Antje Lemke, professor emerita in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University in New York, died on May 15. She was 98 years old.
Professor Lemke was a native of Breslau, Germany. She originally wanted to be a doctor but at that time medical students had to be a member of the Nazi party so she decided instead to become a librarian. After earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Leipzig, she worked as a librarian in Berlin and was a member of the German resistance. At the end of World War II, Lemke was in the Russian quarter of Berlin. She escaped in a wooden crate that was marked as packaging for a telescope to be sent to West Berlin.
Professor Lemke came to the United States in the late 1940s and was hired as the art and music librarian at Syracuse University in 1952. She earned a master of library science degree at Syracuse University. She taught at the university until her retirement in 1986.
A scholarship in Lemke’s name was established at the School of Information Studies and the Antje Lemke Book Award is given out each year to a graduate student who “exhibits a passion for learning and a dedication to service.”