Hadassah Haskale Papers from Richard H. Schmidt, 1977-2022
Collection
Identifier: MSS-1104-BC
Scope and Contents
Richard Hermann Schmidt donated his collection of Hadassah Haskale material to the Center for Southwest Research in July 2022. He wanted the archive to retain her letters to promote her memory. The collection consists of Haskale - Moser letters cover the period from 1977-1988. The Haskale - Schmidt letters date between February 2000 - September 2001. They are deeply personal and show the two men Haskale shared her life with. The letters touch on their relationships, family, friends, daily life, Mideast peace efforts, the environment and a myriad of other topics. For example, included on the back side of one of Haskale’s letters to Schmidt of June 24, 2001 is information on recycling in Jerusalem.
Also present are Haskale’s English language translations of several Hebrew language works of other poets. Included is her poem for Schmidt. After her death he wrote an account of their time together and a touching poem of his love for her. Haskale also sent Schmidt a number of newspaper articles with her letters to him from Israel. There are also twelve color photographs of Haskale and Schmidt in Taos or Jerusalem. CSWR made copies of the photographs and returned the originals to Schmidt. The collection is an interesting window on the lives of an international couple, with views of Taos and Israel.
Also present are Haskale’s English language translations of several Hebrew language works of other poets. Included is her poem for Schmidt. After her death he wrote an account of their time together and a touching poem of his love for her. Haskale also sent Schmidt a number of newspaper articles with her letters to him from Israel. There are also twelve color photographs of Haskale and Schmidt in Taos or Jerusalem. CSWR made copies of the photographs and returned the originals to Schmidt. The collection is an interesting window on the lives of an international couple, with views of Taos and Israel.
Dates
- 1977-2022
Creator
- Schmidt, Richard H., 1939- (Person)
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication of CSWR material is allowed for research purposes User is responsible for compliance with all copyright, privacy, and libel laws. Permission is required for publication or distribution.
Biographical Information
Hadassah Haskale, (Judith Hadassah Davis), an Israeli American, was a poet, creative nonfiction writer, psychologist, peace advocate and environmentalist. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 3, 1934 and was raised there. She was bilingual in English and Yiddish. She learned Hebrew as a teenager working on a kibbutz as a poultry wrangler. Her father taught high school and owned a small camp for Jewish children in the Catskills. While at the camp, she developed an early love of nature and nearly drowned once in Lake Lakonda. Her education included the New School in New York, the MFA program at the City College of New York, the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Hebrew University, as well as other places. She also traveled to India, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Haskale’s former husband was Norman Calvin Moser (1931-1998), from Durham, North Carolina. He lived in Berkeley, California, and was an art history teacher, writer and poet. They were married in 1966, had no children and divorced in 1971. They founded the California Peace and Freedom Party and were active in local movements. In the late 1960s, they lived two or three miles North of El Rito, in northern New Mexico. Before and after her divorce, Haskale hung out on Canyon Road, in Santa Fe. Upon returning to Israel, she was active in peace and environmental programs.
After Haskale’s retirement, she made several visits to the United States and stayed in Santa Fe. During one of those visits in May 1993 she met Richard H. Schmidt. He, Linda Hibbs and Haskale were the first three people to show up at People-for-Peace meeting at the Church of Christ near St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe. They introduced themselves and became good friends and pen pals. They attended various events in New Mexico and she occasionally stayed at his home in Taos and he at hers in Santa Fe. When she was back in Israel, they kept in touch by phone and letters. He visited her in Israel in 1997 and 1998. Schmidt considered Haskale to be a genuine New Mexico writer.
Haskale’s last visit to New Mexico was in the Summer of 2006. Her health declined after that. Schmidt considered himself blessed to have known her. He learned of her diagnosis for Parkinson’s disease in 2014. Her health was poor for her last years but she managed to produce a Poetry for Peace show in three languages, and get the book published. She was well-known by the Israel Group of Poets in English, and is missed by nearly all who were fortunate enough to know her. She died in Jerusalem on August 8, 2021
Haskale was mainly a poet and advocated for Israeli peace with Palestine, which was not popular among Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, she had many friends. She also wrote about the endangered planet earth, one’s inner space, spiritual growth, and war and peace efforts between the United States, Israel and Palestine. Her books were Wayfaring (Mazo Publishers, 2007); Dreaming Beyond War (Mazo Publishers, 2005); Inscape (Laughing Moons Publications, 1992) and Between Me & Thee (Illuminations, 1982). Her anthologies were entitled - Emerson of Harvard (Quill Books, 2003) and Jerusalem: Reflection of Eternity (Shepheard -Walwyn, Ltd., 1990). She appeared in the Berkeley Review of Books, Beyond Baroque, Cochlea, Hoopoe, Illuminations, Inkslinger's Review, Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture, Puerto del Sol, and Seven Gates.
