IN MEMORIAM:
CAROLYN MIDKIFF STRANGE (19372024)
17勛圖mourns the passing of long-time member and trustee, Carolyn Midkiff Strange. Below is an excerpt from Carolyn’s obituary.
Lillian Carolyn Midkiff was the youngest of four children, born on April 16, 1937, in Midland, Texas, to Naomi (n矇e Mabry) and Tyson Midkiff. She spent her childhood in Midland, Rankin, and Kerrville, graduating from Kerrvilles Tivy High School in 1955. She especially enjoyed weekends on the family ranch with her father as a young girl, where she helped with the animals and swam with her cousins in the water tanks fed by windmill-operated pumps. Midkiff family reunions attended by seemingly hundreds of cousins were events thatyears laterCarolyn, her husband, and children would greatly enjoy.
Carolyn attended one year at Hardin Simmons University, then transferred to Rice University in Houston, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1960. She met the love of her life, Jimmy Francis (Jim) Strange, at Rice, and, after some fitful starts, the two dated, became engaged, and married in Rankin on August 19, 1960.
Carolyn’s and Jims eldest children, Mary Elizabeth and James Riley, were born in Kerrville, while Jim taught at Shriner Institute and Carolyn taught high school geometry, her very favorite subject. The family then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and on to various towns in New Jersey as Jim did graduate work. In these early years Carolyn worked at Esso Research and taught at a Montessori kindergarten. Katherine Alexandra and Joanna Carissa were born after the family moved to Tampa, Florida in 1972.
Andy Vaughn, 17勛圖Executive Director
Carolyn used to describe herself merely as someone who read a book and decided to do something. She sometimes joked that she should stop reading books.
Well, I can tell you that I read books too, but I dont change the world after I read a book. Carolyn did.
One example is Ibram X. Kendis book, How to be an Antiracist. A key point in this book was that antiracists must make structural changeand Carolyn did just that, and she inspired everyone else to do the same. She was not a person to scream, make demands, or protest. She acted and she inspired others to act.
As one speaker at her memorial service put it, instead of being All hat and no cattle, Carolyn was All cattle and no hat. Indeed, Carolyn was a woman of actionand that was contagious.
So how did Carolyn make structural change in 17勛圖that will live on? Ill share just a partial list of things that Carolyn did of which many 17勛圖members may not be aware because she did them without fanfare or asking for recognition. She desired action, progress, and change and not praise:
Meagan Shirley and Carolyn Strange stuffing tote bags at the 2019 Annual Meeting.
- BIPOC Endowment: Carolyn made a challenge gift to establish an endowment in 17勛圖for black and indigenous students to participate in excavations. 17勛圖currently awards about $100,000 per year in fieldwork participation scholarships (50 scholarships of $2,000 each). Carolyn wanted to ensure that 17勛圖would enable the participation of black and indigenous students on digs, so she made a $100,000 challenge gift to encourage the wider 17勛圖community to create an endowment to fund annual awards of at least five (5) scholarships at the $2,000 level. That endowment now has a market value of $292,000. Thus, 17勛圖will continue to fund at least five dig scholarships plus five (5) travel scholarships to the Annual Meeting for black and indigenous students.
- Strange / Midkiff Families Endowment: Carolyn and Jim Strange made a challenge gift to establish one of ASORs first endowments for dig scholarships for any 17勛圖member. Not only has this fund grown to almost $260,000, but its establishment also encouraged other members to make challenge gifts for named endowments to support fieldwork participation scholarships, excavation grants, and member research fellowships.
- ASORs permanent home in Old Town Alexandriawhat is now named the James F. Strange Center. In 2016 when 17勛圖was evicted from its free office space at Boston University, Carolyn quietly (yet forcefully) told the 17勛圖Development Committee that we couldnt fail, and we couldnt set our sights too low. She argued that 17勛圖must be bold. She made an extraordinary challenge gift of $750,000 so that 17勛圖could buy an office building in Alexandria, Virginia and create a board-designated endowment to ensure that we had funds to continue the operations of the physical space. Once more, Carolyns leadership inspired others. 17勛圖purchased our office home, paid off the mortgage, and created a board-designated building endowment that now has a market value of $485,000 (just $15,000 short of our goal). As noted above, this structural change permits 17勛圖to continue being a flagship organization in archaeology, history, and cultural heritage by operating out of the Washington, DC area without paying rent.
