This collection contains the Blaustein family correspondence. Materials include correspondence between Karl, Rose, Albert, and Marjorie, as well as newspaper clippings and other ephemera. The first binder began in the summer of 1937, before Albert left for the University of Michigan. Rose, Marjorie and Albert were on vacation, and Karl wrote to them in their absence. The next six binders include letters from Albert's time at university. The first of the six binders contains a collection of Rose and Marjorie's letters to Albert. The next five binders are organized by date rather than sender. The remaining binders contain letters from Albert's time in Chicago and in the military. In these letters, the family discussed daily life and politics, especially related to Nazism and World War II. Most of the letters were written by Karl to Albert.
The remaining correspondences are organized into folders by recipient. These folders are arranged chronologically and contain correspondence and ephemera. Three of the folders contain letters from Marjorie and her parents during her time at the University of Chicago. She wrote about her efforts as a writer as well as daily life and the war. Another set of folders contains letters from Karl and Rose during the summer of 1943. Rose was traveling, and she wrote about her trips to Marjorie in Chicago, Wisconsin, and various Jewish summer resorts.
The remaining folders contain greeting cards, telegrams, and various letters dating from 1920 to 1965. One of these folders contains ephemera from Harvard and Karl's school papers.
A digital resource is also included. Carmen D. Valentino, the seller of the collection, provided the resource, and it contains research on each member of the Blaustein family. The document also details the contents of the collection. Included is an inventory of letters and their authors, as well as some transcribed letters. Information in this resource has not been verified by Bentley staff.
Karl Blaustein was born on May 10, 1895 to Markus and Bertha Blaustein in modern-day Ukraine. In 1907, his family emigrated to the U.S. Upon their arrival in the U.S., the family settled in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. Karl remained with his parents until the late 1910's before moving to Massachusetts to study at Harvard University. Still a student at Harvard, Karl enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 and served with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.
After the war, Karl moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he later married Rose Brickman. A Brooklyn native, Rose was born in 1897 to Russian-Jewish immigrants Morris and Anna Brickman. Their son Albert was born on October 12, 1921. On January 14, 1926 they had a daughter Marjorie (sometimes spelt Marjory).
During the early 1920s, Karl took night classes at the Brooklyn Law Academy. In 1926, he was accepted into the American Bar Association and began his 40-year career in law. In the 1930s and beyond, Karl served as a Jewish community leader and was outspoken against the rise of the Nazis and the fascist regimes in Europe, and the political far-right across the U.S. In 1965, Karl Blaustein died at the age of 70 followed by Rose in the coming years.
Albert entered the University of Michigan in 1937. While at Michigan, Albert became interested in journalism and worked at The Michigan Daily, a student newspaper. His work as a student journalist and worked as a reporter in Chicago in 1941 after he graduated from Michigan.
After moving to Chicago, Albert enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and served as a major during World War II. After the war, Albert returned to New York and attended law school at Columbia University. In New York he married Phyllis Midgen. The couple had three children: Dana, Mark and Eric.
Upon graduating, Albert worked at his father's law firm before teaching at New York Law School and Rutgers University School of Law. Outside of teaching, Albert worked as a human rights lawyer. He consulted on and drafted constitutions for several countries, including Fiji, Liberia, and Zimbabwe. In 1994, Albert died at the age of 72. During World War II, Marjorie attended the University of Chicago and worked as a journalist. She helped to form a student publication called Counterpoint and was a member of the University Writers Guild. Marjorie remained in Chicago until marrying her husband, Louis Simon, in 1946. The couple then moved to New York. Marjorie passed away after 2012.
In these letters, Albert and Karl use racist, sexist, and harmful language when referring to marginalized groups, particularly when referring to Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and Italian people. The letters also contain outdated terms for sex workers and include descriptions of women that are fatphobic and sexist.
Additionally, these letters recount antisemitic language and incidents that the Blausteins encountered as Jewish people.