Richard Hermann Schmidt was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1939. As a youth, he lived in the Southern Wisconsin dairy country and Northern Virginia. He served in the United States Navy in Newport, Rhode Island. He attended George Washington University in D.C. and in 1970 got a BA in Fine Arts from San Francisco State College. He worked in many jobs, lived on the West Coast and in Nevada, led several peace protests and traveled to India. By 1992 he was residing in the Taos area (El Prado). He fixed up an old truck, got a plot of land and built himself a little house. He is a song writer, essayist, poet, peace advocate and member of the Jesus Fan Club. He sometimes reads his poetry for local events. Haskale lived and wrote for a time in Santa Fe and Schmidt met her there. He provided much of this background information. Additional information is from Haskale’s online biography.
Haskale’s former husband was Norman Calvin Moser (1931-1998), from Durham, North Carolina. He lived in Berkeley, California, and was an art history teacher, writer and poet. They were married in 1966, had no children and divorced in 1971. They founded the California Peace and Freedom Party and were active in local movements. In the late 1960s, they lived two or three miles North of El Rito, in northern New Mexico. Before and after her divorce, Haskale hung out on Canyon Road, in Santa Fe. Upon returning to Israel, she was active in peace and environmental programs.
After Haskale’s retirement, she made several visits to the United States and stayed in Santa Fe. During one of those visits in May 1993 she met Richard H. Schmidt. He, Linda Hibbs and Haskale were the first three people to show up at People-for-Peace meeting at the Church of Christ near St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe. They introduced themselves and became good friends and pen pals. They attended various events in New Mexico and she occasionally stayed at his home in Taos and he at hers in Santa Fe. When she was back in Israel, they kept in touch by phone and letters. He visited her in Israel in 1997 and 1998. Schmidt considered Haskale to be a genuine New Mexico writer.
Haskale’s last visit to New Mexico was in the Summer of 2006. Her health declined after that. Schmidt considered himself blessed to have known her. He learned of her diagnosis for Parkinson’s disease in 2014. Her health was poor for her last years but she managed to produce a Poetry for Peace show in three languages, and get the book published. She was well-known by the Israel Group of Poets in English, and is missed by nearly all who were fortunate enough to know her. She died in Jerusalem on August 8, 2021
Haskale was mainly a poet and advocated for Israeli peace with Palestine, which was not popular among Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, she had many friends. She also wrote about the endangered planet earth, one’s inner space, spiritual growth, and war and peace efforts between the United States, Israel and Palestine. Her books were Wayfaring (Mazo Publishers, 2007); Dreaming Beyond War (Mazo Publishers, 2005); Inscape (Laughing Moons Publications, 1992) and Between Me & Thee (Illuminations, 1982). Her anthologies were entitled - Emerson of Harvard (Quill Books, 2003) and Jerusalem: Reflection of Eternity (Shepheard -Walwyn, Ltd., 1990). She appeared in the Berkeley Review of Books, Beyond Baroque, Cochlea, Hoopoe, Illuminations, Inkslinger's Review, Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture, Puerto del Sol, and Seven Gates.
Richard Hermann Schmidt was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1939. As a youth, he lived in the Southern Wisconsin dairy country and Northern Virginia. He served in the United States Navy in Newport, Rhode Island. He attended George Washington University in D.C. and in 1970 got a BA in Fine Arts from San Francisco State College. He worked in many jobs, lived on the West Coast and in Nevada, led several peace protests and traveled to India. By 1992 he was residing in the Taos area (El Prado). He fixed up an old truck, got a plot of land and built himself a little house. He is a song writer, essayist, poet, peace advocate and member of the Jesus Fan Club. He sometimes reads his poetry for local events. Haskale lived and wrote for a time in Santa Fe and Schmidt met her there. He provided much of this background information. Additional information is from Haskale’s online biography.
Extent
1 Box
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection contains Hadassah Haskale's correspondence with Schmidt and hers with her former husband, Norman C. Moser. Included are several of Haskale's translations of Hebrew works of other authors, poems, an account of Schmidt's time with her, newspaper clippings from Israel and photographs.
Creator
- Schmidt, Richard H., 1939- (Person)
- Title
- Hadassah Haskale Papers from Richard H. Schmidt Papers, 1977-2022
- Author
- Nancy Brown Martinez
- Date
- © 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu