The Ward M. Canaday Center

˜ The Ward M. Canaday Center ™

for Special Collections

The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

Henry Waldemar Nordmeyer Papers, 1905-1962

MSS-012

Size: 8 linear feet

Provenance:

Access: Open

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns. Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by: Paul Gifford, April 1986

Reformatted by: Arjun Sabharwal, August 2009

Biographical Sketch

1891 - born Magdeburg, Germany, son of Ernst Nordmeyer, secondary school teacher of French and English, and of Mary Barker (Andrews) Nordmeyer, a British-born woman
1910 - graduated from gymnasium at Braunschweig, Germany
1910-13 -student at University of Leipzig
1913-14 -assistant in German, University of Wisconsin
1914 -received Ph. D., University of Wisconsin
1914-15 -instructor in German, Ohio State University
1915-18 -instructor in German, University of Illinois
1918-20 -copy-and proof-reader, Open Court Publishing Company, LaSalle, Illinois
1920-21 copy-and proof-reader, University of Chicago Press
1921-24 Professor of Modern Languages, Grand Rapids (Mich.) Junior College
1924-25 -Assistant Professor, Swarthmore College
1925-29 -Assistant Professor, Washington University
1926 -his translation, Edward FitzGeralds Rubaiyat des Omar Khayyam, published in Potsdam
1929-32 -Associate Professor and Chairman of German Department, New York University
1929-55 -compiler of annual Modern Language Association Germanic languages bibliography
1932 -married Freda (Friedel) Ida (Zimmermann) Altvater of Ilberstedt, Germany
1932-35 -Professor and Chairman of German Department, New York University
1935-60 -Professor and Chairman of German Department, University of Michigan
1981 -died in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Scope and Content Note

Despite his travels and frequent changes of residence in his early life, Henry W. Nordmeyer was meticulous in saving his incoming letters. As a result, his papers contain letters from individual correspondents written over long spans of years. It is this comprehensiveness which makes this collection valuable to the researcher. On the negative side, Nordmeyer's own notes and drafts of letters were frequently written in the Stolze-Schrey shorthand system, doubtlessly with peculiar quirks, which only the most dedicated researcher will want to try to decipher.

Nordmeyer's correspondents fall into roughly three different categories: professional; family; and romantic or social. Professional correspondence routinely deals with professional appointments in the German departments of American universities and Modern Language Association activities, as well as requests for comments or citations on German literary questions. Since Nordmeyer was active during years difficult for German-Americans, letters not infrequently touch on issues such as American attitudes towards Germans following World War I and the American absorption of scholars fleeing Nazi Germany. Principal professional correspondents include Friedrich Bruns, Edward Prokosch, Charles A. Williams, Otto Heller, Alexander R. Hohlfeld, and Otto E. Lessing.

Henry and Friedel Nordmeyer maintained regular contact with their relatives in Europe, and were generous in supporting their needy family members. The half-British Henry Nordmeyer supported his widowed aunt, Mrs. Isabella Ogilvy-Ramsay, for many years. He kept up a steady correspondence with his parents Ernst and Mary, his sisters Gertrud Koehler and Paula Nordmeyer, and brothers Albert and Willie. Their letters reflect the dire economic conditions they faced in 1923 and in the postwar period, as well as the bright prospects they thought they had when the Nazis first carne to power. Friedel's relatives in Soviet-occupied Germany, including her mother Johanne Braun, her aunt Nanny Burghardt, sister Lilo Ruhe, and niece Elisabeth Strecker, depended on the Nordmeyer's support to carry them through the 1950s. Finally, the letters of Henry's nephew George Nordmeyer, a German scholar at Yale, cross the lines of both professional and family categories.

Nordmeyer seems to have made friends and lovers easily. His correspondence with Jack and Evelyn Orelup, Bettina Jackson, Erich Brockelmann, Elizabeth Spanknebel, Charlotte Rudolph, and others demonstrates the reaction of the 1920s to Victorian social mores.

Although the correspondence is remarkably comprehensive, certain gaps do exist. Letters written in 1921 and 1922 are missing, and those from the 1930s appear to be underrepresented. Any letters which Henry and Friedel Nordmeyer exchanged prior to their marriage in 1932 apparently were removed from the collection.

Outgoing letters are rare. When they do exist, they are drafts, often in shorthand, or they are carbon copies. Although sparse in number, they are often informative. Outgoing letters are interfiled with incoming letters by correspondent.

Other material in the collection consists largely of research notes and drafts written in shorthand, lecture notes, and a substantial paper, "Reinmar der Alte und Heinrich von Rugge," all written while a student at the University of Leipzig. Further material which may be found include a miscellany of poems, articles, and notes written by Nordmeyer and others.

Slightly more than half of the correspondence is in German, with the remainder in English. Nearly all the German handwriting done before 1920 is in the Gothic cursive script, but as time progressed, more correspondents adopted Italic cursive. Nordmeyer's own handwriting, however, was in Italic cursive. He was fluent in English at an early age.

Folder List

Box	File
1		Correspondence
	1	Calendar, 1913-20
	2	A
	3	Adley, Angus
	4	Ahrens, Hildegard
	5	Albert Teachers' Agency
	6	Alexander, John, M.D.
		Altvater, Carol (Doran)
	7	1951-52
	8	1953-54
	9	1955-56
	10	1957-58
	11	1959-61
		Altvater, Harry Wolfgang
	12	1935; Oct.-Dec. 1942
	13	Jan.-June 1943
	14	July-Dec. 1943
	15	Jan.-June 1944
	16	July-Dec. 1944
	17	Jan.-May 1945
	18	June-Dec. 1945
	19	1946
	20	1950-57
	21	1958-59
	22	1960-June 1961
	23	July-Dec. 1961
	24	American Academy in Rome
	25	American Association of Teachers of German
	26	American Association of University Professors
	27	American College Bureau
	28	Anacker, Hilde von
	29	Andiron Club of New York City
	30	Arndt, Karl J.
	31	Aron, Albert W.
	32	B
	33	Bachmann, Frederick W.
	34	Bacon, Carl Alfons
	35	Belden, Iva M.
	36	Bergholz, Harry
	37	Biberich, Walter
	38	Blume, Reinhard
	39	Blumenthal, Frances B.
	40	Bode, B. H.

