Guide to the Richard Koch Family Collection
Undated, 1832-1959, bulk 1899-1945

AR 25369

Series I: Richard F. Koch, undated, 1922-1953, bulk 1939-1945.

Arrangement:

The correspondence was separated by correspondent(s). Letters by Richard's mother Stella to and from Richard and Janet were grouped together, because they often wrote and were written to as a unit. Correspondence with the Koch Family, the Phillips family, Koch's friends, and to Koch and Janet as a couple were all separated. The correspondence within each is arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content:

Richard Frederick Koch (born 1920), nicknamed "Dickie," was the son of Richard S. and Stella Dreyfus Koch. He grew up in Cedarhurst, New York, and graduated from Lawrence High School in 1936. He studied engineering at Bard College and graduated in 1940. He briefly taught at Columbia University before joining the Army. In 1942, he married Janet Doris Phillips of Brookline, Massachusetts. Their children are Richard P. (Terry) Koch and Lewis Koch.

This series consists mostly of Richard F. Koch's correspondence, the bulk with his wife Janet (née Phillips). Most of their correspondence is from their courtship in the late 1930s-early 1940s, and just after their 1942 marriage, when Richard was in the army. The letters discuss a range of issues, from the quotidian, such as travel arrangements between Boston, New York, and Bard College, to the touching, including relationship matters, declarations of love, and life plans. Politics and the war are also discussed.

This series also contains many letters between Richard F. Koch and his mother Stella Koch, starting when he was at Bard College in the late 1930s and continuing through his army service in World War Two. These include letters to and from Richard's wife Janet, because she and Stella often wrote one another, and Stella often wrote to Richard and Janet as a unit. Janet and Stella began corresponding in 1940. Janet started addressing Stella as "Cousin Stella," and once married to Richard addressed her as "Mother."

This series also includes correspondence between Richard (and once they were married, Janet) with other Koch family relatives, mainly uncles (Fred Dreyfus and Samuel "Bo" Landauer in particular), aunts (Aunt Leah "Lee-Lee" Landauer in particular), and cousins, but also more distant relatives from Louisiana and Texas. It appears that at least some of Koch's aunts and uncles lived together with his mother, so many of these letters are to and from multiple people at one time ("Dear All"). The Koch family materials also include a few letters written by Richard as a child. This series also includes letters to Koch from his friends, who appear to be mainly buddies from high school, college, and the army, as well as his professor Harold K. Hughes. A handful of letters to and from Janet and Richard and her family, including her sister Lois, and to Janet and Dick as a couple, are also included.

The correspondence is mostly of a quotidian nature, commenting on the weather, health, and general goings on, as well as extending birthday and anniversary well wishes. There is also some discussion of politics and army life, and anti-Semitism is mentioned. Koch's uncles, in particular Fred Dreyfus, were also not shy in providing advice on matters ranging from financial and political to familial and romantic.

The Military Materials include orders, correspondence, a photograph, and ephemera such as ration books and receipts from Koch's United States Army service during World War Two. The Educational Materials include correspondence, graduation programs, school work, administrative materials and grades, and ephemera from Lawrence (NY) High School, Bard College, and Columbia University. A medal received upon graduation from high school was removed to the LBI Arts and Objects collection. The Various folder includes engineering and other professional material, a copy of Koch's article Combination Vacuum Tube Switch for Double-Trace Cathode-Ray Oscillograph, Audio Amplifier, and Mixer, co-authored in 1941 with his professor, Harold K. Hughes, insurance documents, and other paper ephemera. This series also contains some photographs, including portraits of Koch, a class portrait of his military unit, photographs of Janet, and many snapshots, particularly from his youth.

Additional materials about Janet Phillips Koch and her family are found in Series V: Phillips Family.

Series II: Stella Dreyfus Koch, undated, 1887-1959, bulk 1899-1918.

Arrangement:

This series is divided into two subseries, Correspondence and General.

Scope and Content:

Stella Dreyfus Koch (1878-1962) was married to Richard S. Koch (1876-1935), with whom she had Helen A. Koch (1907-1919), Alfred N. Koch (died circa 1919), and Richard F. Koch (1920- ). She was born in New Orleans but moved with her family to New York City. Stella completed her schooling in New York, including a degree obtained from Normal College. She was a teacher in the New York public schools for some time in the early 1900s. After a period of time in Ridgewood, New Jersey, she was a longtime resident of Cedarhurst, New York on Long Island. This series contains correspondence, mostly with her husband and family. It also contains other materials, including account books that show how Stella budgeted for the Koch family.

Subseries 1: Correspondence, undated, 1887-1954.

