Jean Frances Herskovits (1935-2019), was a historian of African history. The Jean Herskovits photographs, dating from 1950 to 2000, depict friends, colleagues, political leaders, and Herskovits' travels.
Jean Frances Herskovits (1935-2019), was an historian in African history. She was born in Evanston, Illinois, to anthropologists Melville J. Herskovits (1895-1963) and Frances Shapiro Herskovits (1897-1972). Herskovits' father was an anthropologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he established the first inter-disciplinary American program in African Studies. In 1954, the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies was established at the University.
Herskovits, influenced by her parents' careers, decided to pursue a career in African studies. In 1956, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University in 1960. Herskovits' thesis was entitled Liberated Africans and the History of Lagos Colony to 1886. Herskovits published a revised version of her thesis entitled A Preface to Modern Nigeria: The Sierra Leonians in Yoruba, 1830-1890 (Jean Herskovits Kopytoff, University of Wisconsin, 1965).
As an educator in African history, with a focus on Nigeria, Herskovits taught at several universities including Brown University, City University of New York, Columbia University, and Swarthmore College. Herskovits taught for over three decades at Purchase College where she was also appointed the Chair of the History Department. Herskovits' academic work included lectures at conferences, workshops, and other institutions. Her engagements with contemporary African affairs, specifically West and Southern Africa, include her work as an official observer during elections in Nigeria and the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Herskovits worked for multiple corporations, including the United Bank for Africa (UBA), as their Director from 1998 to 2005, and concurrently the Board of Trustees of the UBA Foundation. She was also the head of the Nigerian reinvestment project of Citizens Energy Corporation, a member of the ConocoPhillips Company's Nigerian Advisory Council, and served on the boards of the Carnegie Corporation, and the Council of Foreign Relations. Herskovits' extensive writings include op-eds in The New York Times, and articles published in Foreign Policy. Her background knowledge of the current affairs of Africa and Nigeria led her to testify several times before Congress.
Herskovits died in 2019 in New York City. She was survived by her husband John Corry, a former reporter to the New York Times and three daughters.
The collection, dated from 1950s to 2000s, contains photographs of friends, colleagues and politicians. One of the earliest photographs is of Hershovits at Oxford University. These photographs are mostly informal pictures. There are also pictures of Nigeria's politicians Joseph Nanven Garba, Olusegun Obasanjo, and King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho.
Gift of John Corry 2022.
Processed by Valerie Wingfield in 2024.
Jean Herskovits papers are held in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Division (SCM).
Melville and Frances S. Herskovits papers are held in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Division (SCM).
Herskovits, Melville J. and Frances S. Photographs are held in Schomburg's Photographs and Prints Division (SCP).