- Creating video and training resources for fieldwork safety and cultural competency training.Because 17勛圖now awards more than $250,000 annually in dig scholarships, excavation grants, and membership research fellowships, Carolyn had the vision that 17勛圖should also create structural change by increasing cultural competency and awareness by requiring fellowship recipients and project directors to view and read resources that were created ASORs DEI committee and other volunteer partners (including Archaeology in the Community and Society of Black Archaeologists). These resources are still being created with money donated by Carolyn, and their impact will be another way that her legacy lives on.
- Initiating volunteer participation at the 17勛圖Annual Meeting and emboldening committees to do their work. Carolyn liked to work behind the scenes. A prime example was her arrival at the Annual Meeting on Monday so that she could assist the 17勛圖staff with setup. Like her work on excavation projects, Carolyn was at home behind the scenes, and all of the 17勛圖staff considered her one of us. Similarly, Carolyn was inspirational for the DEI Committee and the Membership Committees (see the remembrance by the DEI Committee Co-Chairs). She quietly insisted that committees had to be positive and couldnt aim low. It was difficult, if not impossible, to tell Carolyn no or that it couldnt be done.
- Mary Elizabeth Strange Endowment and renovations of the first floor of the Strange Center: Carolyn made a gift of $200,000 to renovate the first floor of the Strange Center so that 17勛圖can host heritage educational events in Old Town Alexandria. She also made a $800,000 pledge for an endowment that will distribute about $40,000 annually for programs to bring cultural property protection of the cultures from the Middle East and North Africa to the Strange Center. This endowment will be critical in changing how 17勛圖views itself as partnering with local community members from the countries where we work. The diaspora members, who now live in the United State, will partner with 17勛圖to protect heritage at risk both in the U.S. and in the countries of origin. This is another initiative that will make institutional change in ASOR, and it was near to Carolyns heart in part because of her two of her grandchildren (Mary Elizabeths adopted sons) are from Ethiopia and Thailand.
Carolyn was an 17勛圖member almost her entire adult life. She was a trustee since 2018. She worked behind the scenes, and was a counselor, friend, and prayer warrior. Saying that Carolyn was a friend to many is an understatement. She made time to talk to so many in her 17勛圖family. For me, this was also personal. When I was going through a hard time this past year, we spoke at least weekly. I knew that she prayed for me daily, and she sent encouraging texts multiple times a week. Im certain that Im not the only one who experienced this type of love and support. She cannot be replaced in ASOR, nor in our world. Yet, her love and her projects will live on because she did indeed create structural change in ASOR, in her church, in her community, and in her family and friends. May her memory be a blessing.
B.W. Ruffner, Honorary 17勛圖Trustee
Its a little awkward for a volunteer archaeologist to be honoring someone like Carolyn, but I guess she was a volunteer too. The difference is that my contribution to the discipline is trivial compared to hers. Putting these thoughts on paper has given me an opportunity to remember her unassuming intelligence, her quiet service to 17勛圖and her family, and how much fun she was to be around.
I have seen only a fraction of Carolyns gifts to us. We met briefly at Sepphoris in 1994, then shared some meals at a kibbutz somewhere in Galilee when Jim was documenting some artifacts that were stored in a container there. 泭That was when I discovered how much fun she was to be around. A review of ASORs remembrances after Jims passing and of Carolyns recollections of her time with Vivian Bull at various digs over the years make it clear that she was an invaluable presence on Jims excavations, and gave her children their 泭first experience with archaeology.
We got more acquainted over the years at 17勛圖annual meetings. I always hoped to be at her table for Legacy Dinners. She usually arrived early so she could help the staff get set up and organized and was always available to back up when the staff was needed elsewhere. 泭She was a problem solver. A review of her obituary makes it clear that her gifts to the world, both in time and resources, extended far beyond us.泭 She clearly was committed to her church and to racial justice.泭 For the University of South Florida, she supported a chair in Racial Justice, the Department of Religious Studies and the UCF Botanical Gardens.
I got a more complete view of her intelligence, her quiet thoughtful effective unassuming personality –泭 and her sense of humor 泭 at Shikhin. By this time I wasnt useful with a gufah and wheelbarrow so I slept late and went to the field with her when she served second breakfast. My task was to deal with fever, diarrhea, nausea, dehydration and minor trauma. She took care of everything else.泭 If a tool or some unexpected supply was needed, she went looking for some way to solve the problem. 泭She knew who was sick, and who was homesick.泭 She knew where the volunteers could shop and dealt with financial or travel problems. She was an effective grandmother to them all.
