Susan Lyman representing the Museum of the City of New York on a New York City television show, with host Walter Hurlihy, 1950
Susan Lyman was born in New York City November 18, 1905. She graduated from Smith College in 1929 and received a MA from Columbia University in 1933. She was curator of manuscripts at the Museum of the City of New York from 1939 to 1946 and member of the Educational Department of the museum from 1949 to 1959, developing the "Please Touch" room for children. She became a writer and authority on the history of New York City, publishing The Face of New York (1955); Here is New York ; Young Folks New York (1960); and The Story of New York (1966). She also published Lady Historian: Martha J. Lamb in 1969. She was active for many years on behalf of Smith College, including chair and member of the Board of Counselors (1961-67), past president of the Pen and Brush and among the first women elders of Breck Presbyterian Church in New York City. She died in 1976 from injuries received in an automobile accident.
From the guide to the Susan Elizabeth Lyman Papers MS 97., 1938-1976, (Sophia Smith Collection)
