Jeannette Mirsky Papers, 1892-1987, bulk 1921-1986
Collection context
- Creator:
- Mirsky, Jeannette
- Abstract:
- The collection consists of the personal papers of author, geographer, explorer, and Barnard alumna, Jeannette Mirsky. It includes her personal and business correspondence, academic records, manuscripts, drafts, publications, photographs, maps, and information about her world travels.
- Extent:
- 12.35 Linear Feet 27 document boxes, 1 oversize box
- Language:
- Bulk of collection is in English. Some folders contain newspaper clippings in German.
- Scope and content:
-
This collection consists of correspondence, academic records, manuscripts, drafts, publications, photographs, newspaper clippings, and travel documents of Barnard alumna, author, and world traveler, Jeannette Mirsky. Also contains program for her memorial service in Box 28. The correspondence is almost exclusively letters, postcards, and telegrams addressed to Mirsky. Carbon copies of letters composed by Mirsky are mostly limited to business transactions with publishers.
Mirsky's original writings are contained in manuscripts, notes, and drafts related to her publications. Complete manuscripts of To the North!,The Westward Crossing, Houses of God, The World of Eli Whitney, andSir Aurel Stein are included in this collection, and feature extensive notes and edits by Mirsky and outside editors.
The photographs in this collection are often unlabeled, and include images collected for various publications, images of Mirsky's travels, and personal and family photos. Mirsky also held on to many newspaper clippings of her book reviews. The collection also contains additional clippings that she gathered for research purposes. There is a large collection of clippings from German language newspapers as well.
Of special interest are materials related to a speaking engagement at the University of Alaska where Mirsky traveled north of the Arctic Circle, and received a lithograph noting this accomplishment. Of additional interest are a series of letters in which Mirsky was recommended for an honorary doctorate at Columbia University.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Jeannette Rachel Mirsky was born in 1903 to Michael D. Mirsky and Frieda Ettelson Mirsky. She attended Barnard College, where she earned her A.B. in 1924. From 1935-1938 Mirsky did graduate work at Columbia University, studying under Franz Boas and Margaret Mead.
Mirsky was married twice, first to Arthur J. Barsky, who she divorced in 1940, and then to Edward Ginsburg, an industrial engineer, who she married in 1942. Mirsky lived briefly in South Carolina with Ginsburg, but ultimately moved to Princeton, NJ in 1950, where Mirsky would reside for the rest of her life. Edward Ginsburg died in 1959, and Mirsky did not remarry again. Throughout her career she continued to publish under the name Mirsky, although she did change her last name to Ginsburg after her marriage to Edward.
In 1934 Mirsky published her first book,To the North!, which recounts the history of Arctic exploration. Her book largely discredited Frederick Cook's claims to discovering the North Pole, and went out of print for a number of years due to a lawsuit by Cook. The book was re-released in 1946 by Alfred A. Knopf under the new title, To the Arctic!: The Story of Northern Exploration from the Earliest Times to the Present. In addition to English, the book was published in German, Spanish, and French.
Jeannette Mirsky continued to publish books until 1977. Her books include, The Westward Crossings (1946),The World of Eli Whitney (1952),Elisha Kent Kane and the Seafaring Frontier(1954),The Great Chinese Travelers: An Anthology (1964),Houses of God (1965), andSir Aurel Stein, Archaeological Explorer (1977). During this time she also wrote book reviews, was a contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica, edited The Lady, a book by Barnard Professor Emily James Putnam, was a visiting fellow in the department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, and spent much of her time travelling.
Jeannette Mirsky died in Princeton, NJ on March 10, 1987 at the age of 83.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection has no restrictions.
- Terms of access:
-
Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Barnard College Archives. The Barnard College Archives approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- Preferred citation:
-
Jeannette Mirsky Papers, 1892-1987; Box and Folder; Barnard College Archives and Special Collections, Barnard Library, Barnard College.
- Location of this collection:
-
Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning 423Barnard College3009 BroadwayNew York, NY 10027, USA
- Before you visit:
- Please contact archives@barnard.edu with research requests or to schedule a visit; see our website for more information.
- Contact:
- archives@barnard.edu