Marice Wolfe, the first woman to serve as university archivist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, died earlier this year. She was 86 years old.
Wolfe was born in Warren, Ohio, and grew up in the Chicago area. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. She held a master’s degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, and a master of library science degree from at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.
In 1973, Wolfe was hired to be head the special collections unit of the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt. She had been teaching English for about 16 years at various colleges and universities. Two years later, she became the first woman to be appointed university archivist, a position she held for 27 years.
Wolfe retired from Vanderbilt University in 2000. In retirement she consulted with the Nashville Public Library on its Civil Rights Collection and Exhibit and advised the Nashville Black Church Historians Association.