Stylish. Witty. Caring. Brilliant.

Those are just a few of the adjectives used by colleagues to describe Amy Richter, chair of the History Department and academic director of the Worcester chapter of The Clemente Course in the Humanities, who died on June 2, 2025, after a long struggle with ALS.

Richter, who specialized in 19th- and 20th-century American and cultural history, with an emphasis on women’s and urban history, joined the History Department in 2000 and was recognized across the University for her leadership, service, and scholarly work. She was beloved by students and honored during her tenure at Clark as the Outstanding Academic Advisor of the Year, Distinguished Academic Advisor of the Year, and Outstanding Teacher.

“Everything she did was excellent,” said Dean of the College Laurie Ross, “whether it was writing a request for a faculty position or advising a student. She was a deep thinker who could offer an insight or a different way of considering something that was extremely valuable.”

History Professor Ousmane Power-Greene remembered Richter as a teacher who always injected humor into the classroom and managed to set a high bar for students and challenge them while being endlessly supportive. She was a fierce intellectual and extraordinarily supportive colleague, he said.

“She was one of those rare people who would always try to understand what she could do to help you find success in your teaching, scholarship, or community-building,” Power-Greene said. “She always would be problem-solving, and she was a great networker, trying to help colleagues collaborate across the University and in Worcester. She was the least pretentious person I know and so selfless.”

Richter and Power-Greene were both instructors of The Clemente Course in the Humanities, which provides free education for adults facing economic hardship and adverse circumstances. Richter began as a U.S. History instructor for Clemente and then became the academic director of Clemente’s Worcester chapter. The program thrived under her leadership, and after her first year as director, 17 students graduated and 14 found jobs or pursued further study. 

Richter directed the Higgins School of Humanities (now the Alice Coonley Higgins Institute for Arts and Humanities) from 2013 to 2017, hosting a series of speakers who challenged the Clark community to think deeply about pressing issues.

In 2023, she received the John W. Lund Community Achievement Award for her dedication to The Clemente Course and her involvement with Simon Says Give, a national organization that provides school supplies to new middle-schoolers and birthday parties for younger children. The Worcester chapter of Simon Says Give was founded by Richter’s son, Simon, and her husband, Jim Eber. As a family team, Amy, Simon, and Jim spent thousands of hours recruiting volunteers, procuring donations of supplies and food, networking with school administrators and local organizations to identify youth with unmet needs, hosting events, and organizing parties.

Colleague and friend, Kristen Williams, professor of political history, recalls that Clark students often lined up outside Richter’s office, eager for guidance and conversation. “She had a lot of advisees,” Williams says, “and whether it was undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral students, she was always available, and students gravitated to her.”

Richter authored Home on the Rails: Women, the Railroad, and the Rise of Public Domesticity (2005) and At Home in Nineteenth-Century America: A Documentary History (2015), as well as many chapters and articles about women’s studies and 19th- and 20th-century American and cultural studies, and was an affiliated faculty member with the Urban Studies and CGRAS programs. Her doctoral work earned her the 2001 Lerner-Scott Prize for Best Doctoral Dissertation in U.S. Women’s History from the Organization of American Historians. She received her Ph.D. in history from New York University in 2000 and a bachelor’s in urban studies from Columbia College, Columbia University, in 1991.

A New York City native, Richter made Worcester her second home and was named a Worcester Magazine Hometown Hero in 2023, highlighting her commitment to The Clemente Course and Simon Says Give. Richter told Worcester Magazine that while it was lovely to be recognized, “It doesn’t seem heroic to do something that is so personally satisfying.”

Richter’s greatest legacy, Williams said, was simply being a good human.

“She left an indelible mark and so many people will miss her. I will be forever grateful that I had her in my life.”