Terms of Access and Use:
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Materials in this collection may be governed by copyright. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. Researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
Louis Cohn-Haft was born on November 13, 1919, in New York City to Harry and Goldie (Haft) Cohn. He attended New York public schools and entered Columbia University. There, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1941 before serving in the United States Air Force from 1942-45. Returning to Columbia, he earned a master's degree in 1949, and then studied as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Rome from 1949-50. He stayed at Columbia to teach history from 1950-53 before accepting a position at Smith College. He later received a doctorate, also from Columbia, in 1955.
At Smith Cohn-Haft taught ancient history from 1953 until his retirement in 1987. His main research interest was ancient Greece. His publications include Public Physicians of Ancient Greece (1956) and Source Readings in Ancient History: The Ancient Near East and Greece (1965). Cohn-Haft quickly ascended through the ranks of the department, from instructor in 1953-56, to assistant professor in 1956-58, to associate professor in 1958-63. He was named a full professor in 1963, ten years after he first came to Smith. Cohn-Haft served as chairman of the history department from 1966-69, and directed Smith's Summer Institutes for secondary school teachers from 1967-69. In addition to his teaching load at Smith, he also taught part-time at schools such as Mt. Holyoke College, UMass-Amherst, Holyoke Community College, and the Hartford College for Women.
During the 1984-85 academic year he was director of the Smith Junior Year Abroad program in Florence, Italy.
Cohn-Haft, also known as "Luigi," was a well-known figure on campus due to his frequent roles in Smith dramatic performances, his outgoing manner, and his interest in politics. He served on many college-wide committees in addition to being involved in several professional organizations and civil liberties organizations. He was an outspoken proponent of civil liberties and academic freedom, and helped organize opposition to the Vietnam War on campus. He served as chairman of the Hampshire County chapter of the ACLU from 1958-60.
Cohn-Haft married Athena Iris Capraro on April 23, 1942, and the couple had three children. He later married Betty Jane Schlerman on May 26, 1974. He died at his home in Italy on November 15, 2012 at the age of 92.
The materials in the Louis Cohn-Haft Papers concern the professor's academic teaching career, mainly at Smith College, and some of his personal interests, such as politics and dramatics.
This collection is organized into six series:
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Materials in this collection may be governed by copyright. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. Researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
Louis Cohn-Haft Papers, Smith College Archives, CA-MS-00362, Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.
The Louis Cohn-Haft Papers were donated by Louis Cohn-Haft in 1989.
Processed by Smith College Archives, 2010. Finding aid encoded by Elizabeth Carron, 2014
Contact Information |
Smith College Special Collections Young Library 4 Tyler Drive Northampton, MA 01063 Phone: (413) 585-2970 Fax: (413) 585-2886 Email: specialcollections@smith.edu URL: https://www.smith.edu/libraries/special-collections |
Series I: Biography | |||
Contains materials related to Cohn-Haft's leisure activities including his extensive experience acting and singing in dramatic performances. His interest in liberal politics is well documented, showing his active support for a variety of causes, most notably the anti-Vietnam War movement. Photographs are also housed in this series | |||
general | Box 718.3: folder 1 | ||
charity work | 1957-1961 | Box 718.3: folder 2 | |
dramatics | 1956-1961 | Box 718.3: folder 3 | |
dramatics | 1962-79 undated | Box 718.3: folder 4 | |
friends and aquaintainces | 1960-1987 | Box 718.3: folder 5 | |
leisure activities | 1956-1969 | Box 718.3: folder 6 | |
photographs | Box 718.3: folder 7 | ||
politics - 1952:Presidential Election | 1952 | Box 718.3: folder 8 | |
politics - communism | 1952-1974 | Box 718.3: folder 9 | |
politics - Greece | 1967 | Box 718.3: folder 10 | |
politics - Student Strike, May 1970 | 1970 | Box 718.3: folder 11 | |
politics - Vietnam War | 1966-1969 | Box 718.3: folder 12 | |
politics - miscellaneous | 1952-1972 | Box 718.3: folder 13 | |
travel | 1957 | Box 718.3: folder 14 | |
Athena Iris Caprano, wife | 1961-1962 | Box 718.3: folder 15 | |
miscellaneous | Box 718.3: folder 16 | ||
Series II: Teaching | |||
