Leah Rachel Yoffie
A middle-aged white woman with wavy dark hair, wearing eyeglasses
Leah Rachel Yoffie, from the 1927 yearbook of Washington University in St. Louis
BornApril 15, 1883
Ekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now Dnipro, Ukraine)
DiedMay 9, 1956(1956-05-09) (aged 73)
Clearwater, Florida, US
Academic background
Alma materWashington University in St. Louis
University of Pennsylvania
University of North Carolina
ThesisCreation, the angels, and the fall of man in Milton's Paradise lost and Paradise regained and in the work of Sir Richard Blackmore (1942)
InfluencesFranz Boas
Academic work
DisciplineFolklore, poetry, political science, Jewish American culture
InstitutionsCottey College

Leah Rachel Clara Yoffie (April 15, 1883 – May 9, 1956) was an American writer, educator, and folklorist. She was a teacher in St. Louis, Missouri, earned a Ph.D. in English in her fifties, and published both poetry and folklore studies influenced by her Jewish immigrant experience.

Early life and education

Yoffie was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now known as Dnipro in eastern Ukraine), the daughter of Abraham Yoffie. Her family was Jewish. She moved to the United States with her family as a girl in 1891, and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1909. She earned a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1911,[1][2] then earned a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania.[3] In her fifties, she earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina.[4] Her dissertation was titled "Creation, the angels, and the fall of man in Milton's Paradise lost and Paradise regained and in the work of Sir Richard Blackmore" (1942).[5]

Career

Yoffie taught night classes in English for immigrants in St. Louis, Missouri while she was in college. She taught English and civics from 1915[6] to 1931 at Soldan High School in St. Louis.[7] From 1944 to 1949 she was a professor of English and political science at Cottey College in Missouri. During her teaching career and in retirement, she also published poems and articles on folklore, many of them in national publications.[4] She was encouraged by anthropologist Franz Boas to study Jewish immigrant culture in St. Louis, and many of her scholarly writings are on this subject.[8][9][10]

A collection of Yoffie's poems was published in 1926, under the title Dark Altar Stairs.[11][12] "There is a completeness and crystal clearness about each poem that is worthy of mention in this day of fragmentary poetry," wrote one reviewer in a St. Louis newspaper. "Miss Yoffie has attained a singing quality and a certain sweep and power in some of her lyrics, rare in this day of poetic fads and unpoetic fancies."[7] She wrote further poetry and took photographs during her several visits to Palestine.[13]

Publications

Poetry and fiction

  • "Ad Gloriam" (1913, poem)[14]
  • "The Immigrant" (1913, poem)[15]
  • "Russia" (1916, poem)[16]
  • "A Cry of the Foreign Born" (1920, poem)[17]
  • "A Prayer for the Great White Fast" (1920, poem)[18]
  • "Faith" (1920, poem)[17]
  • "Sarah Miriam Goes to College" (1922, short story)[19]
  • "Reb Sholom Dovid" (1923, short story)[20]
  • "A Voice" (1923, poem)[21]
  • "The Lost Vision" (1924, poem)[22]
  • Dark Altar Stairs (1926, poetry collection)[23]
  • "Poems of Palestine" (1929, five short poems and five photographs by Yoffie)[24]

Scholarship

  • "Present-Day Survivals of Ancient Jewish Customs" (1916)[13]
  • "Yiddish Proverbs, Sayings, etc., in St. Louis, Mo." (1920)[25]
  • "Popular Beliefs and Customs among the Yiddish-Speaking Jews of St. Louis, Mo." (1925)[26]
  • "Three Generations of Children's Singing Games in St. Louis" (1947)[27]
  • "Songs of the 'Twelve Numbers' and the Hebrew Chant of 'Echod mi Yodea'" (1949)[28]
  • "Chaucer's 'White Paternoster,' Milton's Angels, and a Hebrew Night Prayer" (1951)[29]

Personal life and legacy

Yoffie was a short person, under five feet in height. She retired to Florida in 1955. She died in Clearwater, Florida, in 1956, at the age of 73.[4] She left her estate, over US$14,000 (equivalent to $150,693 in 2022), to the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, to fund scholarships.[30][31][32]

