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Margarete Muehsam Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 720

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains a few of journalist Margarete Muehsam-Edelheim's personal papers and a number of clippings and manuscripts by Muehsam on law, feminism, Jewish affairs and emigration possibilities, and the German press.

The handful of personal papers mostly pertain to Muehsam-Edelheim's work as a journalist in Berlin and include various invitations and professional membership cards dating to the Weimar period and the early years of the Hitler regime. Some of the materials, including recommendation letters, curricula vitae, and the texts of obituaries, date to her life after emigrating to the United States at the end of the 1930s. This latter group of papers documents her work for Columbia University and the Leo Baeck Institute, as well as her ongoing activities as a journalist in the United States.

The second folder contains clippings of her articles in German newspapers on a variety of topics, but with a substantial focus on women's and social issues, as well as number of articles on Jewish affairs. These articles were published both in mainstream news outlets like Vossische Zeitung and the Berliner Abendpost as well as in Jewish-oriented publications like C.V.-Zeitung . A larger pamphlet, published under the auspices of the C.V.-Zeitung and the Philo-Verlag, consists of a report on her visit to South Africa and her impressions of Jewish life there.

Folder one also contains a few interesting printed items, including pamphlets published by the National Refugee Service aimed at helping German refugees orient themselve in the United States. There is also a pamphlet entitled "Wir Deutschen Juden 321-1932" published by the Central-Verein, which lists both the substantial Jewish contributions to German culture, as well as the increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks and incidents during the Weimar years.

Dates

  • Creation: 1913-1975

Creator

Language of Materials

This collection is in German and English.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

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

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:

Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Born Margarethe Meseritz in Berlin on September 18, 1891, Muehsam studied law and then worked as a journalist. She was married to John Edelheim from 1918 until his death in 1931, and was active in journalism, politics and Jewish affairs. She emigrated to the United States in 1938, where she continued her journalistic activities. She married Eduard Muehsam in 1946. She was a member of the board of directors of the Leo Baeck Institute, and died in New York City on May 26, 1975.

Extent

2 Folders

Abstract

This collection contains a few of journalist Margarete Muehsam-Edelheim's personal papers and a number of clippings and manuscripts by Muehsam on law, feminism, Jewish affairs and emigration possibilities, and the German press.

Other Finding Aid

The original German-language inventory is available in folder 1.

Separated Material

Gebetbuch der jüdischen Reformgemeinde zu Berlin (neue Ausgabe, 1885; Selbstverlag der jüdischen Reformgemeinde zu Berlin ) has been removed to the LBI Library Collection.

Clippings and offprints of Muehsam's writings post-1938 have been removed to the Margaret Muehsam Clippings Collection AR 720 C .

A portrait photograph of Muehsam has been removed to the LBI Photograph Collection.

Title
Guide to the Margarete Muehsam Collection, 1913-1975  AR 720
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Timothy Ryan Mendenhall
Date
© 2013
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Revision Statements

  • May 01, 2014 : 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