Louis E. Shecter, papers

The Papers of Louis E. Shecter include: correspondence; newspaper clippings; magazine articles; photographs; and pamphlets concerning Shecter's art collection, his donations of artwork, and his activity in the American Jewish Congress and with Israel later in life. The collection is entirely in English.

Shecter began collecting art very early in his life, and, with his success in the advertising industry, he was able to amass a great private collection, in which he specialized in ancient Asian and bronze sculptures. His collection of bronzes were constantly viewed by international dignitaries at his home outside of Baltimore, MD, or on public exhibitions in local Baltimore galleries. Shecter was very generous with his collections and many of the press releases, letters, and clippings in the collection pertain to his various gifts of artwork to museums and government agencies. He donated works to the State Department, the Baltimore Jewish Museum, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore Hebrew College, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, amongst other public institutions.

Shecter was very involved with the American Jewish Congress and the National Committee for the Ratification of the Genocide Convention in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a detailed account from a trip he and his wife Roslyn took six months after the Six-Day War in 1967, and numerous correspondences with government officials concerning American-Israeli relations. Notable correspondence is with Menachem Begin, Edward Kennedy, Sen. Jacob Javits, and Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek.

The collection would be of interest to those researching the Jewish experience in Maryland, Shecter's art collection, activities of the American Jewish Congress during the 1960s and 1970s, and Louis Shecter's strong political connections in the United States and Israel. There is also interesting correspondence from U.S. Congressmen detailing their perspective after the assassination of President Kennedy. Photographs of interest were taken with Edward Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Henry Kissinger with Louis Shecter. The collection also holds material concerning his wife - Rosalyn Shecter's position on the Maryland Board of Motion Picture Censors and his son - Mark Shecter's career as an artist. The collection is divided into two boxes.