Paul A. Mayer correspondence collection

The Paul A. Mayer Collection contains the correspondence and papers of Paul and Margaret Mayer, as well as some papers pertaining to Paul's parents, Ernst and Lisbeth Mayer. Primary topics of the collection, documented both through correspondence and family papers, are the attempts of Ernst and Lisbeth Mayer to emigrate from Germany, Paul and Margaret Mayer's time in England, and the couple's first years in the United States, including Paul Mayer's service in the United States Army during World War II.

Series I holds the collection's correspondence, primarily letters sent to or from Paul or Margaret Mayer. Such letters include several folders of letters with details of Ernst and Lisbeth Mayer's lives, especially focusing on their efforts to leave Germany. The remainder of the series focuses on aspects of Paul and Margaret Mayer's lives, with letters related to their months in England and their immigration to the United States. Most prominent in this series are Paul Mayer's prolific letters to Margaret about his time serving in the U.S. Army, with extensive details of this period in his life, including his specialized training.

The second series of this collection holds family papers, primarily of Paul and Margaret Mayer, but also including one folder of papers of Paul Mayer's parents. The bulk of papers in this series pertains to Paul and Margaret Mayer's immigration to the United States. Others relate to Margaret Mayer's time in Paris and England as well as some related to the couple's voyage to the United States and their wedding. Two folders contain papers related to Paul Mayer's education in Germany, including both his secondary school education and his later legal studies. One folders holds documents related to the years Margarete Mayer (then Koch) spent living in England and Paris, prior to having married Paul Mayer.