Gustav Beck Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Gustav Beck Collection includes materials documenting Gustav Beck's genealogical efforts, personal correspondence, documents, memoirs, and a large amount of photo albums.
The larger portion of the collection consists of photographs carefully arranged into albums either by family or by events, or both.
By and large, photographs collected here are of friends and family members; however, there is a small number of photographs depicting various members of the Beck family performing their professional duties.
Another part of the collection consists of scrapbooks documenting his genealogical research on the Beck, Friedmann, Meyerestein, Glaser and Levitiss families and a small amount of materials associated with his professional activities as a doctor.
Materials found in scrapbooks consist of mostly original documents such as correspondence, vital, educational, and professional records and certificates, clippings and brochures, and articles by Gustav Beck.
Furthermore, there is a small number of memoirs depicting Jewish life in Austria and Germany before World War II, immigration and new life in the United States.
Dates
- 1882-2007
Creator
- Beck, Gustav J., 1920-2014 (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German and English, with some Russian, Hebrew, and French.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.
Biographical Note
Gustav Julius Beck was born on May 7, 1920 in Vienna, Austria, as the son of Helene and Oskar Beck. His father was a retailer in the leather business. He grew up in Vienna’s eighth district where he attended the Gymnasium.
With the help of a business acquaintance of his father, who issued an affidavit of support, he was able to obtain the necessary papers for emigration and followed his parents first to Holland and then to the United States in July 1938.
Gustav Beck acquired an M.D. at NYU in 1944. After serving in an US Army medical corps he started a career as a physician, which he finished as Professor for Clinical Medicine at NYU School of Medicine.
In 1996 he and his wife, Rita moved to Gwyned, Pennsylvania.
Extent
6 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Gustav Beck Collection includes materials documenting Gustav Beck's genealogical efforts, personal correspondence, documents, memoirs, and a large amount of photo albums.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into two series:
- Beck family
- Beck, Gustav J., 1920-2014
- Beck, Helen
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Emigration and immigration
- Family histories
- Friedmann family
- Germany
- Glaser family
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Levitiss family
- Manuscripts (documents)
- New York (N.Y.)
- Official documents
- Photographs
- Printed materials
- United States
- Vienna (Austria)
- Title
- Guide to the Gustav Beck Collection 1882-2007 AR 25290
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Yakov Illich Sklar
- Date
- © 2012
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Made possible by the Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources through The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support "Illuminating Hidden Collections at the Center for Jewish History"
Revision Statements
- November 26, 2013 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
