Naomi Rosenblum, who wrote about the history of photography and helped elevate it as an art form, died Feb. 19 at her home in Long Island City, Queens. She was 96.

A socially progressive academic, Dr. Rosenblum taught the history of photography at several institutions in New York: Brooklyn College, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, the Parsons School of Design, and the City University of New York Graduate Center.

She lectured around the world, and curated several major exhibitions, including one of the work of Paul Strand, the influential 20th-century modernist.