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Adele Buchalter scrapbooks

Call Number

MS 86

Date

circa 1866-1981, inclusive

Creator

Buchalter, Adele, 1899-1991

Extent

3.5 Linear feet in 14 flat boxes (29 volumes)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are primarily in English, with some family history and travel documents in other languages.

Abstract

The collection holds 29 scrapbooks compiled by New Yorker Adele Buchalter (1899-1991). Comprised primarily of photographs, the albums trace Buchalter's life from infancy through her move at age 80 to a retirement community. Subjects include, among others, Buchalter's school years at Horace Mann School for Girls and Vassar College, volunteer service at the start of World War I, her career in retail mostly as a buyer/purchasing agent, her family history (which includes 19th century Jewish immigrants from Germany), and extensive travels in the 1970s.

Biographical / Historical

Adele Buchalter (nee Lowinson) was born in New York City in 1899 to Frieda and Louis Lowinson. This collection provides some of her family ancestry, going back to her great-grandfather, Leon Sternberger, who was born in Bavaria in 1819. Sternberger, a Jewish cantor, immigrated to the United States in 1849 and later became cantor at Temple Beth El in Manhattan. Other members of Buchalter's extended family were also Jewish immigrants from Germany in the 19th century.

Adele Lowinson attended Horace Mann School for Girls, graduating in 1916. She then attended Vassar College, where she met Lieutenant Benjamin Buchalter of the U.S. Navy in 1917 as he passed through New York City during his military service in World War I. Adele married Buchalter in 1918. She continued her education at Vassar for a time, but apparently did not graduate, though she identified with her Class of 1920 through her life. She would eventually finish her studies, earning a B.A. in 1952 from the University of California at Berkeley.

Adele and Benjamin had two sons, Benjamin Jr. (born 1921) and Lloyd Arthur (born 1923). Tragically, Adele's husband died of tuberculosis in 1925 and Adele raised her sons as a single mother, likely with the help of her parents. To support the family, Adele entered the workforce about 1926, working as a salesperson and eventually as a buyer, or purchasing agent, in the retail field, specifically in the area of infant and children's wear. Along the way, she also seems to have been involved with design work of marketing materials and of children's games. She also was active in the buyers' trade association.

By 1970, Buchalter was working for the New York State Department of Labor as an Employment Counselor when, at age 70, she was required by law to retire from state employment. At that time she became an instructor of economics for the Henry George School of Social Science in New York. In that capacity she traveled to Calgary in Alberta, Canada, for a conference. She was so entranced with Calgary that, shortly after in 1972, she bought a house there and left New York. Through the 1970s, she joined tour groups to travel extensively in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. In 1979, she sold her home in Calgary and moved to Washington Square, a retirement community in Hinsdale, Illinois. Adele Buchalter died in 1991.

(The above note was gleaned from documents in the collection.)

Arrangement

The albums are presented in the order as numbered on their labels. The order is roughly chronological.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes 29 scrapbooks compiled by Adele Buchalter documenting the arc of her life from infancy in 1899 to her life in a retirement community in 1981, with particular emphasis on her connections with family and friends, aspects of her career, and extensive travel later in life. The first album centers on Buchalter's family history, including ancestors and descendants from her extended family.

The albums principally hold photographs, which are typically captioned, at least collectively and sufficiently to provide context and identification of individuals and places. There are also a variety of other document types; depending on the subject matter these include event programs, certificates, dance cards, invitations, letters, newspaper clippings, postcards, artwork (from children and adults), travel itineraries and brochures, and more. Glimpses of Buchalter's career in retail and as a purchasing agent, and later as an instructor of economics, are found in some of the scrapbooks in the form of business correspondence, compensation slips, acknowledgements of her work, articles she wrote, and other material. Some of the later volumes, which emphasize travel, include Buchalter's circular letters to her friends and family summarizing her travels or other activities for a given year.

The container list below provides a sense of the subject content of each volume as perceived by the processing archivist from a skim of each. The title used for the album is that found on the album's label, presumably given by Buchalter. Post-it notes and other notations found throughout the volumes were likely made by family members and are suggestive that some portions were scanned before donation to N-YHS.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Some of the documents (e.g. letters, cards, brochures, multi-page notes) can only be fully read when removed from the scrapbooks' page enclosures, and some of these can only be removed with some difficulty. Patrons wishing to access such documents need to bring them to the attention of the reference librarian for assessment and determination of proper handling.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: Adele Buchalter Scrapbooks, MS 86, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Lloyd Buchalter, 2003.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:02 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Processed by archivist Larry Weimer in September 2021.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024