Helen Ollendorff Curth Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists primarily of the correspondence of dermatologist Helen Ollendorff Curth for the years 1933 and 1934. The bulk is from friends and family, particularly her mother, social reformer Paula Ollendorff. Also included are many inquiries from Jewish doctors in Germany about immigration to the United States.
The General correspondence folders contain letters from friends and from professional acquaintances, including many inquiries from Jewish doctors in Germany about immigration to the United States. Additional correspondence includes some letters from her mentor and former employer, noted dermatologist Abraham Buschke, as well as one letter from his son. The family letters are mostly from Curth's mother, Paula Ollendorff, but there are also a few letters from her brother Friedrich Ollendorff, her uncle George Ollendorff, and her cousin Ilse Ollendorff. The immigration folder contains correspondence with various committees to assist with the immigration of specific friends and scholars.
Also found in this collection are biographies of Paula Ollendorff's brother, Georg Ollendorff, his wife Margarete Ollendorff née Muhr, and of their children Ilse Ollendorff Reich and Robert Ollendorff; a letter from Leo Baeck to Mrs. Ollendorff; and a biographical article about Abraham Buschke by William Curth and Helen O. Curth, entitled "Remembering Abraham Buschke" (1983).
Dates
- Creation: 1932-1997
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1933-1934
Creator
- Curth, Helen Ollendorff, 1899-1982 (Person)
Language of Materials
This collection is mostly in German with some English.
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
Helen O. Curth (1899-1982, born Helene Ollendorff in Breslau and nicknamed "Lene," later known as Helen in the United States) studied in Freiburg, Berlin, and Munich, and became a medical doctor and assistant to the noted physician Abraham Buschke (1868-1943). She married William Curth, another of Buschke's assistants, in 1927. They moved to the United States in 1931, and successfully continued their medical careers, primarily in dermatology. Their daughter Elisabeth married Edgar Lehman.
Helene was the daughter of Isidor Ollendorff (d. 1911) and Paula Ollendorff (1860, Kostenblut, Silesia - 1938, Jerusalem). Paula was a socially active liberal in Breslau, and among the co-founders of the Jewish Women’s Association (Jüdischer Frauenbund) in 1905. Their children were Friedrich (1889-1951) and Helene.
Paula Ollendorff's brother, Georg Ollendorff (1870-1940) was born in Kostenblut, Silesia (today Kostomłoty in Poland). Their older brother, Victor, left Germany for the United States a year before Georg was born, and the two brothers never met. In 1907 Georg became the director of the Breslau branch of the Rudolf Mosse publishing company. In 1908 he married Margarete née Muhr (1883-1973). Her older sister, Anna Muhr, was a close friend of Leo Baeck’s wife, Natalie. Georg and Margarete Ollendorff had two children, Ilse (1909-2008) and Robert (1912-1973). During World War I Georg served as an NCO first on the Polish and Danish borders, and from 1917 to the end of the war on the French front, for which he received the Iron Cross. Georg and Margarete emigrated to England in September 1939.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
Abstract
This collection consists primarily of the correspondence of dermatologist Helen Ollendorff Curth for the years 1933 and 1934. The bulk is from friends and family in Germany, particularly her mother, social reformer Paula Ollendorff. Also included are many inquiries from Jewish doctors in Germany about immigration to the United States, as Curth and her husband had left Germany for New York in 1931.
Arrangement
The folders are arranged alphabetically by title.
Processing information
Materials were refoldered. Sticky notes were photocopied to acid-free paper and clipped to the original document. During prior processing, the small collection AR 10535 was combined with this collection.
Subject
- Ollendorff, Paula, 1860-1938 (Person)
- Curth, Helen Ollendorff, 1899-1982 (Person)
- Buschke, Abraham, 1868-1943 (Person)
- Ollendorff family (Family)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Occupation
- Title
- Guide to the Helen Ollendorff Curth Collection 1932-1997 , bulk 1933-1934 AR 25004
- Author
- Processed by Kevin Schlottmann
- Date
- © 2013
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- as part of the Leon Levy Archival Processing Initiative, made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation
Revision Statements
- April 08, 2015 : dao links added by Emily Andresini.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository