Judith Stitzel Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 5039
These records document the professional life of Judith Gold Stitzel, professor of English and Women's Studies at West Virginia University. They include materials relative to her own education, her career at West Virginia University, her public and professional service, her publications and speeches, and her many awards and honors. These papers also detail the development of Women's Studies as part of the curriculum at West Virginia University.
The collection includes extensive incoming and outgoing correspondence files that Dr. Stitzel maintained, some of which she arranged by correspondent and some of which she arranged by date, depending on the extent of her correspondence with an individual. These files include official correspondence and some personal correspondence. The collection also includes many letters of recommendation which were written for students, colleagues, and friends, as well as letters of support that she wrote for colleagues going through the promotion and tenure process at West Virginia University. These letters attest to the role that Dr. Stitzel played as advisor, counselor, and friend to current and former students, staff, and faculty at WVU, and elsewhere, throughout her career.
Dr. Stitzel's papers also include syllabi and course materials for a wide variety of courses, from introductory English composition to the senior capstone course in women's studies, as well as files that she kept on topics of current interest to her, with her comments on these topics.
Series 1. Pre-WVU Educational Records; 1954-1968 and undated; box 1.
Series 2. Correspondence; 1968-1997 and undated; box 2 - box 3, folder 7.
Series 3. Recommendation Letters; 1965-1998; box 3, folders 8-17.
Series 4. Incoming Letters; 1965-1998 and undated; box 3, folders 18-20.
Series 5. WVU Employment Records; 1967-2001; box 3, folders 21-38.
Series 6. English Department; 1967-1995 and undated; box 4, folders 1-12.
Series 7. Professional Service to English; 1968-1996; box 4, folders 13-31.
Series 8. Women's Studies Program; 1977-1987 and undated; box 4, folders 32-47.
Series 9. Center for Women's Studies; 1984-2002 and undated; box 4, folder 48 - box 5.
Series 10. Professional Service to Women's Studies; 1976-1998; box 6.
Series 11. International Activities; 1976-1988 and undated; box 7.
Series 12. Courses; 1974-1998 and undated; box 8 - box 11, folder 33.
Series 13. Service to WVU; 1967-1996 and undated; box 11, folder 34 - box 12, folder 8.
Series 14. Service to Community and State; 1976-1999 and undated; box 12, folder 9 - box 13, folder 12.
Series 15. Publications and Speeches; 1968-1998 and undated; box 13, folder 13 - box 14, folder 20.
Series 16. Awards, Honors, and Certificates; 1970-2000 and undated; box 14, folders 21-55.
Series 17. Subjects; 1950-2000 and undated; box 15.
Series 18. Student Related Materials; 1973-1998 and undated; boxes 16-21.
Series 19. Oversize; 1982-1998; box 22.
Addendum of 2018-04-02; ca. 1920s; box 22.
Addendum of 2018-04-17; ca. 1960s-2013; boxes 22-45 and oversize material.
In addition, the West Virginia and Regional History Center holds records of the WVU Center for Women's Studies. These include the records of the centenary of women's education at WVU (1989-1991) in A&M 3376 and 5048; videotapes of the annual Dickinson symposia in A&M 5052; and additional Center for Women's Studies records in A&M 5131; and materials regarding Dr. Stitzel's retirement in A&M 5037. These should be considered as complementary resources for this collection. Additional records are also available at the Center for Women's Studies, West Virginia University.
Because there are still papers that Dr. Stitzel has not yet donated to the WVRHC, it is important for future researchers to note that there may be additional donations to these papers that she or her family may choose to make.
English
Special access restriction applies to boxes 23-26.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Judith Gold Stitzel grew up in New York City in the lower East Side of Manhattan with her parents, Artie and Syd Gold, and her brother, Ivan. She was married to Robert Stitzel, former professor of pharmacology at WVU, from 1961 till his death in 2007. The couple had one son, David. Dr. Stitzel taught at West Virginia University from 1965 until her retirement in 1998. During that time, she served as a professor of English, director of the WVU Writing Lab, coordinator of the Women's Studies program, and director of the Center for Women's Studies. Dr. Stitzel was and continues to be active in many professional and community service organizations.
Dr. Stitzel received her B.A. in English from Barnard College (1961), her M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin (1962), and her Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota (1968). She joined the West Virginia University faculty as an instructor in the Department of English in 1965 and taught at WVU until her retirement in May 1998 as professor emerita of English and women's studies. During her 33-year career at WVU, she served as the first director of the Writing Lab in the Department of English, taught some of the earliest courses on women in literature, was the first coordinator of the women's studies program (1980-1984) and the first director of the Center for Women's Studies (1984-1993). While director of the Center for Women's Studies, she established the annual JoAnne and Charles Dickinson symposium. From 1993 until her retirement, she was a professor of English and women's studies.
Dr. Stitzel offered public and professional service to a wide variety of organizations, including the WVU Faculty Senate and Council for Women's Concerns, the West Virginia Humanities Council, and the National Women's Studies Association. She has received many honors for her teaching and commitment to social justice. Indeed, Dr. Stitzel's contributions to WVU and the state of West Virginia go far beyond her role as "founding mother" of women's studies in the state. Her outstanding teaching and her long-standing and outspoken advocacy for women and minorities on campus, in the community, and the state made her a role model for countless women and men who, in turn, were empowered by her support to be advocates for social justice. Dr. Stitzel's impact on the lives of these individuals is clear in the extraordinary retirement ceremony, otherwise known as the "Judithon," that the Center for Women's Studies held for her in the fall of 1998. The West Virginia and Regional History Collection includes a copy of the program and a videotape of this event, which researchers should consult when using these papers.
In addition, Dr. Stitzel has kept a journal for many years. She has turned one of her journals into a book about the year after her husband's death, entitled Field Notes From Grief: The First Year.
For more details on Dr. Stitzel's professional career, please ask a curator for her curriculum vitae.
39.3 Linear Feet (Summary: 39 ft. 4 in. (26 records cartons, 15 in. each); (12 document cases, 5 in. each); (3 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (note card box, 3 1/2 in.); (note card box, 4 in.); (2 flat storage boxes, 3 1/2 in. each); (1 oversize folder, 1/4 in.))
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
25 issues of Nexus (1991-2008) separated to WVRHC collection, to supplement the other issues we have cataloged.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository