Linda Kurtz collection

Collection

Identifier: 010.LK

Staff Only

Content Description

The Linda Kurtz collection contains three series of material: Correspondence, Research and Writing, and Teaching. The Correspondence series dates from 1969 and 2019 and contains letters related to job applications, resumes, and letters of appreciation. The Research and Writing series contains articles, papers, and subject files related to Social Work. This series also includes internal research awards, her dissertation proposal and dissertation. Lastly, the Teaching and Service series contains material from the Social Work classes taught at EMU. These classes included SWRK 222: Social Welfare Policy and Services, SWK 650: Policy Issues in the Health Care Setting, SWK 680: Special Topics: Social Work Practice in Kinship Care, and SWK 681: Special Topics: Self-Help and Support Groups. Additionally there is material from a Self-Help class taught at the University of Chicago on 24 February 1995. This series also includes materials on her departmental service, including a 1999 proposal for a new class, SWRK 561: Human Service Administration, a 1990 Draft SWE Application for Master's in Social Work Program, and Strategic Hiring for the School of Social Work. Given Kurtz's tenure at EMU and time in the profession, one would have expected to find more documentation related to service to the university or profession.

Dates

Creation: 1969 - 2019

Biographical

Linda Farris Kurtz was born on January 19, 1939, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She went to Central High School in Kansas City and earned her B.A. in Sociology and Social Work at Washburn Univeristy in 1961, where she was active in the NAACP. She earned a Master's degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965 and a Diploma in Public Administration (DPA) at the University of Georgia in 1983. Between 1986 and 1989, Kurtz was a Social Work Professor at Indiana University. She joined the faculty at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in 1989 and taught in the School of Social Work. Kurtz was responsible for leading the Mental Illness Chemical Dependency concentration at EMU along with teaching courses centered around human behavior, policy issues in chemical dependency, self-help, and mental illness, and substance abuse. Kurtz retired from teaching in 2004. Married to Ernie Kurtz, she was widowed after his death on January 19, 2015. She is Professor Emerita and currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan writing memoirs and personal essays.

Extent

6.4 Linear Feet (16 archive boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Linda Kurtz collection contains a selection of correspondence, research and writing, and teaching material arranged by Linda Farris Kurtz, a Professor Emerita in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She began teaching at Eastern Michigan University's School of Social Work in 1989 and taught courses centered around human behavior, policy issues in chemical dependency, self-help, mental illness, and substance abuse. She retired in 2004. Materials were collected or written by Linda Kurtz. The collection contains three series including: correspondence dating from 1969 to 2019; a series of research material which includes articles collected and written by Kurtz, internal research awards, dissertation, and a large collection of subject files; lastly a series of teaching material from classes taught at EMU, the Unviveristy of Chicago and material related to departmental service.

Related Materials

Additional information regarding Linda Kurtz can be found in the Office of the Provost records[02.OP] and Richard "Dick" Schwarze photograph collection [010.RS]. Additional information on the School of Social Work can be found in the Betty Brown-Chappell papers[010.BBC], the Academic Service Learning records [00.ASL], and College of Heath and Human Services records [08.CHHS].