Mendheim Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Mendheim Family Collection documents the life of Florence Mendheim and her relatives. The collection consists largely of correspondence, but also holds samples of Florence Mendheim's writing, a small amount of family personal papers, and a few books.
The major focus of this collection is the Mendheim family. In addition to the personal papers of Series I, which include war ration books and selective service cards among its contents, there is also some correspondence between family members in Subseries 1 of Series II. Much of this correspondence relates news of family members or mention of significant events or activities. There are also some handwritten letters from the late nineteenth century. Series IV includes a family bible as well as copies of pages from family prayer books with notes.
In addition to correspondence with family members, Series II contains correspondence between Florence Mendheim and others. Prominent among these are the letters of Edward Fox, an individual who resided in China and sent Florence many letters that describe his experiences there. Other notable correspondence includes that of Subseries 2. This subseries holds correspondence deriving from Florence Mendheim's work as secretary of the Committee for Arab-Jewish Understanding, an organization that attempted to bring about a compromise between Arabs and Jews in New York City on the question of Palestine (now Israel).
Evidence of Florence Mendheim's literary aspirations is seen in multiple areas of the collection. Chief among these are the samples of her creative writing, much of it in the form of plays, in Series III. This series additionally holds a brief article, a short story, and some reports on the activities of the New York branch of the Friends of New Germany, a Nazi support group of the 1930s.
Dates
- 1839-1994
- Majority of material found within 1917-1940
Creator
- Mendheim, Florence, 1899-1984 (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in English, German, and Hebrew.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
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
Florence Mendheim was the daughter of Max and Betty (born Bertha Kroner) Mendheim; she had two brothers, Arthur and Jesse. She worked as a library assistant at the New York Public Library and was also active during the 1930s and 1940s as secretary of the Committee for Arab-Jewish Understanding.
Extent
3.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Mendheim Family Collection holds papers of the family of Florence Mendheim. Most of the collection consists of correspondence, including letters of family members. Other materials include unpublished typescripts as well as a few personal papers and books.
Separated Material
Some books without extensive notes have been removed from the archival collection and given to the LBI Library.
Processing Information
The collection was re-processed in August-September 2009 in preparation for the EAD finding aid and microfilming. Series identified in previous processing were retained, with subseries introduced in Series II. Some books were removed to the LBI Library.
- China
- China -- History -- 1912-1928
- Committee for Arab-Jewish Understanding
- Correspondence
- Friends of New Germany
- Jewish families
- Jewish women authors
- Jewish women librarians
- Kroner family
- Mendheim family
- Mendheim, Florence, 1899-1984
- New York (N.Y.)
- Plays (performing arts compositions)
- Postcards
- Prayer books
- Reports
- Typescripts
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of the Mendheim Family 1839-1994 AR 25010
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Dianne Ritchey and Peter Wolff
- Date
- © 2009
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from MendheimFamily.xml
Revision Statements
- January 2015:: Links to digital objects added in Container List.
- February 06, 2015: : Remaining links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository