Howard Bernard Gotlieb

Howard Bernard Gotlieb (October 24, 1926 – December 1, 2005) was an American archivist, and the founding director of Special Collections at Boston University.In 2003, the center was renamed The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center in his honor.Gotlieb acquired substantial holdings to the archive from individuals who played a significant part in the fields of journalism, literature, film, and political and religious movements. The archive includes historical documents donated by individuals such as letters written by Bette Davis, important papers from Martin Luther King, Jr. donated before the march in Selma, jokes written by Groucho Marx, Fred Astaire’s tap dancing shoes, hundreds of documents from Dan Rather, and notes for a book first titled "Great White" that was later changed to "Jaws" written by Peter Benchley.

Gotlieb began to build an archive by persuading living writers and public figures to donate papers and possessions before they were discarded or dispersed while many of the individuals were still unknown. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and historian David Halberstam agreed to donate notes and research for the books he would later write to Gotlieb before ever writing one.In this way, he influenced how other colleges and universities created their own archives.

The Library Journal in 2003 said, "Since Gotlieb began his work, most college and university special collections have followed his lead."

Thomas F. Staley, director of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas called Dr. Gotlieb "a substantial figure in the world of archives, particularly in the area of celebrity archives."

Gotlieb worked at Yale prior to becoming the director of Special Collections at Boston University in 1963.Since that time, the BU’s collection has grown to over 140,000 rare books.

Biographical Information

Gotlieb was born October 24, 1926 in a small Jewish community in Bangor, Maine.His parents were Maurice and Eva (nee Goldstein) Gotlieb.He collected stamps as a child and discovered archival work as a member of the US Army Signal Corps in postwar Germany, where his job was gathering the papers of Nazi officials.

Gotlieb earned a bachelor's degree in history from George Washington University, in Washington, DC, a master's degree in history from Columbia University in New York and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford. After working for several years as a foreign correspondent for a small press agency in Europe, Dr. Gotlieb was hired by Yale as a teaching associate in history and as an archivist of historical manuscripts.

He then worked as a curator of historical manuscripts at Yale and published a biography of William Beckford. He moved to work at Boston University in 1963 where he became founding director of Special Collections.

The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center

The archive was renamed in his honor on the 40th anniversary of his appointment. His extensive correspondence, said to fill 100 filing cabinets, is being catalogued and will soon be available for researchers.

Dr. Gotlieb died December 1, 2005 at a Boston hospital.According to the university, the cause of death was complications from surgery. Private funeral services were held where he was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.He was 79.