George and Ilene Forsyth Biographies
George Howard Forsyth was born September 2, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Sarah Brockunier and George H. Forsyth. He attended the Chicago Latin School, Lawrenceville School, and Princeton University graduating in 1923 with Bachelor of Arts and 1927 with a Master of Fine Arts. In the 1920s, Forsyth traveled widely in Europe and Near East corresponding with friend and noted art historian, Albert M. Friend. He documented his experience in personal writings, sketches, and photography. Forsyth returned to Princeton to finish his graduate degree and teach in the Department of Art and Archeology from 1927 to 1942. During his tenure at Princeton, Forsyth conducted a number of archeological expeditions to the Church of St. Martin in Angers, France, between 1926 and 1936, resulting in a published study in 1953.
Forsyth served three years in the United States Navy, 1942-1945, as a lieutenant during World War II. Following his service, Forsyth accepted a visiting professorship at the University of Michigan and became chair of the Art History Department in 1947, a position he held until 1961. Also during his time at UM, Forsyth served as director of the Kelsey Museum, 1961-1969, and professor of archeology, 1969-1972.
Ilene H. Forsyth
Medievalist art historian. Born Ilene Haering, she was the daughter of Austin F. Haering (1903-1975) and Eleanor Middleton (Haering) (1903-2002). She received her B. A. in English literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1950. Haering spent the following year in Europe where the mosaics of Ravenna, among other monuments, enticed her study art. She entered Columbia University’s graduate school, obtaining a master’s degree in 1955. She traveled through Europe, building a large photographic collection of monuments. The same year, 1955, she began lecturing at Barnard College while working on her Ph.D. at Columbia. A student tour with her Barnard class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art brought her in close contact with seated wooden Madonnas. She wrote her dissertation in 1960 on these medieval seated cult statues, under Meyer Schapiro, though given much latitude on her own. The same year, Haering married George H. Forsyth, Jr., then chair of the Art and Art History Department at Ann Arbor and considerably older than herself. She used her married name as her professional name thereafter. Forsyth was appointed an assistant professor at her alma mater, Michigan, in 1961, advancing to associate professor in 1968.