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Suzanne Schrag Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25833

Scope and Content Note

The Suzanne Schrag Collection consists of papers of Suzanne Schrag (née Fuchs) and her husband, Paul Schrag, along with extensive family correspondence with members of the Fuchs family and papers of Nathan Sulzberger, the uncle of Paul Schrag. Much of the collection centers on the written work of Paul Schrag and Nathan Sulzberger. The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence, unpublished manuscripts and poetry, official documents, newspaper clippings, photographs, a few family trees and genealogical notes, and other papers.

Several folders in this collection relate to the education of Suzanne and Paul Schrag, and to the professional career of Paul Schrag. In the first subseries of Series I will be found one folder with educational papers of Suzanne Schrag, including her early education in Strasbourg and Karlsruhe and later medical studies at the University of Berlin. Paul Schrag's education is documented in the same subseries, with folders that relate to his attendance at the Gymnasium in Karlsruhe and legal studies in Heidelberg and later, the United States. Among the correspondence of the second subseries of Series I are many folders of letters between Paul and his mentor and former law professor in Heidelberg, Max Gutzwiller. Although much of Paul Schrag's writing in the final subseries of Series I relates to creative writing or memoirs, it also includes a legal text written by him in 1938.

Much of the focus of this collection is on the extended Fuchs and Schrag families. Series I includes some family papers and material on Schrag family history in Subseries 1; Subseries 2 contains extensive correspondence with members of the Fuchs family as well as some correspondence with Schrag family members and about the Schrag family business and a number of folders regarding emigration assistance for family members. Correspondence with family members includes many letters that focus on family members' news of their daily lives, health, and travel. Paul Schrag's writings in the third subseries of Series I include two memoirs with further details about the Schrag family. Series II contains papers of the Fuchs family, especially Suzanne Schrag's parents, Hermann and Emma Fuchs.

The final series of this collection (Series III) consists of the papers of Paul Schrag's uncle, Nathan Sulzberger, and includes both his documents and correspondence as well as a large amount of manuscripts of his short stories and plays. This series also includes examples of his drawing. Among his documents and correspondence are some papers that relate to his work as a chemist, in addition to correspondence with Paul Schrag's parents, Bella and Hugo Schrag.

Dates

  • 1827-2008
  • Majority of material found within 1933-1989

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in English, German, and a small amount of French.

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 "Reserve" button.

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

Suzanne (also spelled Susanne, called Susie) Fuchs was born on November 29, 1910 in Strasbourg, the daughter of Hermann Fuchs and his wife Emma Nathan. Hermann Fuchs had been naturalized as an American in Oregon in 1889. Suzanne's basic studies where in Strasbourg. By March 1930 she had completed her final year of studies at the Lessingschule in Karlruhe; she began studying medicine at the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, but then broke off her studies due to restrictions on Jewish students in Germany. By 1933 she and her parents were living in Oregon and she was requesting a renewal of her American passport in order to return to Europe and continue studying medicine in Switzerland. On June 9, 1934 she married Paul Schrag in Zürich; they would later have three sons.

Paul Jesse Schrag was born on October 16, 1909 in Karlsruhe, Germany, the son of the lawyer Hugo Schrag and his wife Bella (née Sulzberger). The Schrag family was wealthy and owned a malt factory, Schrag und Söhne, in Bruchsal, Germany. Hugo Schrag had been born in Bruchsal; his wife Bella was born in New York. Paul had three brothers: Otto, Fritz, and Karl. He attended the Karlsruhe Gymnasium and in 1936 received his doctorate in law from the University of Heidelberg.

By June 1938 Suzanne and Paul had left Europe for New York, where they resided on Manhattan's Upper West Side. In March 1939 Paul Schrag became a member of the American Society of International Law. In September 1940 his application to study law at St. John's University in Brooklyn, New York was accepted. In June 1944 he passed the New York State bar exam.

In addition to his legal career, Paul Schrag also authored several works, including novels, memoirs, and plays. His work Heimatkunde was published and later dramatized in a stage production in 1981 in Bruchsal, Germany under the title "Exil – Reise in die Heimat."

Paul Schrag died in New York City in 1992, Suzanne Schrag in 2018.

Extent

4 Linear Feet

8 Folders (8 oversized folders in shared oversize large box)

Abstract

The Suzanne Schrag Collection holds papers of Suzanne (née Fuchs) and Paul Schrag, as well as papers of family members, especially Suzanne's parents and Paul's maternal uncle Nathan Sulzberger. Much of the collection focuses on the lives of family members, especially as documented in their extensive family correspondence. Prominent is also the unpublished writing of Paul Schrag and Nathan Sulzberger, notably the memoirs of Paul Schrag and short stories of Nathan Sulzberger. Some official documents, especially those pertaining to the education of Paul and Suzanne Schrag are also present, along with a few photographs, notes on genealogy, and other papers.

Arrangement

Arranged in three series:

Related Material

Some books by Otto and Paul J. Schrag are available in the LBI Library.

Related is also the Paul Schrag Collection in the LBI Archives, AR 25161. This collection includes further personal correspondence and creative writing of Paul Schrag.

Separated Material

A number of books were removed from the archival collection during processing, including books about the artist Karl Schrag. Copies of their title pages were retained in the first folder of the collection. In addition a tiny pocket English-French dictionary that was missing a title page or front cover was also removed from the collection.

Antique reading glasses in an eyeglass case were removed to the LBI Arts and Objects Collection.

Duplicate copies of unpublished manuscripts by Paul Schrag were removed from the archival collection during processing.

Processing Information

During processing folders were grouped together by content or format to form series and subseries. Large folders of alphabetized correspondence were further subdivided. Published books were removed from the archival collection, with copies of title pages retained in the first folder of the collection. Duplicate copies of unpublished manuscripts by Paul Schrag were removed from the archival collection during processing.

Title
Guide to the Papers of Suzanne Schrag AR 25833
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Dianne Ritchey
Date
2020
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Edition statement
This version was derived from SuzanneSchrag.xml

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States