Eric and Thea Nathan Midas Family Collection

This collection documents the family of Eric and Thea Midas of Fürth, Germany and Niagara Falls, New York. The bulk of the material relates to Thea Midas, and includes the extensive correspondence with her future husband Eric between 1920 and 1925, the period of their engagement. Other correspondence to and from friends and family, as well as a large cookbook, diaries, and photographs, are also found in this collection. Documents by and about Eric Midas include a small amount of correspondence, educational records, emigration documents (including Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger's affidavit of support for the Midas's immigration to the United States), vital documents, and restitution materials.

Materials related to Margaret Meyers, née Midas include a small amount of correspondence; records, correspondence, clippings and a scrapbook from her time as a civilian librarian for the US Army in Germany; documents such as immunization certificates, a wedding certificate, and marriage announcements; and photographs. The collection also contains a large and detailed manuscript book containing a family tree of Margaret Midas, originally prepared by her father Eric. The genealogy goes back to 1498, and mostly refers to Franconian Jews, particularly from Fürth. Many of the pages include gravestone photographs.

Materials by and about other Midas and Nathan family members and relatives include materials concerning Eric Midas's parents, Joseph and Emmy Midas, including family photo albums and other documents. Items concerning Rosy Nathan, Thea Midas's mother, include correspondence, a cookbook, poems, ephemera, and a sketch of Max Nathan's tombstone. The Sulzberger family materials include correspondence with and clippings regarding Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger and correspondence and documents from researchers of the New York Times.

Materials relating to the Zinn family include a large annotated photo album featuring Clementine Zinn (1849-1930) and family, and a memorial book with obituaries, death announcements, and eulogies for Zinn relatives and friends. Documents relating to 18th and 19th century members of the Midas family include letters, marriage contracts, commercial documents, and a 1790 Schutzbrief for Baer Seligmann Schlenker. It is unclear whether Schlenker is related to the Midas/Nathan/Zinn family.

Material about the Jews of Fürth includes Midas and Meyers family correspondence with Fürth officials, primarily from the 1980s and 1990s; clippings, newsletters, and printed material; speeches from the dedication of monument to Nazi victims; various exhibition materials; photos from a 1987 visit of former Jewish residents; and a facsimile of a commercial directory for Fürth from 1857.