Lucy Freibert
American educator
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Lucy Marie Freibert SCN (October 19, 1922 – August 11, 2016) was an American educator, women's studies scholar, and activist, and a Sister of Charity of Nazareth. She taught at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 1993.
Lucy Freibert | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 19, 1922 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | August 11, 2016 (age 93) Nazareth, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Other names | Lucy Marie Freibert, Mary Lucy Freibert |
| Occupations | Educator, activist, women's studies scholar |
Early life and education
Freibert was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Joseph Anthony Freibert and Amelia J. Stich Freibert.[1] Both of her parents were also Kentucky natives. She graduated from Spalding College in 1957 with a bachelor's degree in English. She earned a master's degree from Saint Louis University in 1962, and completed doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin in 1970.[2][3]
Career
Freibert joined the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 1945. She taught at Catholic schools in Louisville beginning in 1947, and at Spalding College into the 1960s.[4] In 1971, she joined the faculty of the University of Louisville, and taught American literature and women's studies courses there[5] until her retirement in 1993.[3] She helped establish the campus's Women's Center, volunteered with the Pleiades Theatre Company, and worked to build support for Family Scholar House, a residence for students who are single parents.[2] She served on the coordinating council of the National Women's Studies Association, and was a member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union.[6] Writer Esther Conwill Majozo cited Freibert as an important influence,[7] and writer bell hooks dedicated a 2006 Louisville speech to Freibert, saying "Lucy is a goddess."[8]
Freibert received the university's Distinguished Teaching Award (1987), the Trustees Award (1991), a Lifetime Community Service Award (2001), and the Mary K. Bonsteel Tachua Gender Equity Award (2004).[2] In 2001 she gave an oral history interview to the Women's Rights in Kentucky Oral History Project.[9] Her library of over a thousand books was dedicated in 2008 as the Lucy M. Freibert Collection at the University of Louisville.[2]
Publications
Freibert's scholarship often concerned feminism and utopian communities, including the Shakers[10] and Brook Farm.[11]
- "The Influence of Elizabeth Barrett Browning on the Poetry of Herman Melville" (1981, Studies in Browning and His Circle)[12]
- "The Artist as Picaro: The Revelation of Margaret Atwood’s Lady Oracle" (1982, Canadian Literature)[13]
- "World Views in Utopian Novels by Women" (1983, The Journal of Popular Culture)[14]
- "'Weeds and Wildings': Melville's Use of the Pastoral Voice" (1983, Essays in Arts and Sciences)[15]
- Hidden Hands: An Anthology of American Women Writers, 1790-1870 (1985, co-editor with Barbara Ann White)[16]
- "Southern Song: An Interview with Margaret Walker" (1987, Frontiers)[17]
- "Control and Creativity: The Politics of Risk in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale" (1988)[18]
- "Creative Women of Brook Farm" (1993)[11]
Personal life
Freibert died in 2016, at the age of 93, in Nazareth, Kentucky.[2] In September 2024, the Ekstrom Library held an exhibit titled "Feminism through Lucy’s Lens: The Lucy M. Freibert Collection", curated by Aly Collins.[19]