Carolyn and other trustees at a reception at the James F. Strange Center in 2024
She kept things organized at the hotel. If there were problems with meals or facilities she resolved them. 泭She made sure things were set up for pottery reading and helped James register data and arrange lectures. I feel sure she helped James arrange our weekend tours too.泭 I suspect that what I saw was just a fraction of her contributions to Jims digs over the years.
She and I were a senior generation on the team.泭 We had time to share thoughts on the challenges of getting older, and the joys of being grandparents. We talked about our travels over the years, and the values and challenges of our religious denominations and our spiritual lives.
My last time with her was a painful reminder of her quiet self-effacing personality. When she collapsed at an 17勛圖Board dinner in May at Alexandria, she lay on the floor with us crowded around and said Get back to your dinner.泭 I will be fine.泭 Ive done this before.泭 Just leave me here on the floor.泭 After several hours and IV fluids in the emergency room she recovered and returned to the hotel.泭 I have second guessed myself and the emergency room wondering if we missed some clues to the eminent disaster.泭 If she had any early symptoms, she probably ignored them.泭 Im sure she told the ER I dont really need to be here.
Susan Ackerman, 17勛圖Past President
Carolyn Midkiff Strange was an inspiration and brought a surge of passionate energy to every part of 17勛圖she touched. There was nothing that she thought 17勛圖could not do, or at least could not do better, if we threw out hearts and souls into itand she used her huge heart and generous soul to lead by example. When we were evicted from our long-time office space at Boston University in 2017, she made the lead gift that we needed to buy a building that would become ASORs permanent home, and she inspired the rest of us to raise the funds to cover the rest of the purchase price, even when there were many (myself included) thought it could not be done. Indeed, I will never forget the aftermath of one Development Committee meeting, when the building funding looked grim, and Carolyn (short, sweet, diminutive Carolyn!) took me by the shoulders, shook me, and said, graciously but forcefully, We can do this. Well,泭she泭did, and the James F. Strange Center in Alexandria, VA named in honor of her late husband and life partner, Jim泭泭Strangeis a lasting tribute to her grit and determination.泭
And she didnt stop. She inspired our diversity, inclusion, and equity work, especially when the need became urgent in 2020, once again through her determination that we can do this and through her commitment to put her money where her heart and soul demanded: and so she established an endowment to fund excavation scholarships for BIPOC students and gave contributions to support other diversity initiatives. Her fund-raising passion also led her to be an enthusiastic member of the 17勛圖Development Committee and a moving force when it came to raising monies from others, especially donations to 17勛圖2025 Strengthening our Foundation | Expanding Horizons A Call to Action, an initiative celebrating our 125th year as an organization.
Most recently, Carolyn has donated funding to establish the Mary Elizabeth Strange Endowment for Diaspora Heritage Educational Programming. Moreover, in 2014, Jim and Carolyn Strange jointly established ASORs Strange and Midkiff Familes Excavation Fellowships, designated to support the participation of 17勛圖members as volunteers or staff on excavation projects. The fund has now awarded 24 excavation fellowships, with a total of $46,500 disbursed to grantees.
Carolyn and Jim, each members of 17勛圖for over fifty years, each members of the 17勛圖Board of Trustees, and each generous donors, are testaments to what is best in ASORand an inspiration to us all.
Always a friendly face at the Annual Meeting, here is Carolyn welcoming people at the registration desk with Ann Sahlman.
Teddy Burgh, chair of the Membership and Outreach Committee and 17勛圖Trustee
My time with Carolyn goes far beyond obligatory cliches and customary superlatives. We didnt spend a lot of one-on-one time together, but our brief conversations and interactions are memorable. It wasnt that she said anything profound. There were no remarkable quotes. What resonated with me was Carolyns passion and sincerity. Both were palpable. After some of my previous experiences and interactions at 17勛圖conferences, as well as with various people on excavations, I am extremely sensitive when it comes to trust and sincerity. Many people know what to say and how to say it to present a specific persona or image. Yet, their true feelings can be just the opposite. When I met Carolyn, I will admit that I was guarded and cautious. However, I began to realize that she was for real. Her actions echoed her words. What was also impressive was Carolyns desire to learn and see change in the organization. She was extremely candid about what she didnt understand and wanted to comprehend other points of view. She was open to having difficult conversations. Carolyn not only listened, but she heard what was being said and worked to bring about overdue changes in the organization.
