Faye Dudden, a former professor of history at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, died in her sleep on October 16 at her home in Eaton, New York. She was 72 years old.
Dr. Dudden grew up on a family farm in Camillus. She was the valedictorian of her class at West Genesee High School. She graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University. Professor Dudden earned a Ph.D. in history at the University of Rochester.
Professor Dudden taught at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She then taught at Colgate University for two decades, retiring in 2016 as the Charles A. Dana Professor of History.
Professor Duden’s research focused on women’s occupations and the women’s rights movement in the nineteenth century. She was the author of the book, Women and the American Theater 1790-1870 ( Yale University Press, 1995). This work won the 1995 George Freedly award for the best book on the history of the American theater. She also authored Fighting Chance: The Struggle Over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America (Oxford University Press, 2014).