Joan Rubin, professor of history at the University of Rochester, was elected last month to membership in the prestigious American Antiquarian Society.
The Society is a national research library of American history. Only 2,325 individuals have been elected since its founding in 1812. Members, all committed to historical research, have included scholars, journalists, filmmakers, collectors, cultural administrators, and others with an interest in American history. Twelve U.S. presidents have been members, and 60 Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded to those in its ranks.
Rubin, who has been professor of history for two years at the University of Rochester, studies American culture, particularly literary production and reading practices. She is co-editing a book that looks at the history of print culture since the mid-20th century. The book is the last in an extensive, five-volume series, A History of the Book in America, a collaboration under the auspices of the Society and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Rubin also is involved in research on poetry reading.
Rubin contributes to a Society program that focuses on the history of the book in American culture. Through lectures, seminars, publications and fellowships, program participants study printing and the distribution of printed material in America, as well as how books, pamphlets, newspapers, and graphic arts materials have influenced American culture. As part of her involvement with the program, Rubin this summer will be the senior scholar directing the Society's research seminar on book history.
The third oldest historical society in America, the Society houses nearly 3 million books, pamphlets, broadsides, manuscripts, prints, maps and newspapers related to the first 250 years of the United States. It is located in Worcester, Mass.
Editors: Joan Shelley Rubin is a resident of Brighton, N.Y.