Catherine Elizabeth Shirley

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 24 2022, 12:25:01 UTC
• Reference: https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44539591.pdf Biography

Betsy Beinecke Shirley (1919-2004)

Betsy Beinecke Shirley was born in New York City, on October 2, 1919, the daughter of Walter and Katherine Sperry Beinecke . Raised in the city and on Nantucket, Massachusetts, she attended the Spence School in Manhattan, and the Greenwood School in Ruxton, Maryland, after which, in 1941, she married Carl Shirley (1916-1996) . Betsy Shirley began collecting American juvenile literature in the 1970s, eventually branching out to encompass original illustrations and manuscripts for children’s books, as well as manuscripts, correspondence, and drawings by and about American children, their education, imagination, and play. The Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection of American Children's Literature grew to hold thousands of volumes of books and serials, and hundreds of manuscript items and works of original art, many of which were displayed throughout her home in Bernardsville, New Jersey. A trustee of the Newark Museum for many years, she regularly lent books and original illustrations to museum and library exhibitions, including A Child's Garden of Dreams at the Brandywine River Museum (1989-1990), which was drawn entirely from her collection. Betsy Shirley died in Bernardsville on September 4, 2004.

Paid Notice: Deaths SHIRLEY, BETSY BEINECKE

Sept. 8, 2004 SHIRLEY -- Betsy Beinecke died peacefully on September 4, 2004 at her home in Bernardsville, New Jersey. She lived in Bernardsville for more than sixty years and spent her summers on Islesboro, Maine. She was a renowned collector of children's Americana. Her collection includes first editions of books and manuscripts dating back to the earliest years of the American Republic, as well as drawings and paintings from such children's classics as "Treasure Island" and "Eloise." For many years she served as a trustee of the Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey. She was predeceased in 1996 by her husband of fifty-five years, Carl Shirley. Betsy B. Shirley was born in 1919 in New York City. She was the daughter of Katherine and Walter Beinecke. She grew up in New York City and Nantucket. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Jody and Tom Gill of Milton, Massachusetts and Betsy and Mickey Michel of Gladstone, New Jersey and six grandchildren, Fritz Michel of Los Angeles, Jake Michel of Washington, D.C., Katie Michel of New York City, Peter Forkner of Arlington, Virginia, Adam Forkner of New York City abd Benjamin Forkner of Los Angeles. She also leaves two great-granddaughters, Sadie Michel Schlesinger and Stella Sperry Michel. Services will be private. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to Big Tree Boating, P.O. Box 273, Islesboro, Maine 04848. For more info contact the Bailey Funeral Home of Peapack, NJ, 908-234-0590.