Walter Hart Blumenthal papers
Scope and Content Note
The Walter Hart Blumenthal papers reflect both personal and professional materials associated with the author’s life and work. Series I contains items relating to Blumenthal’s personal life, including photographs, travel diaries, and biographical documentation such as genealogical records, official certifiates of marriage and graduation, and printed resumes. Series II contains professional materials such as manuscripts, research source material (news clippings, hand-written notes, etc.), professional correspondence, and published works.
Dates
- Creation: undated, 1882-1969
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1900 - 1969
Creator
- Blumenthal, Walter Hart, 1883-1969 (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in English.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to all researchers, except items that may be restricted due to their fragility, or privacy.
Use Restrictions
No permission is required to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection, as long as the usage is scholarly, educational, and non-commercial. For inquiries about other usage, please contact the Director of Collections and Engagement at mmeyers@ajhs.org.
For reference questions, please email: inquiries@cjh.org
Biographical Note
Walter Hart Blumenthal, son of noted book collector Hart Blumenthal, was born in Clinton, Iowa in 1883. W. H. Blumenthal graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics, and later earned a PhD from the University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) in 1904. After returning to the United States, Blumenthal entered the literary world, working as a magazine editor, essayist, and book collector. He was the author of more than thirty books on a wide range of subjects including etymology, women of the American Revolution, and the plight of the American Indian, among others. During World War I, he was Chief Librarian for the Camp Greene Library in Charlotte, N. C. which served close to 80,000 troops. He married Claudine Eleanore Brown in 1919.
Along with being a frequent contributor to several New York City newspapers and magazines, Blumenthal served as literary editor for the New Jewish Encyclopedia and later as an associate editor of American Hebrew magazine in New York. Due to his expertise in the literary world, he also found success as an antiquarian book dealer in New York and Philadelphia in the 1930s. Walter Hart Blumenthal died in Philadelphia in 1969.
Extent
3.5 Linear Feet (7 manuscript boxes, 1 oversized folder - in shared box)
Abstract
This collection consists primarily of manuscripts, printed articles and reviews, notes, news clippings, and other source material of Blumenthal’s published books and articles. In addition, the collection includes personal materials such as genealogical information, photographs, correspondence, and several travel diaries.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into two series: personal and professional. Blumenthal's professional papers are further organized into five subseries. This arrangement is built upon the original alphabetical filing system of the previous processing done in 2009. Several modifications to folder titles and locations within the collection have been added.
- Series I: Personal Materials, undated, 1918-1969
- Series II: Professional Materials, undated, 1902-1969
- Subseries 1: Books, undated, 1927-1968
- Subseries 2: Correspondence, 1927-1968
- Subseries 3: Manuscripts and Printed Texts, undated, 1909-1968
- Subseries 4: Source material, undated, 1922-1968
- Subseries 5: Promotional material, 1902-1966
Physical Location
Located in AJHS New York, NY
Other Finding Aid
A concordance listing old box number can be found at http://digital.cjh.org/3430984
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mrs. Blumenthal and Leon Obermayer.
Processing Information
The Walter Hart Blumenthal papers were minimally processed in 2009. This minimal processing consisted of brief folder titles, loose alphabetical organization, a .pdf inventory of folders, and a machine-readable finding aid (converted from a MARC record) to serve as a placeholder until an EAD record was created. Several items were placed in an OS folder due to their sizes.
Updated processing in 2015 included folder name clarification (in adherence to institutional standards), folder and box re-housing, as well as additional minimal physical reorganization. Any reorganization that differs from the original box inventory is noted in a concordance for reference. A detailed EAD record was also created. All oversized items that were originally separated for proper storage have remained in that space.
Subject
- Blumenthal, Walter Hart, 1883-1969 (Person)
- Marks-Haindorf-Stiftung (Organization)
- University of Pennsylvania (Organization)
Genre / Form
- Articles
- clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Diaries
- manuscripts (documents)
- Photographs
- Poems
- Sheet music
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Walter Hart Blumenthal papers, undated, 1882-1969 P-83
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- The finding aid was prepared by Janine Veazue in 2015.
- Date
- © 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- 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, June 2020: EHyman: post-ASpace migration cleanup.
Repository Details
Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository
