned, after the ex-
pulsion of the aged nuns, We have
learned, and with their destruction
have vanished objects Of incalculable
value from the standpoint of art and
history"
The record of this visit Of Miss
Schermerhorn's has been widely cir
culated in various magazines and
newspapers in English, French and
Italian. 1t appears officially in the
"Rivista del Sovrano Ordine Miliatre
di Malta with its eight-pointed cross
official insignia of the order, recalling
the glamorous days of old, when to
rescue the holy sepulchre from the
infidel very perfait gentil knights
engaged in holy" wars.
special COurteS1eS Given.
Because of her contribution to the
history of their order. Miss Schermer-
horn received many special courtesies
during the last jubilee of the Knights
of Malta held in Rome when 300
knights from IL different countries,
descendants of the flower of European
nobility, assembled in Rome to pay
their respects to his holiness, the
Pope.
Through Miss Schermerhorn's eyes
one sees the great procession en- route
gathering for high mass in St. Peters
and for the reception with the holy
father atterward in their scarlet coats,
gold tunics and tri-corner hats, car
rying their crimson banners en-
lazoned with the white eight pointed
Maltese cross.
Miss Schermerhorns most recent
book, Malta of the Knights" gives
a colorful picture of this order in
the days Of its pristine glory
She is now preparing for her pub
fishers study dealing with the
Knights Hospitalers. who during the
latter part of the Middle Ages were
not only fighting bodies of soldiers,
but the forbears, as it were of modern
Red Cross field hospital units for
the wounded. To aid in their work
for the casualties Of war they en-
listed various orders of nuns, Miss
Schermerhorn explained. who thus
antedated by many centuries the
merciful ofnces Of Florence Nightin-
gale or Of Clara Barton
To Go on to Vassar.
After being the guest of the Italy,
American Society at the meeting for
| which the Italian Ambassador will
! be host, Miss Schermerhorn will go
on to Vassar College, where she will
be guest lecturer TO students in
history courses concerning the field
of research in which she has now
become an international authority.
Miss Schermerhorn and Miss Ditto
after concluding visits with the men,
bers of their respective families in
Washington and Boston. expect to
return to Italy in the spring to en-
| gage in still further study.