Hannah Josephson, née Geffen (June 6, 1900 – October 29, 1976), was an American historian of the United States as well as a journalist and librarian.

Life and work

Hannah Josephson was born in New York City, on June 6, 1900. She studied at Hunter College from 1916 to 1918 and at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 1918–19. She married the writer, Matthew Josephson, on May 6, 1920 and began working as a journalist. In 1949 Josephson became librarian, editor of publications, publicity director, and director of manuscript exhibition for the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

until her retirement in 1965. She died on October 29, 1976 in New Milford, Connecticut.

Activities

Together with

Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), his lyrical memoir, ''Exile's Return ...

, she published ''Aragon: Poet of the Resistance'' in 1945. Four years later, Josephson published ''The Golden Threads'', a book on women who worked in the

textile mills Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

between 1822 and 1850. With her husband she wrote ''Al Smith, Hero of the Cities: A Political Portrait Drawing on the Papers of Frances Perkins'' in 1969 for which they were awarded the Van Wyck Brooks Award of the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin University; it retain its own ...

. Her last book was ''Jeanette Rankin: First Lady in Congress'' in 1974. Josephson also translated several books including

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...

’s ''The Century Was Young'' in 1941,

Philippe Soupault Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault in ...

’s ''Age of Assassins'' five years later, and

Gabrielle Roy Gabrielle Roy (March 22, 1909July 13, 1983) was a Canadian author from St. Boniface, Manitoba and one of the major figures in French Canadian literature. Early life Roy was born in 1909 in Saint-Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, and ...

’s ''

The Tin Flute ''The Tin Flute'' (original French title ''Bonheur d'occasion'', literally "secondhand happiness") is the first novel by Canadian author Gabrielle Roy and a classic of Canadian fiction. Imbued with Roy's brand of compassion and understanding, th ...

'' in 1948. Agnes Whitfield,

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, leads a

SSHRC The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, CRSH) is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and traini ...

funded project on Josephson, the American translator of ''Bonheur d’occasion.''source
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Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Josephson, Hannah 1900 births 1976 deaths Hunter College alumni 20th-century American historians Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni American women historians