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Hans and Edith Baron Correspondence Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25685

Scope and Content Note

This collection of correspondence and photographs provides insight into the struggles of not only Hans and Edith Baron, but also their immediate family amid the deteriorating political and social climate of Nazi Germany beginning in 1938 and its effect on their lives thereafter. The first series contains letters written by Hans Baron to Edith Baron in 1938 through 1939 and 1949. Contained within the second series of this collection is correspondence between Hans and Edith Baron and various family members from 1938 through 1971. The collection is completed by loose photographs dating from circa 1914 through 1920, the 1940s and 1955.

Dates

  • Creation: 1938-1971
  • Creation: Majority of material found in 1938-1942, 1949

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in German and English.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Part of the 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

Hans Baron was born on June 22, 1900 in Berlin, Germany to Theodor and Martha Baron. Hans had one brother, Walter Baron. As a literature and political theory historian, Hans Baron's primary contribution to the study of the Renaissance was his denotement of the type of republicanism that emerged during that time period as civic humanism. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance (1955) is considered to be Hans Baron's most important book. Hans’s wife, Edith Baron, née Alexander, was born on August 1, 1903 in Berlin, Germany, to Georg and Selma Alexander. Edith had two brothers, Fritz and Ernst Alexander. Edith and Hans left Germany after 1933, moving first to Italy and England, and finally to the United States in 1938. They settled in Queens, New York, before moving to Princeton, New Jersey, and later Urbana, Illinois, with their two children, Reinhard Baron and Renate Franciscono, née Baron. Hans died on November 26, 1988 and Edith died on October 14, 1994 in Urbana, Illinois.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Abstract

This collection comprises photographs and letters pertaining to the family life and studies of the historian Hans Baron and his wife Edith, as they immigrated from Nazi Germany and adjusted to the United States.

Related Material

Hans Baron's Humanistic and political literature in Florence and Venice at the beginning of the quattrocento; studies in criticism and chronology can be found in the LBI Library (PQ 4165 B3).

The academic papers of the literary historian Hans Baron are held at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Processing Information

The letters and postcards have been sorted according to sender and date.

Title
Guide to the Hans and Edith Baron Correspondence Collection 1938-1971 AR 25685
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Madeleine Ostertag
Date
© 2016
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Edition statement
This version was derived from Hans_and_Edith_Baron.xml

Revision Statements

  • August 2016:: dao links added by Emily Andresini.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States