Jeannette Mirsky Ginsburg (September 3, 1903 – March 10, 1987) was an American writer who was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1947 for her biographical writings on the history of exploration.
Early life and education
Jeannette R. Mirsky was born in
Bradley Beach, New Jersey
Bradley Beach is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 4,298, Her brother was Alfred Mirsky (1900-1974), a cell biologist involved in the discovery of DNA. She was a student at the
Ethical Culture School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facul ...
, class of 1921. She attended
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' (March 20, 1987). She did graduate work in anthropology at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...
. She was later awarded an honorary doctorate from Columbia University.Heather Lember ''Guide to the Jeannette Mirsky Papers'' Barnard Archives and Special Collections.
She moved to
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
in 1950.
Career
Mirsky traveled extensively to access rare papers, maps, and artifacts related to her research. She won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1947, as well as a Rockefeller Foundation grant and a grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
. She wrote the entry on "Polar Exploration" for the ''Encyclopedia Americana'' (1956). Because of her interest in the far north, she was invited to give the keynote lecture at Alaska's Festival of the Arts in 1966.
Works by Jeannette Mirsky
*''To the North: The Story of Arctic Exploration from the Earliest Times to the Present'' (1934; later republished as ''To the Arctic!'')
*''
Elisha Kent Kane
Elisha Kent Kane (February 3, 1820 – February 16, 1857) was a United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during Caleb Cushing's journey to China to negotiate the Treaty of Wangxia and in the Af ...
and the Seafaring Frontier''
*''The Westward Crossings (Balboa, Mackenzie, Lewis & Clark)'' (US ed. 1946; UK ed. 1951)
*''Balboa: Discoverer of the Pacific'' (1964)
*''Houses of God'' (1966)
*''The Gentle Conquistadors'' (1972)
*''Sir
Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
, Archaeological Explorer'' (1977)
*''The World of Eli Whitney'' (with
Allan Nevins
Joseph Allan Nevins (May 20, 1890 – March 5, 1971) was an American historian and journalist, known for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and J ...
)
*''The Great Chinese Travelers: An Anthology'' (1974, edited and wrote introduction)
Personal life
Jeannette Mirsky married engineer Edward Bellamy Ginsburg in 1941."Edward Bellamy Ginsburg, ''Report of the Harvard Class of 1920'' (Harvard University 1945): 287. The couple moved to South Carolina for Edward's work, and then to
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
in 1950. She was widowed in 1959, and died in 1987, at age 83, in Princeton. Her papers are archived at Barnard College.