TILDEN EDELSTEIN

EDELSTEIN--Tilden. Tilden Edelstein, a university professor who specialized in African American history and later became an academic administrator, died on October 15 in Washington D.C. He was 94. Tilden was born on June 11, 1931 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Theodore, was a salesman and his mother, Nettie, was a homemaker. Tilden earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1953, followed by a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He began his teaching career at Simmons College before moving to Rutgers University, New Brunswick in 1967. While at Rutgers, he was a professor, chairman of the history department, an associate dean and from 1984-1989, Dean of Faculty of Arts & Sciences. He then moved to SUNY Stony Brook, where he served as Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, and in 1992, became Vice President of Academic Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI until retiring in 1997. Tilden was a prolific reader and writer throughout his life. In 1968, he published "Strange Enthusiasm," a biography of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a 19th-century American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, and soldier. He also authored numerous book reviews of historical texts. In 1970, he married Rose Ann Stargardter. She and Tilden were frequent travelers throughout their life together and always enjoyed dinner parties of all shapes and sizes. She died in March 2025. Tilden also was a lifelong sports fan, despite enduring the heartbreak of his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers leaving for Los Angeles and a long history of futility of Rutgers football and basketball. He is survived by sons Jordan and Russell, daughter in-laws Lily Henning and Elisabeth Yap and three grandchildren. Tilden will be remembered most for his combination of kindness, intellect and humor -- and as a supportive spouse, father, grandfather and father-in-law.