Elizabeth Basye Gilmore Holt (1905-1987) was an art historian, educator, and author largely based in Washington, D.C. and Georgetown, Maine. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin (1929), a master's degree from Radcliffe College (1932), and her doctoral degree at the University of Munich (1934). From 1935-1936 she worked as a technical supervisor for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project and opened a community art center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Holt taught at Duke University, Michigan State University of East Lansing, Boston University, and other universities over the course of her career.