archives.nypl.org -- Margarete Schurgast papers (original) (raw)

Biographical/historical information

Margarete Schurgast was born August 3, 1871 in Berlin. She was a Jewish feminist and pacifist, and ran two separate boardinghouses in Berlin: the Boardinghouse Ludwig, and the Hotel-pension Kurfürstenheim. Schurgast fled Nazi rule in 1941, moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she lived until her death of stomach cancer. She was co-founder of the Aid Society for Educated Women (Hilfsverein für gebildete Frauen), and an active member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the League for Human Rights. Schurgast befriended and corresponded with Carrie Chapman Catt, the Danish writer Karin Michaëlis, and Rosika Schwimmer.

Administrative information

Custodial history

The materials were originally donated to Rosika Schwimmer in 1947 and included as part of Series Q of the Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection. In 2006 the papers were reprocessed, and while administratively remaining part of the collection, they are physically arranged separately.

Source of acquisition

Donated by Rosika Schwimmer as part of the Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection.

Processing information

Processed by Laura Ruttum; machine readable finding aid created by FAKER.