The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies – a collection of the Yale University Library – began in 1979 as a grassroots effort in New Haven to record on video the testimonies of survivors, witnesses, and bystanders. Today, the Archive holds more than 4,400 testimonies comprising over 10,000 recorded hours of video. Recorded by 37 affiliate projects working in over a dozen countries and languages, the Archive is a unique collection at Yale that has served as a resource for scholarship in a wide range of disciplines for more than three decades.
Over time, the collection evolved from a local to an international effort and became a model for documenting the Holocaust and other human rights abuses. This transformation came about largely through the vision and leadership of Geoffrey H. Hartman, Yale Sterling Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature and Fortunoff Video Archive Faculty Advisor. His death on March 14, 2016 was a loss not only for those who knew and loved him, but also for the countless admirers of his scholarly work. Professor Hartman was one of the world’s foremost Wordsworth scholars and a pioneer in the field of deconstruction theory. He was a key figure in the establishment of the Judaic Studies Program at Yale, and his published work reflects all these areas of expertise, as well as the significance of the Holocaust and the importance of testimony in particular.
To honor his legacy, the Archive is pleased to establish the Geoffrey H. Hartman Fellowship. This dynamic, multidisciplinary fellowship program will encourage use of the Archive’s materials for scholarly research and will help foster a new generation of academics who can incorporate testimony as a key resource in Holocaust studies and other related fields. Professor Hartman’s former students always attested to his intellectual generosity, engagement, and dedication to the mentorship of young scholars, making this fellowship a perfect way to recognize his legacy.
The call for applications for the first Geoffrey H. Hartman Fellowship is scheduled for December 2016, with the fellowship commencing in August 2017. For more information about the fellowship, please contact Stephen Naron, Director of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, at fortunoff.archive@yale.edu. To make a gift supporting the Hartman Fellowship, please contact Basie Gitlin, Director of Development for Yale University Library, at basie.gitlin@yale.edu or (203) 432-9851.