Papers of Theresa Goell, 1906-2005

This collection documents the personal and professional life of Theresa Goell. The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence, including extensive correspondence between members of the Goell family and Goell's correspondence with friends and colleagues. The collection also contains financial and medical records, consisting of bills, annotated bank statements, cancelled checks and check registers; clippings, address and appointment books; material pertaining to Goell's education and her interior design and archeological activities; professional papers written or co-written by her and photographs. Languages represented include Turkish, French, German, Hebrew, and Greek. The bulk of the arrangement and folder headings were created by the processor; original folder headings, when used, appear in quotation marks. Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be cataloged in VIA, Harvard University's Visual Information Access database. Others, referred to as "uncataloged" photographs, are not of sufficient research interest to warrant cataloging and are simply treated as parts of the documents they accompany. A significant number of receipts, bank statements, and student notes were weeded from the collection. When the collection first arrived at the Schlesinger Library, papers were sorted and the bulk of Goell's archeological materials were sent to Harvard University's Semitic Museum.

Additional material received in 2006 and 2007 (accession numbers 2006-M205 and 2007-M117) was added to the collection in August 2015. These materials are housed in #52.1-59.10 and 50FB.2 and maintained in a separate series. Some overlap exists between this series and the earlier material.

Series I, FAMILY PAPERS, 1920-1984, n.d. (#1.1-11.10), consists primarily of correspondence among the extended Goell family, including Goell's brothers Milton and Kermit; sisters Eve (Goell) Godfrey (changed from Gottfried) and Fay (Goell) Finkle (later, Fay London); and cousin Ida (Goell) Goodman. Additional correspondents include Milton Goell's wife Amy and children James and Martha; Kermit Goell's third wife Inka and children Julie and Jon; Fay London's sons Harvey and Stephen; and Eve Godfrey's daughters Ellen and Harriet. Also included is correspondence with Goell's mother Mary; husband Cyrus Levinthal; son Jay Levinthal; and Jay Levinthal's first and second wives, Betty and Rachel. The series is arranged in two groupings, with general files of family correspondence followed by letters from, and correspondence with, individual family members. Considerable overlap exists between the two groupings. Much of the correspondence dating from 1929 to 1932 addresses Theresa Goell's separation, and subsequent divorce, from Cyrus Levinthal, and the Goell family's reactions. Other topics include Goell's work and the work and activities of other members of the family, the health of family members, maintenance of a family home in Hunter, New York, financial transactions, plans for visits, and familial relationships. In addition to correspondence, the series includes certificates, papers related to the family's finances, and a travel diary belonging to Ida Goodman. Unless otherwise noted, folders consist of correspondence with Theresa Goell. The series is arranged alphabetically by family member.

Series II, BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL, 1928-1986, 2005, n.d. (#11.11-21.15, 51.1-51.8, DVD-4), consists of the four subseries described below.

Subseries A, Biographical, 1928-1986, 2005, n.d. (#11.11-12.8, DVD-4), includes Goell's curricula vitae, and transcripts of oral histories and interviews, as well as some other items providing information about her life. The subseries includes a DVD of Queen of the Mountain, a film about Goell made by her niece, Martha Lubell. The subseries is arranged chronologically.

Subseries B, Personal, 1928-1986, n.d. (#12.9-15.15), consists of passports and other materials related to Goell's extensive travels, several folders dealing with problems with her apartment, drafts of her will, materials related to her estate, address and appointment books, etc. The subseries is arranged chronologically.

Subseries C, Medical, 1939-1986, n.d. (#15.16-17.15), consists primarily of bills for doctor's visits and thus documents Goell's frequent medical difficulties. Included are bills from Staff Builders', who provided home medical assistance late in her life; bills and correspondence from Sonotone Corporation and other materials related to her attempts to supplement her hearing loss; and correspondence and bills related to an illness she suffered while in Germany working on the final Nemrut Daği report and her subsequent care at a nursing home in Florida. The subseries is arranged chronologically.

Subseries D, Education, 1928-1969, n.d. (#18.1-21.14, 51.1-51.8), consists of notes and drawings for classes taken at Radcliffe College, Cambridge University, and Columbia University, as well as some notes and papers for classes at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, notes from a drafting class, and correspondence regarding scholarships and Goell's degree status. The series is arranged by educational institution, followed by the scholarship and degree status material, and some annotated prints.

Series III, FINANCIAL, 1922-1985, n.d. (#21.15-26.7), documents Goell's personal and professional expenses, with the exception of costs incurred in her home decorating business (see #44.4-44.6). The series consists of the two subseries described below.

Subseries A, General, 1922-1984, n.d. (#21.15-23.12), includes receipts, correspondence, and banking records documenting Goell's expenditures and financial transactions between 1922 and 1985. Included are receipts for Jacob Goell's expenses for Goell's wedding reception, bills for stays at a Turkish hotel, tax returns, and income and expense lists. The subseries is arranged chronologically.