Documents Cohn-Haft's academic teaching career from his early years at Columbia University through his retirement from Smith in 1987. The series also includes syllabi from his courses that span decades. Materials relating to his part-time work at Hartford College for Women are also included. | |||
Columbia University | |||
calendars | 1951 undated | Box 718.4: folder 1 | |
college administration | 1952-1953 1965 | Box 718.4: folder 2 | |
syllabi - HST 5 | 1950-1952 | Box 718.4: folder 3 | |
syllabi - HST 6 | 1951-1953 | Box 718.4: folder 4 | |
events | 1951-1953 | Box 718.4: folder 5 | |
personal correspondence | 1952-1953 undated | Box 718.4: folder 6 | |
Hartford College for Women | |||
general | Box 718.4: folder 7 | ||
administration | 1976-1984 | Box 718.4: folder 8 | |
events | 1966 1982 | Box 718.4: folder 9 | |
Smith College | |||
career: promotions | 1956 1958 | Box 718.4: folder 10 | |
career: sabbaticals | 1969-1983 | Box 718.4: folder 11 | |
career: Symposium in Honor of Cohn-Haft | 1987 | Box 718.4: folder 12 | |
career: retirement | 1987 | Box 718.4: folder 13 | |
career: Miscellaneous | Box 718.4: folder 14 | ||
classes: general | Box 718.4: folder 15 | ||
classes: Schedules | 1952-1954 1975-1987 | Box 718.4: folder 16 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1954-1956 | Box 718.4: folder 17 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1956-1958 | Box 718.4: folder 18 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1958-1960 | Box 718.4: folder 19 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1960-1962 | Box 718.5: folder 1 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1962-1964 | Box 718.5: folder 2 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1964-1966 | Box 718.5: folder 3 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 12 | 1966-1969 1986 | Box 718.5: folder 4 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 101 | 1986-1987 | Box 718.5: folder 5 | |
classes: Course Syllabi - HST 201-203 | 1961 1981 | Box 718.5: folder 6 | |
classes: Guest Lectures | 1984-1985 | Box 718.5: folder 7 | |
classes:Junior Year Abroad Florence | Box 718.5: folder 8 | ||
Series III: History Department | |||
Contains materials relating to the Smith College History Department. This includes departmental meeting minutes, curriculum discussions, interdepartmental social events, and plans for lectures sponsored by the department. | |||
general | Box 718.5: folder 9 | ||
curriculum | 1965-1986 | Box 718.5: folder 10 | |
events - general | 1955-1984 | Box 718.5: folder 11 | |
events - departmental | 1955-1983 | Box 718.5: folder 12 | |
meeting minutes | 1955-1983 | Box 718.5: folder 13 | |
Series IV: College Administration | |||
Features Cohn-Haft's interaction and involvement with the Smith administration and his work at a college-wide level. Materials include: notices for faculty meetings, documentation on general curriculum requirements, service on various policy committees and discussion of the college's tenure and promotion policies. | |||
general | Box 719: folder 1 | ||
colleagues | 1968-1988 | Box 719: folder 2 | |
committees | 1957-1985 | Box 719: folder 3 | |
committees - Marshals | 1977-1983 | Box 719: folder 4 | |
curriculum | 1965-1974 | Box 719: folder 5 | |
faculty meetings | 1960-1975 | Box 719: folder 6 | |
finances | 1957-1982 | Box 719: folder 7 | |
office | 1957-1987 | Box 719: folder 8 | |
tenure and promotion | 1960-1976 | Box 719: folder 9 | |
Series V. Professional Activities | |||
Houses materials relating to Cohn-Haft's professional activities besides teaching, both at Smith and beyond. Includes lectures and speeches for events such as Smith Mobile and the Alumnae College, involvement in the general Smith community, memberships in historical organizations and independent research. A few materials regarding his writings are also located here. | |||
Alumnae College | 1978-1986 | Box 719: folder 10 | |
American Association of University Professors | 1969 1979 | Box 719: folder 11 | |
American Historical Association | 1968 1978 | Box 719: folder 12 | |
American Philological Association | 1964 1975 | Box 719: folder 13 | |
Association of Ancient Historians | 1960-1976 | Box 719: folder 14 | |
books and periodicals collection | 1966-1987 | Box 719: folder 15 | |
class reunions and college clubs | 1959-1988 | Box 719: folder 16 | |
events - general | 1954-1987 | Box 719: folder 17 | |
Father's Day | 1954-1967 | Box 719: folder 18 | |
invitations | 1967-1988 undated | Box 719: folder 19 | |
lectures and speeches | 1956-1986 undated | Box 719: folder 20 | |
NDEA History Institute | 1967 1969 | Box 719: folder 21 | |
organizations - miscellaneous | Box 719: folder 22 | ||
Smith Mobile | 1958 | Box 719: folder 23 | |
Sophia Circus | 1958-1961 | Box 719: folder 24 | |
7 writings | 1951-1981 | Box 719: folder 25 | |
Series VI: Oversize | |||
Contains a handmade poster created for a fundraising event. | |||
poster | Box
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