Arrangement:

Correspondence with Bertha Dreyfus, Richard S. Koch, and Helen Stein were separated. The remaining correspondence was divided between family and other correspondence. Within each grouping, the letters are arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains Stella Dreyfus Koch's correspondence. The majority consists of the near-daily letters that Stella and her husband exchanged when apart, primarily during summer vacations (when Richard would remain in New York City while his family went to Maine or the Adirondacks) and business travel. They would often address each other by their nicknames, "Bum" or "Bummie" for Stella and "Cook" for Koch. The subseries also includes letters from Bertha Dreyfus, Stella's mother; letters from family friend (and perhaps former colleague or boss in the New York Public schools) Helen Stein, who often addressed Stella as "My precious daughter" and signed her letters "Mother"; letters from friends; and correspondence between Stella and her family, including her sisters Phina, Leah ("Lee") Landauer, and Leona Rostenberg, and her brothers Fred ("Schmickie") and Theodore. The family correspondence also includes letters from aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws, in particular the Titche family of Monroe, Louisiana.

See also Series I for correspondence between Stella Koch, her son Richard F. Koch, and her daughter-in-law Janet Phillips.

Subseries 2: General, undated, 1901-1959.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains other material by Stella Koch, include Koch family financial material such as daily account books and tax returns; educational materials from college and also a course about Jewish history in the 1950s; poetry; and some materials about the Society of Ethical Culture.

Series III: Fred J. Dreyfus, undated, 1862-1950, bulk 1917-1919.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Frederick Jonas Dreyfus (1876-1950) was the son of Leon and Bertha (née Hirsch) Dreyfus and the sister of Stella D. Koch. Born in New Orleans, his family moved to New York City thereafter and he received a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1896. For twenty years, he was with Frank & Dugan, silk ribbon manufacturers in Paterson, New Jersey. He enlisted in the United States army on June 1, 1917, and was discharged in May 1919 at the rank of sergeant. He was in France during World War One, from July 1917 to April 1919, as part of the 11th US engineers. From 1920 to 1933 he worked for his brother-in-law Samuel Landauer's company, SC Landauer, a surgical supply company. Dreyfus was a long-time resident of Paterson, New Jersey, and later of Cedarhurst, New York.

This series contains materials relating to Frederick J. Dreyfus. The Correspondence consists primarily of his letters to his mother, Bertha Dreyfus, during World War One. The Other Correspondence folder contains a few miscellaneous letters to and from other family members, such nieces and nephews, as well as photo postcards from World War One illustrating Dreyfus's experiences in the army. He was a consistent diarist from 1897-1909 and again from 1937 until his death in 1950. There is however a 28-year gap from 1909 to 1937 (excepting the diaries he kept during his military service). The diaries show his Republican political affiliation and fervent anti-Communism. Dreyfus also comments on national and local (New Jersey and Long Island, New York) political races. He also mentions sports, his garden, his daily doings, and his opinions on people and events. See also the Correspondence – Koch Family folders in Series I for correspondence between Dreyfus and his nephew, Richard F. Koch, as well as the Series II, Subseries 1, Koch Family folders for correspondence between Dreyfus and his sister Stella Koch.

The military records in this series are from Dreyfus's service to the United States in World War One, and include his pay book and an application for commission in Adjutant General or Quartermaster Corps, as well as reunion materials. Dreyfus also conducted research on descendants of David Dreyfus (his grandfather) that served in the military, and assembled information about Henry Julian Abraham, Alfred Richard Stamm, Ernst Dreyfuss, Otto Wolfgang Abraham, Ray Sherman, Walter Dreyfus, Theodore Dreyfus, Leon Hirsch Dreyfus, Arthur Herman Weis, Walter Jonas Dreyfus, Richard Frederick Koch, Leon Lazarus Titche, Charles Titche, Jr., and Robert Maurice Dreyfus. Many of these men are from the Hattiesburg, Mississippi branch of the Dreyfus family.

Finally, this series also contains some of Dreyfus's work at City College, poetry and songs that he wrote for various occasions, a scrapbook that his mother Bertha assembled, consisting of World War One newspaper clippings, and a Various folder that includes clippings, an address book, a sketch of Dreyfus by artist Hamilton Wolf, a drawing of Dreyfus by Eduard Blouin, materials relating to the United States flag, an invitation to the Governor Smith Memorial dedication, a photograph of Charles William Eliot, and a copy of the title page and dedication for the book "Portraits of Jews" (removed to the LBI Library). Photographs include Fred as a youth in New York, as a soldier in World War One, and posed together with his nephew Richard F. Koch. The photographs are card-mounted, snapshots, and photo postcards.

Series IV: Dreyfus and Koch Families, undated, 1832-1953, bulk 1890s-1920s.

Arrangement:

This series is divided into three subseries, Correspondence, General, and Photographs.

