Eleanor Hope-McCarthy, a long-time faculty member at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Massachusetts, died in Brunswick, Maine, on July 18. She was 90 years old.
A native of New York City, Hope-McCarthy was a graduate of Robert Louis Stevenson High School in Manhattan, where she was the valedictorian and class president. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English in four years at the University of Michigan. There, she was the first woman editor of the university’s literary magazine.
A lifelong teacher, Hope-McCarthy spent most of her career as a professor at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Massachusetts. She took pride in teaching and was committed to never teaching the same syllabus twice. She designed many new classes ranging across women’s studies, Black studies, film, and Russian literature.
An outdoor enthusiast, Hope-Carthy took up running at the age of 45 and completed a marathon five years later. She hiked to the summit of 40 of the 48 highest mountains in the state of New Hampshire.