Ruth Gay Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Ruth Gay Collection consists of Ruth Gay’s research material for her book The Jews of Germany: A Historical Portrait and includes numerous copies of documents from the 1930s, photographs and illustrations used in the book.
Most copies were made from the original documents that are kept in various archives in Israel.
Another portion of the collection consists of photographs and illustrations used in the book.
The only original materials in the collection are audio tapes containing 11 interviews conducted by Ruth Gay in Israel, mostly in 1985. Individuals interviewed were German Jews who settled in Israel, mostly Kibbutzim. They had been members of the Zionist movement in Germany before World War II.
There are no manuscripts, notes, or draft in the collection.
Dates
- 1980s-1994, 2002
Creator
- Gay, Ruth (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German and English.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Request" button.
Biographical Note
Ruth Gay, née Slotkin was born in New York in 1922. She graduated from Queens College in 1943 and received a library degree from Columbia University in 1969.
From 1948 to 1950 she was the editor of the JDC Review of the American Joint Distribution Committee.
She has published several nonfiction books documenting Jewish life in Europe and America and received the National Jewish Book Award in 1997 for her book Unfinished People: Eastern European Jews Encounter America.
Ruth Gay died in 2006.
Extent
1 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Ruth Gay Collection consists of Ruth Gay’s research material for her book The Jews of Germany: A Historical Portrait and includes numerous copies of the documents from the 1930s, photographs and illustrations used in the book and audio tapes with 11 interviews with German Jews living in Israel.
Arrangement
The collection consists of three series:
Separated Material
Audio cassettes were removed to the LBI A/V Collection.
- Title
- Guide to the Ruth Gay Collection 1980s-1994, 2002 AR 6800
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Yakov Illich Sklar
- Date
- © 2011
- 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
- 2012-September-06: T.R. Mendenhall: Added folder 5A, previously filed as AR 6788, Robert Haas Collection. These materials also came from Ruth Gay's research notes.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