Scope and Content:

This series contains materials about the Dreyfus and Koch families, including correspondence, photographs, and general materials such as poems, writings, clippings, educational materials, and ephemera. A highlight of this series is a set of about a dozen handwritten German poems from the 1830s, written for Rosalie Koch by her friends.

Subseries 1: Correspondence, undated, 1892-1953.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by name.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains the Dreyfus and Koch family correspondence that does not fall into this collection's other series. It contains general correspondence to and from Richard S. Koch, whose correspondents include Hermann Schwartz and Elsie Weis, German relatives, his wife Stella's family, his relative Jonas Koch, and business partners.

It also contains the correspondence of the first two Koch family children, Alfred N. (died circa 1919) and Helen A. Koch (1907- circa 1919) with their family (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) and friends. A small amount of correspondence belonging to Leah Dreyfus Landauer is also found in this subseries, as is a set of postcards sent to Hermann, Leopold, and Julia Schwartz (relatives of Richard S. Koch). Many of these postcards are in German. A few additional letters not falling into any other series are also found here, in the Various folder.

Subseries 2: General, undated, 1832-1950.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains materials relating to the Dreyfus and Koch families. It includes material from the mid 19th century, such as a letter book belonging to David Dreyfus, some materials from the Koch & Dreyfus jewelry business, and a book of German newspaper clippings prepared by Bertha Dreyfus.

A highlight of this series, and indeed of the collection, is a set of about a dozen handwritten German poems from the 1830s, written for Rosalie Koch by her friends. Each poem is written on a small slip of gold-edged paper, and they are found in a wood and tooled leather souvenir case measuring 3.5'' x 5''. Some poems have small pieces of hair attached. The poems are from Mina Carlebach, Jos. Wertheim, Jeannette Fuld, B. Nathan, Rosine Duenckelspiekl, L. Darmstaedter, Nannette Duenckelspiekl, Lorchen Duenckelspiekl, Bernhard Kalisch, Lena Wertheim, Fanny Fuld, B. Wertheim, Moritz David, Ludwig Scheuer, and Laura Fuld, who resided in Mainz, Mannheim, Ruedesheim, and Heidelberg.

Other materials include German newspaper clippings about World War One, patents filed by Leon Dreyfus, educational materials, poems and writings, and official documents by or about various family members, as well as ephemera such as ticket stubs, greeting cards, expense books, and drawings and sketches. The Various folder containing Leah Dreyfus Landauer materials includes documents about the estate of her father-in-law, Aaron Landauer.

Subseries 3: Photographs, undated, 1865-1950s, bulk 1890s-1920s.

Arrangement:

A few clearly identified photographs were foldered separately and placed at the beginning of the subseries. The remainder was roughly grouped by format and size. All the date ranges in this series are approximate.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains hundreds of photographs of the Dreyfus and Koch families. The 19th-century images are mainly posed, while the 20th-century photographs are more informal, and include candid snapshots of children playing and families on vacation.

The formats include tin types, cabinet cards, and other card-mounted photographs, but primarily comprise small black & white silver gelatin prints. Some of the photographs bear identifying information and dates. Unfortunately, many of the photographs are in poor condition, exhibiting curling and extreme fading.

Highlights include a wealth of Dreyfus family portraits, candid photographs of babies and children playing, and a carte-de-visite of Nathan Koch from 1865.

See also Series I and Series III, respectively, for photographs pertaining specifically to Richard F. Koch and Frederick J. Dreyfus.

Series V: Phillips Family, undated, 1890s-1952.

Scope and Content:

Janet Doris Koch (1917-1997, née Phillips) was the daughter of Louis and Maude (née Simon) Phillips. Maude was from a comfortable New Orleans Jewish family, and was educated there before attending college in New York City. The family soon moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, which is where Janet grew up and attended Simmons College. She married Richard F. Koch in 1942.

This series contain materials relating primarily to Janet Phillips and her mother, Maude Simon Phillips. It also contains materials related to other members of the Phillips clan. The Correspondence contains a small number of family letters and cards, and about twenty telegrams of congratulations for Janet's marriage to Richard F. Koch. The educational files contain school work and records from the education of many Phillips family members, including all of Maude's report cards from primary and secondary school in New Orleans. It also includes three of Maude's scrapbooks: high school (Girls High School No. 2); college (Normal College, now known as Hunter College) in New York; and wedding (documenting her wedding and honeymoon in 1915). The high school scrapbook is a particularly nice example of the use of a published scrapbook template to create a personal memento. Also included are diplomas for Maude, Lewis, and Janet Phillips. The summer camp materials in this series are primarily ephemera and counselor material from Camp Anchorage and Camp Awanee.

The series also contains programs from Boston theaters and a variety of other ephemera, such as menus, blank greeting cards, printed materials, clippings, and notes. It also includes some photographs of Phillips family members, mostly snapshots and card-mounted photographic prints, as well as three photograph scrapbooks.