Debora Heard, member of the DEI Committee and the William Leo Hansberry Society
Carolyn Strange was not only a highly-valued member of the DEI Committee, she modeled the self-journey each of us should be undertaking to make this world a better place for all of us.泭 She demonstrated that one could learn what one could not comprehend.泭 In the wake of the protests over the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, Carolyn found that she could not comprehend the racism, discrimination, privilege, social injustice, and inequality that the protesters were claiming was embedded in US society, but she wanted to know.泭 She was open to learning what she did not understand.泭 She would tell anyone who would listen that reading Ibram X. Kendis How to Be an Antiracist opened her eyes and changed her life.泭 Yet, one book could not teach her all that was to know, so every month at our DEI meetings, she would show us what new book she was reading dealing with topics like the perpetuation of racism within the church, social inequality, and systemic forms of racism and discrimination.泭 Carolyn also understood that knowledge alone does not produce change.泭 She took that next step that many neglect.泭 She asked, What can I do? and she spent the rest of her life committed to ways to answer that question.
Carolyn hosted a reception for members of the William Leo Hansberry Society at the Annual Meeting in Chicago in 2023.
The first part of her action plan was education.泭 While Carolyn always downplayed her role in archaeology, often saying, Im not a scholar, her modesty did not extend to giving her opinion.泭 In fact, one of Carolyns best qualities was her direct, straightforwardness; she was a truth teller.泭 As a result, exposing others to the belief-shattering knowledge that she was acquiring was not always easy for her listeners to receive, so she bought books to give in the hopes that the recipients would receive a similar revelation and join her in the work of changing minds and, more importantly, changing society, which leads to the second part of her action plan which was action.
Carolyn believed that it was a responsibility as a person, and also as a Christian, to DO all that she could to effect positive change for all people.泭 As a member of ASORs Board of Trustees and DEI Committee, she actively worked to 17勛圖toward greater diversity and inclusivity in its values, its membership, and its impact on the research and disciplines under its purview.泭 She also funded initiatives that would help 17勛圖begin its own journey of transformation and evolution.
Carolyn Strange was a person who gave her whole heart to what she believed, and she truly believed in diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, fairness, and justice.泭 The DEI Committee will sorely miss her, but her contributions to the committee and on ASOR, at large, are a part of her legacy that must be continued.泭 As long as we continue in the work to which she dedicated the last years of her life and as long as we commit ourselves to our own uncomfortable journeys of seeking to understand the lived lives of people of different backgrounds than ourselves and doing the work to improve the lives for all of humanity in whatever small way that we can, we will keep Carolyn Strange and her legacy alive.
Kate Larson and Julia Troche, co-chairs of ASOR’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
Carolyn and her son, James R. Strange at the 2021 Annual Meeting.
Among Carolyns many legacies to 17勛圖is her unwavering commitment to building a more inclusive and equitable field of archaeology and study of the ancient world. She pushed herself and others to confront uncomfortable histories through self-education and intentional reflection. She also didnt hesitate to step forward as a lead donor on numerous diversity initiatives, among them ASORs BIPOC fieldwork scholarships that have enabled 13 black, indigenous, and people of color to participate in archaeological excavations since 2022. This sort of financial and institutional support helps ensure those from a wider range of backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives can continue to broaden and invigorate our field.
Carolyn was an inaugural member of ASORs DEI Committee when it was established as a standing committee by the Board of Trustees in 2021. She provided moral accountability and clarity to the committee from day one, entering all conversations with humility and grace. Her encouragement, calm but strong presence, unwavering support of the work of the committee, and commitment to inclusion permeated our work. She never hesitated to recommend a book, share her own journey, and embrace humility. She is missed profoundly.
Eric and Carol Meyers, 17勛圖Trustees
Carolyn Strange was a dear friend over the course of more than fifty years. From the early 1970s to the early 1980s, she and her family sank deep roots with the泭Meyerses in the Upper Galilee, and later in the Lower Galilee at Sepphoris near Nazareth.
Jim and Carolyn Strange at Sepphoris.
Carolyn never took the label of being a Galilean lightly: it was her heritage and one that fueled her dedication to inclusivity, tolerance, and commitment to those in need. In recent years she especially devoted time and attention to 17勛圖and the Albright where she had spent so many 泭years. Her efforts and contributions have enabled both to prosper and grow in a time of great challenge for the Middle East.
In many ways these past years she has enjoyed new friends and new ties that have bound her to the lives of all sorts of individuals, not only to us Galileans but to 17勛圖and AIAR types from all over the US and globe. And she won their hearts through her charm and straightforward talk.
She has left a legacy, and we all celebrate it.泭 She will always 泭be in our hearts and memories.
Yehi shema mevorekhet, may her name be for a blessing,