References

  1. ↑ Washington University, The Hatchet (1912 yearbook): 28.
  2. ↑ Washington University, The Hatchet (1927 yearbook): 36.
  3. ↑ "Soldan High School Teacher Writes Virile, Melodious Poems". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1926-02-27. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 "Miss Leah Yoffie Dies; Ex-Teacher; Scholar-Poet Published Articles on Folklore after Retirement". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1956-05-09. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel Clara (1942). Creation, the angels, and the fall of man in Milton's Paradise lost and Paradise regained and in the work of Sir Richard Blackmore (Ph.D. thesis). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. OCLC 37950314.
  6. ↑ "Miss Yoffie's Appointment". The Modern View. 1915-09-10. p. 46. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 Rudman, Mary (1926-04-30). "Dark Altar Stairs: A Review". The Modern View. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. "Imagining Europe: the popular arts of American Jewish ethnography." Divergent Jewish Cultures: Israel and America (2001): 155-91.
  9. ↑ Randolph, Vance; Musick, Ruth Ann (1951). "Folksong Hunters in Missouri". Midwest Folklore. 1 (1): 23–31. ISSN 0544-0750. JSTOR 4317253.
  10. ↑ Hurvitz, Nathan (1954). "Jews and Jewishness in the Street Rhymes of American Children". Jewish Social Studies. 16 (2): 135–150. ISSN 0021-6704. JSTOR 4465224.
  11. ↑ Sper, Felix (May 20, 1927). "Verse by Leah Yoffie". The American Hebrew. 121: 114.
  12. ↑ Flanigan, Mary Leedy (December 1927). "Review of 'Dark Altar Stairs'". American Poetry Magazine. 9 (10): 19–20.
  13. 1 2 Yoffie, Leah R. C. (1916). "Present-Day Survivals of Ancient Jewish Customs". The Journal of American Folklore. 29 (113): 412–417. doi:10.2307/534687. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 534687.
  14. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1913-06-27). "Ad Gloriam". The Modern View. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel Clara (1913-07-04). "The Immigrant". The Jewish Voice. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1916-10-20). "Russia". The Modern View. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 Yoffie, Leah Rachel (September 1920). "'Faith' and 'A Cry of the Foreign-Born'". Contemporary Verse. 9 (9): 143, 144.
  18. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1920-09-17). "A Prayer for the Great White Fast". The Jewish Voice. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1922-03-17). "Sarah Miriam Goes to College". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (January 1, 1923). "Reb Sholom Dovid". The Survey. 49 (7): 453.
  21. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (November 1923). "A Voice". Contemporary Verse. 16 (5): 76.
  22. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (March 1924). "The Lost Vision". Contemporary Verse. 17 (3): 37.
  23. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1926). Dark Altar Stairs. Modern view Publishing Company.
  24. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1929-04-26). "Poems of Palestine". The Modern View. pp. 35, 37. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1920). "Yiddish Proverbs, Sayings, etc., in St. Louis, Mo". The Journal of American Folklore. 33 (128): 134–165. doi:10.2307/534954. hdl:2027/hvd.hx78ew. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 534954.
  26. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel (1925). "Popular Beliefs and Customs among the Yiddish-Speaking Jews of St. Louis, Mo". The Journal of American Folklore. 38 (149): 375–399. doi:10.2307/535237. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 535237.
  27. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel Clara (1947). "Three Generations of Children's Singing Games in St. Louis". The Journal of American Folklore. 60 (235): 1–51. doi:10.2307/536830. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 536830.
  28. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel Clara (1949). "Songs of the "Twelve Numbers" and the Hebrew Chant of "Echod mi Yodea"". The Journal of American Folklore. 62 (246): 382–411. doi:10.2307/536580. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 536580.
  29. ↑ Yoffie, Leah Rachel Clara. Chaucer's" White Paternoster," Milton's Angels, and a Hebrew Night Prayer. Southern Folklore Quarterly, 1951.
  30. ↑ "Soldan Teacher Leaves Estate to Federation to Aid Students; $14,500 Left by Leah Yoffie for School Grants". St. Louis Jewish Light. 1957-10-25. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ "Yoffie Memorial Scholarship Won by WU Student". St. Louis Jewish Light. 1960-01-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ "Leah Yoffie Loan Grants Deadline Set". St. Louis Jewish Light. 1964-04-29. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-03-03 – via Newspapers.com.
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