Cynthia Russett, longtime Yale historian, dies

More than half a century after arriving at Yale, history professor Cynthia Eagle Russett GRD ’64 died Thursday morning. She was 76.

Russett, whose scholarship focused on the history of American women and the intellectual history of 19th and 20th century America, succumbed to cancer at a nearby hospice on Thursday morning. In an email to the Saybrook community, where Russett was a longtime fellow, Saybrook Master Paul Hudak said Russett died comfortably and peacefully among family.

“Cynthia Russett had her office in Saybrook for as long as I can remember, and so she spent a great deal of time with Saybrook students as adviser, as colleague and a keen presence in the college,” said Yale College dean and former Saybrook master Mary Miller.

Miller said Russett, who had a wry and gentle sense of humor, helped reclaim “a feminist history” with her scholarly work....