The first professional string quartet made up of women was called the Eichberg String Quartet; it was based in Boston and active in the late Victorian era. One of the ladies in the group was a woman named Lillian Shattuck. Someone at Harvard scanned her scrapbook and it is now being hosted at the Harvard University Library website. Take a look if you’re interested in seeing some beautiful portraits of women violinists from the turn of the century.
Edit (27 May): The link doesn’t work. It worked yesterday. It’s as if the Harvard University Library website doesn’t want anyone to see their collection. Well…try googling “Lillian Shattuck” Harvard. And a big thumbs down to the Harvard University Library website. I applaud your digitization of this important collection, but next time it would be nice if you’d include, you know, a link so that people, you know, can go visit it.
Edit (30 May): Try the comment section for a working link.
Song of the Lark 
I researched Lillian Shattuck and have visited the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe Institute, Harvard, U. A link that works is:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/results?_collection=via&resultsViewFormat=grid .
There are a number of search options for Lillian’s scrapbook and they do work. Also, another of her scrapbooks is at The Boston Public Library.
That is FASCINATING, Francis!! I may be in touch with you about Lillian Shattuck, as there is not a lot of information about her online (which, as I live in a smallish town in the middle of nowhere, is really my only place to research). Great to hear that her scrapbooks are being preserved.
Also, the link you provided doesn’t work anymore, either (at least for me). Sigh.
I din’t know what to say, the links were working earlier today when I responded to you. It was working on Explorer; here’s one that works on Firefox:
http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/deepLink?recordId=olvgroup11772&_collection=via
Remember, the response box breaks the URL in two. You must keep it as one continuous stream without spaces in it. Please let me know how you make out.
Francis
This one seems to work! I’m using Chrome at the moment. I wonder if links time out after a while? Hmm. I’ll keep checking this one to see! Thanks for your help!
Glad to hear the link worked. Once in, they do time out and you have to reopen. Lillian Shattuck as well as the other young ladies in the quartet, were truly remarkable. Imagine, women playing violins, before an audience!
But they were given great reviews in the 1880s. Lillian and other members of the original group did not pursue a performing career but became teachers and so they never attained the world-wide acclaim such as that of Maud Powell. Lillian stayed on in Boston; she died in 1940.