Jean Herskovits

{{Short description|American historian (1935–2019)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Jean Herskovits

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name = Jean Frances Herskovits

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|5|20}}

| birth_place = Evanston, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|2|5|1935|5|20}}

| death_place = New York, U.S.

| occupation = Professor

| education = Swarthmore College (BA)
University of Oxford (DPhil)

| nationality =

| movement =

| parents = Melville J. Herskovits and Frances Shapiro Herskovits

| spouse = John Corry

| children =

}}

Jean Frances Herskovits (May 20, 1935 – February 5, 2019) was an American historian and academic who was a research professor of history at the State University of New York at Purchase specializing in African (particularly Nigerian) history and politics. Herskovits taught at Brown University, Swarthmore College, City College of the City University of New York and Columbia University. She held a D.Phil. in African history from Oxford University.

Early life and education

Jean Frances Herskovits was born in Evanston, Illinois, on May 20, 1935, to anthropologists Melville J. Herskovits and Frances Shapiro Herskovits.{{cite web|title=Guide to the Melville J. & Frances S. Herskovits Papers|url=http://archives.nypl.org/uploads/collection/pdf_finding_aid/scmmg261.pdf|website=New York Public Library|access-date=15 May 2015}} She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College in 1956, and earned her Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) from Oxford University in 1960 under professor Kenneth Kirkwood, writing her dissertation on freed slaves who returned to Africa and the Lagos Colony.

Career

Jean Herskovits taught at Brown University, Swarthmore College, The City College of New York, and Columbia University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, Purchase, since 1977. Herskovits' thesis, "A Preface to Modern Nigeria: The Sierra Leonians in Yoruba," was written on a 1958 research trip to Nigeria and published in 1965. From 1998 to 2005, she was a director of United Bank for Africa, where she also chaired the Board of Trustees of the [https://www.ubagroup.com/sr/foundation UBA Foundation]. She served as head of the Nigeria reinvestment project of Citizens Energy Corporation, and from 2001 to 2008 was a member of Conoco Phillips’ Nigeria advisory council.{{cite web|title=Professor Jean Herskovits |url=http://tydanjumafoundation.org/board-of-trustees/professor-jean-herskovits/ |website=TY Danjuma Foundation |access-date=15 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514115349/http://tydanjumafoundation.org/board-of-trustees/professor-jean-herskovits/ |archive-date=14 May 2015 }}

She wrote many articles about Nigeria in publications such as Foreign Policy and The New York Times.

Death

Herskovits died on February 5, 2019, in New York.{{cite web |title=OBITUARY-Prof. Jean Frances Herskovits Corry (May 1935 – February 2019) |url=https://www.tydanjumafoundation.org/Obituary |website=TY Danjuma Foundation |date=11 February 2019 |access-date=4 March 2019}} She was married to John Corry, a former reporter with The New York Times, with whom she had three daughters.{{cite web |title=Remembering 'Well-Disguised Nigerian' Jean Herskovits |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201903030142.html |website=All Africa |date=3 March 2019 |access-date=4 March 2019}}

References