Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection reflects academic contributions of Marcus and Tarr and contains research, papers, manuscripts, articles, drafts, and related material from the estate of Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr. The bulk of the Marcus and Tarr material is dated after their emigration to the US around 1960. The collection is primarily in English, Hungarian, and German. The collection also includes materials in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Korean. Processing of the archival collection was made possible through the Cahnman Foundation. This collection houses a significant amount of original material from the estate from Werner J. Cahnman, probably given by Gisella Levi Cahnman when Marcus and Tarr embarked upon the Cahnman biography project in the early 2000’s (Series I). Marcus and Tarr performed an inventory of Cahnman’s literary estate in 2003 when they began their project. This series contains Cahnman’s correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, and published material. Series II, Series III, and Series IV are materials specifically attributed to Judith Marcus or Zoltán Tarr, or both. This includes their correspondence, the bulk of which is email. Marcus and Tarr also corresponded via email to each other, including forwarding messages. Series II includes material that Marcus and Tarr collaborated on. This includes manuscripts of Cahnman’s edited books as well as notes and partial drafts of the Cahnman biography project. Series V, Miscellaneous Research Material (“Clippings”), contains articles which were in their possession at the time of their deaths. All of the material in this series is published, the bulk of which is still under copyright. There is a broad range of topics and themes within this collection, much of which overlaps. Some of the clippings could have also belonged to Cahnman. It was not arranged in such a way that it was easy to discern what belonged to whom, as much of their interests and subject research overlapped.
Dates
- Creation: 1903-2011
- Creation: Majority of material found in 1950-2011
Language of Materials
This collection is primarily in English, German, and Hungarian.
Access Restrictions
This collection is 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
Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr were Hungarian sociologists. Both served as secretary of the Rashi Association for the Preservation of Jewish Cultural Monuments in Europe, founded by Werner J. Cahnman around 1978. Marcus and Tarr were married around 1956. After the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 Marcus and Tarr moved from Budapest, Hungary, to Germany, where they lived from about 1957-1960. They emigrated to the US sometime between 1960 and 1963. They each pursued higher education at the University of Illinois between 1963-1968. Tarr became a naturalized citizen in 1967. Marcus and Tarr then moved to New York City, both beginning positions in 1971.
Dr. Judith Marcus, née Lenke Bóta, was born in Celldömölk, Hungary on August 9, 1929. Marcus received education from the University of Budapest, University of Cologne (philosophy), University of Illinois (BA and MA in German language and literature), University of Kansas (PhD in German), and post doctorate study in Sociology at NYU. Marcus taught at the University of Illinois, University of Kansas, Brooklyn College of CUNY, Kenyon College, Skidmore College, College of Wooster, Rutgers University, New School for Social Research and SUNY. She passed away on March 19, 2015 in New York City, NY.
Dr. Zoltán Tarr was born on July 10, 1929. Tarr received education from the University of Economic Science in Budapest, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, and University of Illinois (BA in German language and literature, MA in sociology/history, and PhD in sociology/political science). He taught at the City College of CUNY, Rutgers University, Kenyon College, Skidmore College, and the New School for Social Research. He passed away in 2015 in New York City, NY shortly after Judith Marcus.
Both, Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr worked on a biography of their friend and fellow refugee scholar, sociologist Werner J. Cahnman, with generous funding from the Cahnman Foundation. Cahnman’s unpublished manuscripts were preserved by Dr. Gisella Levi Cahnman, Werner Cahnman’s widow, in shared executorship with Marcus and Tarr who continued to work with them. Marcus and Tarr co-wrote/edited a number of books in their lifetime.
Published Books
- 1977
- Tarr - "The Frankfurt School: The Critical Theories of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno"
- 1982
- Marcus - "Thomas Mann und Georg Lukács: Beziehung, Einfluss und representative Gegensätzlichkeit"
- 1984
- "Foundations of the Frankfurt School of Social Research"
- 1986
- "Georg Lukács: Selected Correspondence 1902-1920"
- 1987
- Marcus - "Georg Lukács and Thomas Mann: A Study in the Sociology of Literature"
- 1989
- "Georg Lukács: Theory, Culture, and Politics"
- 1989
- "German Jewry: Its History and Sociology. Selected Essays of Werner J. Cahnman" (editors)
- 1989
- "Weber and Tönnies: Comparative Sociology in Historical Perspective" (editors)
- 1999
- Marcus - "Surviving the Twentieth Century: Social Philosophy from the Frankfurt School to the Columbia Faculty Seminars" (editor)
- 2004
- "Jews and Gentiles: A Historical Sociology of Their Relations" (editors)
- 2005
- "Deutsche Juden. Ihre Geschichte und Soziologie" (editors)
- 2007
- "Social Issues, Geopolitics, and Judaica" (editors)
Extent
12 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection encompasses the life and work of married Hungarian sociologists Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr, and their contributions to the work of the German sociologist Werner J. Cahnman after his death in 1980. The bulk of the material primarily dates after the Tarr's emigration to the United States around 1960. It is comprised of their own research material, in subject areas such as the Frankfurt School of Social Research, as well as primary source material from the estate of Cahnman. The Cahnman material was used to publish some of his unpublished books and also for use in their unfinished Cahnman biography project.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into six series.
- Series I: Werner J. Cahnman Research Material, 1922-2008
- Series II: Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr, 1940-2009
- Series III: Judith Marcus, 1963-2010
- Series IV: Zoltán Tarr, 1920-2011
- Series V: Miscellaneous Research Material, 1902-2013
- Series VI: Photographs, 1942-2012
Separated Material
Published books and library material were separated out of the archival collection and cataloged in the Tarr Library Collection. Cassette and mini cassette tape recordings were transferred to the LBI AV collection. Negatives were transferred to the LBI Photograph Collection.
Processing Information
Series V, Miscellaneous Research Material, is solely comprised of published material which may still be under copyright and therefore not digitally available offsite.
Subject
- Cahnman, Werner J. (Werner Jacob), 1902-1980 (Person)
- Cahnman family (Family)
- Marcus, Judith, 1929-2015 (Person)
- Tarr, Zoltán, 1929- (Person)
- Cahnman Foundation (Organization)
Genre / Form
- Articles
- clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Drafts (documents)
- Electronic mail
- manuscripts (documents)
- negatives (photographs)
- Notes (documents)
- Photographs
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr Collection 1903-2011 bulk 1950-2011 AR 25653
- Author
- Processed by Kat Fanning
- Date
- © 2015
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Processing of the collection was made possible through funding from the Cahnman Foundation.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
