News
Every day, you can find the latest news, events, and publications about our people, programs, and collections.
Photo by Rose LincolnMaking Poetry Sing
Radcliffe fellow Tsitsi Jaji is fascinated by what songs can teach literary specialists about how to read poetry. She calls art songs—vocal compositions typically arranged for one voice with piano accompaniment—"the perfect texts to explore the dynamic relationship between music and poetry in my new Radcliffe project."
Announcing New Radcliffe Institute Fellows
THE SCIENCE OF TOYS, THE COMEDY OF TRAGEDIES, THE DESIGN OF DESTRUCTION
The 49 artists and scholars who have been selected as fellows at the Radcliffe Institute during the 2013–2014 academic year will have a year of discovery to write books, create art, pioneer research, and bring together theory and practice.
Photo by Jon ChaseThe Price of Women’s Immigration
A performance by Quetzal, the Grammy Award-winning East Los Angeles band, kicked off "Crossing Borders: Immigration and Gender in the Americas," a two-day conference at Radcliffe.
Photo by Tatiana BlancoA Toast to the Future, Sidney R. Knafel Creates $10.5M Fund
The Radcliffe Gymnasium was renamed the Knafel Center in honor of Sidney R. Knafel ’52, M.B.A. ’54, and in recognition of the center’s increasing role in promoting intellectual exchange across Harvard’s Schools and with the public.
Portrait of Du Bois. Papers of Shirley Graham Du Bois. Courtesy Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe InstituteThe Musical Life of Shirley Graham Du Bois
Radcliffe fellow Tsitsi Jaji says, "one of the most valuable aspects of my time at Radcliffe has been having access to the Schlesinger Library's collection of Shirley Graham Du Bois's papers."
Courtesy of Tamar HerzogHistorian to Harvard
The innovative international scholar Tamar Herzog has been appointed the Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). She also will become the Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Herzog comes to Harvard from Stanford University, where she has been a Professor of Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese history since 2005.
Photo by Stephanie MitchellBorders, Books, and the Balkans
Gazmend Kapllani, an Albanian novelist and Radcliffe fellow, draws inspiration from his nation's ink-dark past. Kapllani said his childhood gave him the gift of his three literary obsessions: borders, books, and the Balkans.
Photo by Joan MarcusActor and Arts Advocate Jane Alexander to Receive Radcliffe Medal
Radcliffe announces actor and arts advocate Jane Alexander will receive the Radcliffe Medal from Dean Lizabeth Cohen on Radcliffe Day 2013. A morning panel will convene leaders in the visual arts, writing, and music in a discussion moderated by A.R.T. artistic director Diane Paulus.
Joanna Behrman '13. Photo by Tony RinaldoJoanna Behrman ’13
Joanna Behrman RI '13 is writing a thesis, even though the Harvard physics department doesn’t require one. Her topic—a comparison of undergraduate physics teaching at Harvard and Radcliffe from 1895 to 1953—led her to the Schlesinger Library.
William Simmons '14. Photo by Tony RinaldoWilliam Simmons ’14
William Simmons ’14 applied for and won a Carol K. Pforzheimer Student Fellowship from the Schlesinger Library. Now he’s writing an article about Eloise Saunders's passion for agriculture and community and curating a show of artist Judy Chicago's work.
Florence Julie Lillibridge, high-school graduation photograph, 1937, Vermillion, South Dakota. Lillibridge collection at the Schlesinger LibraryWriting in Code
One woman’s diaries, covering more than 30 years, offer an unexpected riddle.
Patty Gelfman: Representing Radcliffe College Alumnae
Patty Gelfman ’56 led her Radcliffe class to make a generous gift to the Schlesinger Library for its 50th reunion. That gift has funded the processing of some of the library’s most illustrious collections, including those of Betty Friedan, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Elizabeth Holtzman, and Marge (the creator of Little Lulu cartoons).
The stamp issued in 1974 by the United States Postal Service in honor of Elizabeth Blackwell. Courtesy of Schlesinger LibraryElizabeth Blackwell’s Struggle to Become a Doctor
“I hated everything connected with the body, and could not bear the sight of a medical book,” Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910) wrote in her book about the medical profession, published in 1895. It wasn’t an interest in science or anatomy that motivated her to become the first woman in America to earn a medical degree; it was a dying friend’s plaint that she would have fared better if she’d had a “lady doctor.”
Portrait of Betty Friedan, ca.1950, from the Papers of Betty Friedan at the Schlesinger LibraryFilms Mine the Archives
Taking a film from paper to screen has many hidden processes. Consider documentaries, for example: Each one—whether airing on your local public television station or playing film festivals around the world—relies on hours of research and stacks of supporting materials. Where is that research done? Increasingly, thanks to its treasure trove of materials about women’s lives in America, the answer is the Schlesinger Library.
