Susan Martha Reed was born on August 16, 1884 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Martha Dudman and John R. Reed. Her sister Edith H. Smith graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1901. Susan Stifler graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1907. She then received an M.A and a PhD from the University of Illinois in 1908 and 1913, respectively. While studying there, she also taught history. In 1913 she became chair of the History Department at Lake Erie College. In 1915 she married William Warren Stifler, and they departed for China, where he worked. After their return to the United States she worked part time at Mount Holyoke from 1926 until 1934. Susan Reed Stifler died on August 2, 1987, in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee.

The Susan Reed Stifler Papers contain correspondence, 1907-1984; diaries, 1906-1927; writings, 1904-1935; and photographs, 1907-1972. The letters are written to her husband, William Warren Stifler, and other relatives while living in Peking and Peitaiho, China, principally discussing domestic and family matters and her social activities. The writings include an English notebook, 1904-1905, and a few published articles written by Stifler. The photographs include some of family members, as well as many pictures taken in China.