Ernst Heumann Family Collection

The Ernst Heumann Family Collection holds the papers of Ernst and Hedi Heumann and their greater family, including members of the Messer, van Gelder, Oppenheim, Haas, and related families. Most of the collection focuses on Ernst and Hedi Heumann's lives in the United States, although documents about their lives in Germany are also present. The bulk of the collection is composed of family and personal correspondence along with documents both personal and official. Correspondence and documents of their parents and children are also prominent, as is correspondence to and from them during their travels from the late 1950s through the 1970s. The collection contains correspondence; official documents; educational documents; family writing including poems, essays and short stories; travel memorabilia; some immigration papers; legal documents; Ernst Heumann's business correspondence and papers; family trees; and other documentation.

Most of the collection centers on the lives of Ernst and Hedi (née Messer) Heumann, whose papers form much of Series I. These files of mixed correspondence and documentation were originally ordered either chronologically or topically; these divisions were retained during the arrangement of the archival collection. Much of the correspondence consists of letters from friends and family to them, although some letters by them are also present. Series I was divided into subseries by volume of papers, with Ernst and Hedi Heumann's papers further subdivided based on the files' original order. The chronological files of the first subseries of Series I include much documentation and correspondence of Ernst Heumann's life and employment in Frankfurt am Main, including some documents that pertain to his experience of World War I as a boy and correspondence about his emigration to the United States. Later letters provide evidence of his impressions of life in the United States, including others' commentary on it, and of his courtship of Hedi Messer. Some correspondence of Hedi Messer from this time is also present. Their marriage and children are addressed in letters sent to them. Other letters and some financial documents show the growth of Ernst Heumann's real estate business. A large amount of correspondence and some documents relate to the couple's later travels on cruises both around the world and to places such as South America, Africa, India, and the South Pacific. Some documentation of Ernst Heumann's finances and his funeral are present in Series II.

Correspondence and a small amount of documents about Ernst and Hedi Heumann's daughters Audrey Regen and Elaine Gurian are located in Subseries 3 of Series I. These papers provide details of Audrey's attendance at summer camp and theater programs, her studies at Bard College, and of both daughters' news of their married lives.

Correspondence and documents of Hedi Heumann's parents, Isak Josef ("Isi") and Elizabeth ("Betty") Messer comprise Subseries 2 of Series I, with folders of personal papers, official documents, and correspondence. Much of this material is correspondence, including correspondence with Betty Messer prior to her marriage and later correspondence related to their emigration from Germany. Documents include some that pertain to Isak Messer's World War I military service or to Betty Messer's interest in ballroom dancing. Official documents related to their citizenship and that of their children are also in this subseries.

Papers of Ernst Heumann's parents, Adolf and Fanny Heumann, will additionally be found in Subseries 2 of Series I. Most of their personal papers are official documents such as naturalization and death certificates, but the subseries also includes their personal correspondence sent to Ernst and Hedi Heumann, both while Ernst was a young man in Frankfurt and later letters from his mother while he and Hedi traveled. Further documents about Fanny Heumann are located in Series II, including papers such as songs and poems that describe or show her interests, personality, and aspects of her life.

Series II additionally includes family trees that depict the branches of the Heumann and Messer families.