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COLLECTION Identifier: 83-M196--86-M227

Additional papers of Bertha Sanford Gruenberg, 1907-1985

Overview

Addenda to the papers (837--69-31) of Bertha Sanford Gruenberg, journalist, lecturer, and camp director.

Dates

  • Creation: 1907-1985

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Bertha Sanford Gruenberg is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

3.21 linear feet ((3 cartons, 1/2 file box) plus 3 photograph folders, 1 folio folder)

Personal papers include the Gruenbergs's courtship correspondence while she was in Minneapolis and he in New York, and correspondence between Bertha Sanford Gruenberg and her brother and sister-in-law, Art and Stella Sanford. The latter deals with a number of family concerns, including child-rearing, learning disabilities, and financial matters during the Great Depression. Also included is correspondence concerning Bertha Sanford Gruenberg's association with the Women's University Club in Philadelphia, and especially its survey of women and part-time employment, 1950-1952; and speeches, correspondence, drafts, and notes on a range of topics including aging, education, prejudice, women, mental health, and her own family.

Photographs, reunion lists, lists of meals and seating arrangements, etc. document her work at Camp Waziyatah, as do Bertha Sanford Gruenberg's notes on her working relationship with Amy Faulkner, her co-director. The rest of the collection consists of drafts of her book on camps, and correspondence, drafts, and research material for "Children's Summer Camps and State Laws."

Clippings, pamphlets, reprints, and other printed material from organizations such as the Age Center of New England, the American Ethical Union, the Center for the Study of Aging (University of Pennsylvania), and the National Council of Jewish Women, and from publications such as The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer , Readers' Digest, Newsweek, and Time were discarded. Such material usually concerned topics of interest to Bertha Sanford Gruenberg: aging, retirement, women and employment, mental health, recipes, anti-Semitism, competition, juvenile delinquency, etc.

BIOGRAPHY

Bertha Sanford Gruenberg, lecturer, journalist and camp director was born in Central Europe, emigrated to the United States at the age of five and settled in Minneapolis. She graduated from high school in 1906, and was Society reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune, 1906-1910. She married Frederick P. Gruenberg in 1909; they had two children, Edith and John. In 1911, the Gruenberg's moved to Philadelphia, where they served as resident directors at the Ethical Society's Southwark Settlement House, and Bertha Gruenberg continued to write freelance features for magazines and newspapers. From 1917-1920, Bertha Gruenberg was Executive Secretary of the Equal Franchise Society of Philadelphia and thereafter, gave lectures on child psychology and education to educational, civic and religious groups.

From 1926-1953, Gruenberg co-directed Camp Waziyatah, at Harrison, Maine, with Amy Faulkner. This was a summer camp, originally for boys and girls and later for girls alone, which applied John Dewey's educational principles in a non-competitive atmosphere. After retiring as co-director of Camp Waziyatah in 1953, Bertha Gruenberg continued to lecture on a number of topics, including aging and education. She also continued to write articles and to work on two books: one on camps in general, the other entitled "Children's Summer Camps and State Laws." Neither was ever published. Frederick Gruenberg had a successful career in banking and served in a number of capacities in state and local government. He died in 1976. His papers are at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Bertha Gruenberg had two brothers, Harry and Art, and a sister, Esther. A successful businessman in Sioux City, Iowa, Art Sanford, and his wife Stella, had a daughter Gloria. The Gruenbergs kept in close touch with them and other family members, and Art Sanford was especially helpful in providing advice and financial assistance to family members during the Great Depression.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 83-M196, 85-M67, 85-M234, 86-M75, 86-M227

These addenda were given to the Schlesinger Library by Bertha Sanford Gruenberg between September 1983 and November 1986.

Related Material:

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Bertha Sanford Gruenberg Papers, 1898-1985 (837--69-31).

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Carton 1: 1-48
  2. Carton 2: 49-85
  3. Carton 3: 86-116
  4. Box 4: 117-120

Processing Information

Preliminary inventory: June 1996

By: Anne Engelhart

Title
Gruenberg, Bertha Sanford. Additional papers of Bertha Sanford Gruenberg, 1907-1985: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
The collection was processed with a grant from Clara Goldberg Schiffer.
EAD ID
sch00607

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

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