Herstory

Professor Judy Barrett Litoff, a renowned historian, prolific author, one of Bryant’s longest-serving faculty members, and a loving mother and grandmother, passed away unexpectedly at Miriam Hospital on July 3rd following a minor medical procedure. She was 77.

Born in Fairburn, GA in 1944 to John “Pip” Barrett and Dorothy “Dot” Wooddall Barrett, Judy received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Emory University and, in 1975, a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maine.

Judy was a professor at Bryant University for nearly 50 years from 1975 until her retirement last year. In addition to being a sought-after women’s history professor, she wrote 14 books on midwifery and World War II with a focus on women’s correspondence and their contribution to the war effort.

In a major historical undertaking, Judy assembled an archive of 30,000 letters written by American women during the Second World War. These letters — previously thought to be lost or destroyed — provided insight into women’s impact on the war effort and their growing sense of place in the world.

The archive started with a single complete set of letters, those of her own aunt and uncle, which led to her first book on wartime letters, “Miss You: The World War II Letters of Barbara Wooddall Taylor and Charles E. Taylor.”

Judy received numerous awards throughout her career including, in 2007, the prestigious Honorary Chairs’ Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. In 2006, she was honored with the Best in French Culture Award from the Cultural Services Office of the Embassy of France for her book, “An American Heroine in The French Resistance: The Diary and Memoir of Virginia D’Albert-Lake.” She also received the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from the Marquis Who’s Who Publication Board. From Bryant, she received two Distinguished Faculty Member Awards, the Herstory Award, 12 Merit Awards, and two Research & Publication Awards.

Judy leaves behind two daughters, Nadja Pisula-Litoff and Alyssa Barrett Litoff, her longtime partner Val Vlasov, her sons-in-law Jim Pisula and Joshua Gordon, and six grandchildren, Dorothy, Pearce, and Miles Pisula-Litoff, and Lillian, Barrett, and Isabel Gordon.

Herstory

Professor Judy Barrett Litoff, a renowned historian, prolific author, one of Bryant’s longest-serving faculty members, and a loving mother and grandmother, passed away unexpectedly at Miriam Hospital on July 3rd following a minor medical procedure. She was 77.

Born in Fairburn, GA in 1944 to John “Pip” Barrett and Dorothy “Dot” Wooddall Barrett, Judy received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Emory University and, in 1975, a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maine.

Judy was a professor at Bryant University for nearly 50 years from 1975 until her retirement last year. In addition to being a sought-after women’s history professor, she wrote 14 books on midwifery and World War II with a focus on women’s correspondence and their contribution to the war effort.

In a major historical undertaking, Judy assembled an archive of 30,000 letters written by American women during the Second World War. These letters — previously thought to be lost or destroyed — provided insight into women’s impact on the war effort and their growing sense of place in the world.

The archive started with a single complete set of letters, those of her own aunt and uncle, which led to her first book on wartime letters, “Miss You: The World War II Letters of Barbara Wooddall Taylor and Charles E. Taylor.”

Judy received numerous awards throughout her career including, in 2007, the prestigious Honorary Chairs’ Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. In 2006, she was honored with the Best in French Culture Award from the Cultural Services Office of the Embassy of France for her book, “An American Heroine in The French Resistance: The Diary and Memoir of Virginia D’Albert-Lake.” She also received the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from the Marquis Who’s Who Publication Board. From Bryant, she received two Distinguished Faculty Member Awards, the Herstory Award, 12 Merit Awards, and two Research & Publication Awards.

Judy leaves behind two daughters, Nadja Pisula-Litoff and Alyssa Barrett Litoff, her longtime partner Val Vlasov, her sons-in-law Jim Pisula and Joshua Gordon, and six grandchildren, Dorothy, Pearce, and Miles Pisula-Litoff, and Lillian, Barrett, and Isabel Gordon.