Subseries B, Banking. 1926-1985, n.d. (#23.13-26.7), consists of check registers and those cancelled checks for which there is no register. The subseries is arranged chronologically.

Series IV, CORRESPONDENCE, 1918?-1986, n.d. (#26.8-44.1), is arranged in the following two subseries. Some correspondence is in French, German and Turkish.

Subseries A, Alphabetical, 1921-1986, n.d. (#26.8-36.14), consists of correspondence with friends and colleagues and provides an interesting look at Goell's activities and feelings and her willingness to offer advice to people interested in archeology, and to provide guidance and financial assistance to her associates. Included are letters to Goell from Jay Levinthal's childhood nurse (#33.14, 35.4), describing his activities. The subseries also offers a sense of Goell's frequent travels and wide range of acquaintances, as it includes letters from London, New York, Germany and France, and Turkey. There is some overlap with Subseries B.

Subseries B, General, 1918?-1986, n.d. (#36.15-44.1), also consists of correspondence with friends and professional acquaintances. Topics include Goell's health and social and professional activities, as well as practical arrangements, such as the handling of her mail during her frequent travels. The activities and difficulties of her correspondents are also detailed. The subseries overlaps with Subseries A and is arranged chronologically.

Series V, PROFESSIONAL, 1918-1994, n.d. (#44.2-49.14), consists of two subseries.

Subseries A, Interior design and architecture, 1929-1938, n.d. (#44.2-45.6), describes Goell's work at Hearns' Department Stores and in Palestine, as well as providing information about the home decorating business she ran in New York. It is arranged chronologically.

Subseries B, Archeology, 1918-1994, n.d. (#45.7-49.14), relates primarily to the work Goell undertook at Nemrut Daği and Samosata. Also included is some material on related projects, such as John Yarborough and Robert Perry's explorations of the Euphrates River, and papers on the work Friedrich Karl Dörner conducted, with Goell's collaboration, at Arsameia-on-the-Nymphaios River, the sanctuary of Antiochus I's father. The subseries also contains publicity for lectures by Goell and her brother Kermit, who acted as photographer at Nemrut Daği, articles and papers written or co-written by Goell, and correspondence with the Archaeology Society of Staten Island, which provided funding for work at Samosata. The subseries is arranged with folders pertaining to Goell's early archeological work at Jerash (#45.7) and Tarsus (#45.8-45.10) followed by material on Nemrut Daği (#45.11-48.1) and Samosata (#48.2-48.11), and finally, by miscellaneous folders (#48.12-49.14), including a pot restoration project at the Brooklyn Museum and correspondence with the American Bible Society, which Goell supplied with photographs.

Series VI, PHOTOGRAPHS, 1906-1982, n.d. (#PD.1-PD.21), consists largely of photographs of Goell and the Goell family, with some photographs of friends and professional associates, such as Friedrich Karl Dörner. The series is arranged with photographs of Goell appearing first, followed by photographs of family and friends, photographs of interior design displays and drawings by Goell, a racehorse named Nemrud Dagh owned by her brother-in-law, photographs removed from elsewhere in the collection, and negatives.

Series VII, OVERSIZE, 1927, n.d. (#50FB.1, F+D.1-F+D.3), consists of oversize items from Series I-V. Items include certificates awarded to Jacob and Mary Goell, sketches, a poster with images of Nemrut Daği, and a scrapbook.

Series VIII, ADDENDA, 1920-2003, n.d. (#52.1-59.10, 50FB.2), includes Goell's correspondence with family members, including her mother, brothers, sisters, son, nephew, and nieces. Topics include Goell's archeological work, in which she was often assisted by her brother Kermit; her son Jay Levinthal's military service during World War II, and the work, health, and activities of other members of the family, with Goell's correspondence with Kermit and Inka Goell addressing their temporary separation in 1972 and Goell's feelings about their relationship. The series also includes the separation agreement and divorce decree from Goell's marriage to Cyrus Levinthal; passports; financial and medical documents, including Goell's Social Security card; and a Turkish lesson book. Also included are correspondence with friends and colleagues, including condolence letters received by Kermit Goell after Theresa Goell's death; drafts of papers by Goell and notes on her archeological work; and correspondence regarding Kermit Goell's efforts to have the report on Nemrut Daği completed and published. Of particular note is the material related to Goell's attendence at the Second Conference on the Jewish Question, held by the International Student Service in Switzerland in 1931. Some of the material in the series was annotated by Martha Goell Lubell or Pat Council when researching the film Queen of the Mountain and some folder headings, which appear in quotation marks, were apparently created by them. The series arrangement mirrors that of the earlier series, with family correspondence appearing first, followed by biographical and personal material, correspondence, and professional material. Some photocopied material in this series may duplicate original materials in the earlier series.