Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw collection

Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw collection 

Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw collection 

boxes 4 

The Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw collection contains correspondence between Lawrence B. Goldsmith Sr., various members of the Schiffman and Marx families living in Germany, and United States government officials. The correspondence relates to the families’ requests for assistance in immigrating to the United States from Nazi Germany in the form of signed affidavits of support and financial assistance. The personal correspondence from the families in Germany provide a sense of growing desperation to leave Germany. Also included are Lawrence B. Goldsmith Sr.’s papers relating his activity with the United Jewish Appeal in Alabama from 1939-1954, as well as documents relating to Oscar Goldsmith’s involvement in the American Jewish Relief Committee, 1917-1922. The collection includes family photographs as well as genealogy and research materials related to Jewish history in Alabama. The Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw collection are arranged into five series. Series one, the American Jewish Relief Committee, 1917-1922, includes documents relating to the Oscar Goldsmith’s involvement in the American Jewish Relief Committee and payments to and from Mary Virginia McCormick. A hand written list of donations to the American Jewish Relief Committee is also included in the series. Series two, the United Jewish Appeal papers, 1939-1954, includes documents and correspondence created while Lawrence B. Goldsmith Sr. served as chair of the Alabama United Jewish Appeal campaign. The series is organized into correspondence, financial materials, and printed materials. No materials from 1953 is included in this series. The correspondence largely relates to requests for and acknowledgements of financial donations. Some printed promotional materials can be found among the correspondence. The financial materials includes notes, lists of donations and amounts paid, receipts, the Constitution and By-Laws of Madison County Community Chest, bank deposit slips, check books, and account books. The printed materials include promotional materials and donation forms relating to various relief agencies, a newspaper clipping, and the publication “‘With my own eyes’ A Report on a Visit to Israel,” written and signed by Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Series three, Correspondence, 1884-1956, is organized into subseries which are arranged by family. The correspondence is written in German and English with occasional transcriptions of the German letters created by family members at the time. These transcriptions appear to be created for Lawrence B. Goldsmith Sr. The correspondence is largely from extended family, cousins of Annie Goldsmith, who were seeking assistance in immigrating to the United States from Nazi Germany. In addition to letters, the correspondence includes telegrams, copies of signed affidavits of support, application instructions for immigration visas, other immigration documents, and shipping receipts for household goods. Correspondents with Annie Goldsmith and Lawrence B. Goldsmith Sr. include the families of Ludwig Marx, Otto Marx, Moritz Marx, Meinhard Marx, Ella Lichtenstein, Sophie Levi, Paula Levi, Anny Elbert, Luise Kretsch, and Karl Heinz Marx. The letters from Germany reflect a sense of growing desperation on the part of the families to leave Nazi Germany. Series four, Jewish History in Alabama and the Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw family genealogy, contains photocopies of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and book chapters relating to Jewish history in Alabama. Also included are photocopies of photographs, family trees, and correspondence related to the genealogy of the Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw family. Series five, photographs, 1937-1938, includes original portrait photographs of Ludwig Marx and his family, 1937; Heinz Marx, 1938; Otto Marx, Nelly Marx, and Heinz Marx, 1938; and the Levi family including Sofie Levi, Heinz Levi, Lore Levi, Johanna Levi, and August Levi. Some of these photographs were sent to Annie Goldsmith and Lawrence B. Goldsmith Sr. by family members in Germany as an incentive to assist the families wanting to flee Germany. The photographs are alluded to in the correspondence. 

The Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw collection is arranged in 5 series. Series 1: American Jewish Relief Committee, 1917-1922 Series 2: United Jewish Appeal papers, 1939-1954 Subseries: Correspondence, 1939-1954 Subseries: Financial materials, 1939-1954 Subseries Printed materials, circa 1939 Series 3: Correspondence, 1884-1956 Subseries: Isaak and Betty Schiffman correspondence, 1884-1901 Subseries: Marx and Goldsmith family correspondence, 1935-1949 Subseries: Lawrence B. Goldsmith, Sr. correspondence, 1943-1956 Series 4: Jewish History in Alabama and Margaret Anne Goldsmith Hanaw family genealogy, undated Series 5: Photographs, 1937-1938