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Kurt and Ruth Neu Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 6295

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains materials about the family of Kurt and Ruth Neu. Personal materials include correspondence between Kurt and Ruth in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as with friends and family. Also included are photographs, and genealogical information, while professional materials for both Kurt and Ruth Neu include unpublished typescripts.

Professional materials of Kurt Neu include a typescript of an unpublished book entitled "Money in Conflict," about the international monetary system, and typed drafts of proposals for German economic policy and related correspondence from the early 1930s. The collection contains some of Ruth Neu's professional documents regarding her work as a counselor and psychologist, including an unpublished typescript, "The Imagined Personality: A Treatise on the Imagery of the Healthy and Diseased Mind." The collection also includes educational and vital documents, and a file about a 1950s restitution case surrounding the estate of Ruth's father, Aby S. Warburg.

Also found in this collection are materials pertaining to the daughter of Kurt and Ruth Neu, Renée Watkins. The bulk of the correspondence consists of her letters to her parents, mostly from 1954-1955, when she was living in Paris. There is also correspondence in the late 1930s and early 1940s from family members, mostly grandparents and aunts. Her schoolwork and some other material are also found here.

The collection also contains documents and genealogical information about the ancestors of Kurt and Ruth Neu. These include Abraham Samuel (Aby S.) Warburg (1864-1933) and Elly Jeanette Simon (1873-1931), Ruth's parents; Therese Neu, Kurt's mother; and Julian Simon (1846-1893), Ruth's maternal grandfather, who was among the first Germans to spend significant time living in Japan. Also found in this collection are photographs and photograph albums depicting the Neu family.

Dates

  • Creation: 1900-2003
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1933-1957

Creator

Language of Materials

This collection is in German and English, with a small amount of Dutch.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open to researchers.

Access Information

Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.

Biographical Note<extptr actuate="onload" altrender="Kurt M. Neu (1899-1982)" href="http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1560434" linktype="simple" show="embed" title="Kurt M. Neu (1899-1982)"/>

Ruth Anna Neu (née Warburg) (1904-1957) was born in Nice, France to Abraham Samuel (Aby S.) Warburg (1864-1933) and Elly Jeanette Simon (1873-1931). In 1930, she married Kurt M. Neu (1899-1982). Their daughter Renée Eva Watkins (née Neu) (1932- ) was born in Berlin. Kurt, Ruth, and Renée left Germany in 1936 for the Netherlands, and in 1940 immigrated to the United States. In the USA, Renée married Calvert Watkins, and they had a daughter, Cynthia Watkins.

Kurt Neu was an economist, while Ruth worked as a counselor and clinical psychologist.

Extent

2 Linear Feet (four manuscript boxes) + 1 oversize folder (OS 8)

Abstract

This collection contains materials about the family of Kurt and Ruth Neu. Personal materials include family correspondence, photographs, and genealogical information, while professional materials for both Kurt and Ruth Neu include unpublished typescripts.

Arrangement

This collection is divided into five series. Within each series, the folders are arranged alphabetically. Correspondence is arranged chronologically within folders. Photographs are grouped roughly by size and placed in folders.

Separated Material

A book edited by Kurt Neu, "Die Deutsche Elektrizitätswirtschaft" (1930), was removed to the LBI Library.

Seven 16 mm films, dating from 1930 to 1940, and described as containing films of the family dog Kiki, Renée's kindergarten, and children's films, were removed to the AV collection.

Processing Information

Materials were rehoused in acid-free folders and archival boxes. Duplicate Photostat copies were removed. Photographs were grouped together by format and housed in envelopes. Photograph album covers were removed. Envelopes were discarded unless they contained date or person information not found in the letter. Printed materials (postcards, pages from books) concerning art were discarded.

Title
Guide to the Kurt and Ruth Neu Collection Undated, 1900-2003 , bulk 1933-1957 AR 6295
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Kevin Schlottmann
Date
© 2012
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Sponsor
Described and encoded as part of the CJH Holocaust Resource Initiative, made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany

Revision Statements

  • July 15, 2013 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States