Judith Schiff

Judith Schiff (November 26, 1937 – July 11, 2022) was an American archivist. She was chief research archivist at Yale University and historian for the city of New Haven, Connecticut.[1][2][3]

Early life

Schiff was born in New York City, but grew up in New Haven, where she attended Hillhouse High School.[4] She earned a degree in history from Barnard College, and returned to work at the Cowles Foundation at Yale.[5]

Career as a librarian

Schiff's first job at the Yale University Library was to catalog the papers of William Dwight Whitney and Josiah Dwight Whitney.[6] She worked at the university for more than 60 years, becoming Yale University Library chief research archivist in 1971.[1] She met Millicent Todd Bingham and helped to acquire the papers of Bingham's mother, Mabel Loomis Todd, an editor of Emily Dickinson's poetry.[1] In the 1960s, Schiff got to know Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who visited the library to look at Lindbergh's manuscripts.[1] She went on to co-edit Lindbergh's Autobiography of Values, and co-wrote a biography of the aviator.[1] Schiff also helped determine that a skeleton exposed by a tree uprooted by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 dated to the 18th century.[7]

In addition, Schiff organized exhibitions. She served on the group investigating Yale's slavery history.[6]

Schiff was inspired by a "history from below," and her work often focused on telling the history of marginalized people, including women and people of color.[4]

Beyond Yale, Schiff was a founder of New England Archivists, the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, and the Ethnic Heritage Center of New Haven.[4]

While working at Yale, she earned a master’s degree in history from Columbia University and a degree in library science from Southern Connecticut State College.[1]

Recognition

Schiff won the Edward Bouchet Legacy Award for her research, the Linda Lorimarr Award for Distinguished Service, and the Yale Medal from the Yale Alumni Association.[6][2]

References
  1. Genzlinger, Neil (2022-07-21). "Judith Schiff, Who Roamed Yale's Vast Archive, Dies at 84". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  2. Temoshok, Lydia (December 21, 2020). "2020 Yale Medal Recipient Judith Ann Schiff, Chief Research Archivist, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, the New Haven City Historian, and Unofficial Yale Ambassador". YaleWomen. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  3. Yin, Sharon (2012-04-16). "Archivist Judith Schiff named New Haven historian". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  4. "Judith Schiff, New Haven's "People's Historian," Dies At 84". New Haven Independent. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  5. "A Life with the Archives | Perspectives on History | AHA". www.historians.org. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  6. "Getting to know Yale Leaders—Judy Schiff, 60 years at Yale | It's Your Yale". your.yale.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  7. "New Haven's Lincoln Oak bones date to the 1790s, researchers say". New Haven Register. 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
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