Hatbox

Miriam Davenport Ebel (1915-1999) was born Miriam Davenport in Boston, studied art and architecture history at Smith College, New York University, and the University of Paris, and escaped to Toulouse and then Marseille during the German invasion in May 1940. She worked with Varian Fry at the Centre Américain de Secours, a cover for the Emergency Rescue Committee, helping to smuggle antifascist artists, writers, and intellectuals out of Europe. She joined her fiancé in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, in October, returned to the United States via Lisbon just after Pearl Harbor, and continued to work for relief, rescue, and refugee organizations. After the war she pursued her career in painting and sculpture and as an instructor in art and French. She married Charles Ebel (1937-2013) in the 1960s. 

The hatbox was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991 by Miriam Davenport Ebel. 

Hatbox 

overall: Height: 10.380 inches (26.365 cm) | Width: 56.250 inches (142.875 cm) 

Miriam Davenport Ebel took the hatbox to France with her in June, 1938. At one point, she lived for five months using only what was packed in the box. Steamer sticker on box is that of the Companie Generale Transatlantique's SS Champlain. 

No restrictions on access 

No restrictions on use 

Pressed cardboard with cloth covering; steamer sticker affixed to lid of box.