In Memoriam: Ann Katharine Byrnes Kuebler, 1951-2012

Annie Kuebler, the former head archivist at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University Newark, died of a brain hemorrhage at a hospital in Atlantic City. She was 61 years old.

Kuebler survived a house fire in 1985 that left her with badly burned. After 40 reconstructive surgeries that altered her appearance, she volunteered at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. She was later hired to work at the Smithsonian and worked on the museum’s collection of Duke Ellington materials, which included more than 100,000 documents.

Kuebler joined the Institute of Jazz Studies in 2001 to work on a project to catalogue the archives of Mary Lou Williams, a jazz pianist and composer who lived from 1910 to 1981. She retired from the position as head archivist earlier this year.