Susan Koppelman Papers

Susan Huddis Koppelman was born 1940 to Edward and Frances Koppelman. She lived the majority of her childhood and adolescence in the Cleveland, Ohio area. She attended Barnard College for her undergraduate degree; however, due to her father’s untimely death she finished her undergraduate degree at Case-Western Reserve focusing her studies on English, Psychology, and Economics. She married John Cornillon in 1961 and they had one son together, Nathan Cornillon. Susan and John later divorced and Susan remarried Dennis Mills. Susan currently lives in Arizona.

Susan’s interest in writing started when she was very young. In high school she was known for her fantastic writing abilities. She always had an avid interest in literature and began studying it in college. In her studies she began to formulate her opinions on women’s rights and other social justice. After graduating from Case-Western Reserve, Susan obtained her Master’s degree from the Ohio State University in 1969 with a focus on English and American Literature. After obtaining her Master’s degree Susan spent some years teaching at various schools but she and her husband, John Cornillon, also worked at and maintained an Adult Education facility as well. In 1975 she obtained her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University with a focus on American Literature and Popular Culture, and in the summer of 1975 she continued her studies with a Post-Doctoral Certificate in Higher Education Administration from the University of Wisconsin.

Her professional employment throughout her career is as impressive as her academic studies. From 1962-1967 she worked as a substitute teacher in the Public Schools of Boston. 1966-1969 she served as the Executive Director for an Adult Education Program in Bedford, Mass. At Tufts University she served as a teacher and Curriculum Advisor for the Upward bound Program from 1967-1968. Her work became more focused on her studies of English in 1969 when she obtained a position as an instructor in the English Department of Bradford Junior college. She worked this position for a full year before she began her Ph.D. studies at Bowling Green State University where she also worked as an instructor for the BGSU Experimental College from 1971-1974. Susan taught the first Women’s Studies course at BGSU and was involved in the evolution of the BGSU Experimental College. She continued her teaching career at the University of Michigan at Flint in 1974 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Following this position her career took her to St. Louis working as the Associate Director for the Office of Campus Programming at Washington University.

In addition to her professional employment Susan has participated in several other professional activities including serving as Editorial Consultant for the University of Oklahoma Press, working with the Midwest Popular Culture Association, participating in the Woman’s Caucus for the American and Popular Culture Associations. She serves as a member of many associations committed to the study of popular culture, women’s studies, higher education, literary criticism, and social justice. S. Koppelman is a member of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association which presents the Susan Koppelman Award for the Best Anthology, Multi-Authored, or Edited book in Feminist Studies in Popular and American Culture in a specific year. In 1998 S. Koppelman was the first woman to receive ACA’s Governing Board Award for Outstanding Contributions to American Culture Studies.

Susan has several published anthologies relating to women’s studies including: The Signet Classic Book of Southern Short Stories, The Stories of Fannie Hurst, The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe: And Other Stories of Women and Fatness, Two Friends and Other 19th Century American Lesbian Stories: by American Women Writers, Women in the Trees: U.S. Women’s Short Stories About Battering and Resistance, 1839-2000, Between Mother and Daughters: Stories Across a Generation (The Women’s Stories Project), The Other Woman: Stories of Two Women and a Man, Women’s Friendships A Collection of Short Stories, Old Maids: Short Stories by Nineteenth Century U.S. Women Writers, Collecting and the Internet: Essays on the Pursuit of Old Passions Through New Technologies, and “May Your Days be Merry and Bright” and Other Christmas Stories by Women. These anthologies not only offer a thematic collection of women’s stories, but they also offer a look into women’s history that might have been lost without her efforts.

A more complete biography of Susan Huddis Koppelman may be found in the book Pioneers of Popular Culture (1999) .