Box	File

1		Correspondence (cont.)
	41	Boesche, A. W.
	42	Boesser, Otto H.
	43	Bouton, Archibald L.
	44	Bradley, Lyman R.
	45	Braun, Frank X.
		Braun, Johanne
	46	1932-37
	47	1946-49

2	1	1950-54
	2	1955-58
	3	Brennecke, Henry and Elsie
	4	British Consulate, Detroit
	5	Broadbent, Thomas L.
	6	Brockelmann, Erich
		Bruns, Friedrich
	7	1915-27
	8	1928-34
	9	1935-43
	10	1944-52
	11	1953-58
	12	1959
	13	Bruns, Gertrude
	14	Bruns, Lydia
	15	Buchholz, Luise
	16	Buist, Martha
	17	Burghardt, Nanny
	18	Burkhard, Arthur
	19	C
	20	Cameron, George
	21	Carleton College
	22	Carter, A. Louise
	23	Castleman, Lillie
	24	Christman, Besse P.
	25	Cody, Louise
	26	Cole, Ethel S. and Arthur
	27	Crew, William H.
	28	D
	29	Deutsch-Amerikanische Beratungs-Vermittlungsgesellschaft
	30	Deutsches Institut für Auslander an der Universität Berlin
	31	Diamond, William
	32	Diez, Max
	33	Dippner, Gertrud
	34	Dippner, Kurt
	35	Drake, Helen Jean
	36	Drewes, Margarete and W.

Box	File

	37	Dwyer, Ellen
	38	E
	39	Eaton, J. W.
	40	Eddy, Wilhelmina
	41	Einarsson, Stefan
	42	Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe
		Esslinger, Esther
	43	1918-26
	44	1927-May 1929
	45	June 1929-1932
	46	Evans, M. Blakemore
	47	F
	48	Fajans, Salomen
	49	Faust, A. B.
	50	Fehling, Milton E.
	51	Feise, Ernst
	52	Fernsemer, Oscar F. W.
	53	Filsinger, H. J.
	54	Filsinger, Irma Louise


3	1	Finney, Dorothy
	2	Franz, Mia
	3	Friedrich, W. P. -Letters about
		Comparative Literature Section of M.L.A.
	4	Fritz, Hedwig (Stuczynski)
	5	Fritz, Horst (Stuczynski)
	6	Funke, Erich
	7	G
	8	George, Anneliese
	9	German Consulate, St. Louis
	10	Germanic Review
	11	Gingrich, Arnold
	12	Gingrich, John H.
	13	Goebel, Julius
	14	Goedsche, C. R.
	15	Goethe Society of America
	16	Goetsch, Charles
	17	Gotze, Albrecht
	18	Gotze, Hermann
	19	Gotze-van Hoboken, Gertrude (Schmidt)
	20	Goldschmidt, Grete
	21	Graf, Otto
	22	Grand Rapids Junior College
	23	Graz, Ilse
	24	Green, Albert B.
	25	Green, Alexander
	26	Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

Box	File
3		Correspondence (cont.)
	27	Gumbel & Bering
	28	Gwilliams, Lila (Doran)
	29	H
	30	Haessler, Clara L.
	31	Hagboldt, Peter
	32	Hagenow, C. F.
	33	Halley, Albert B.
	34	Hamburg-American Line
	35	Hamburger, Ronnie
	36	Handorf, lIse
	37	Haney, John B.
	38	Hanssler, Anna
	39	Haring, Ethel and Alexander
	40	Hasenfratz, Otto
	41	Heinz, Heinrich
	42	Heller, Otto
	43	Hellersberg-Wendriner, Anna
	44	Hense, Wilhelm
	45	Heyneck, Hans
	46	Hoboken, G. B. Rudolf van
	47	Hohlfeld, Alexander Rudolf
	48	Hulst, Cornelia
	49	Humphrey, Helen
	50	I
	51	J
	52	J----, Ruth
		Jackson, Bettina
	53	1914-16
	54	1917-18
	55	1919, 1923
	56	1924, 1926
	57	1927-29
	58	1930-33 and undated
	59	Jaeger, Hans
	60	Janecke, Margarete
	61	Janecke, Robert (includes poetry)
	62	Jente, Richard
	63	Jockers, Ernst
	64	Jurgenberg, A.
		Jurgenberg, Margarete
	65	from, to H. W. Nordmeyer
	66	to, from H. W. Nordmeyer

4	1	K
	2	Keidel, Heinrich
	3	Keil, Guenther and Carla (Kreykenboom)
	4	Kendall, Sallie
	5	Kipp, H. J.

Box	File
4		Correspondence (cont.)
	6	Klein, Arthur
	7	Koch, Ernst
	8	Kohler, Gertrude (Nordmeyer) (Perlet)
	9	Koester, Leonard
	10	Kraus, Carl von Kubitz, E. Ida (Walz)

	11	1916-19, 1922-24
	12	1929-35
	13	Kummer, Karl and Margarete
	14	Kunstmann, John G.
	15	Kurath, Hans
	16	L
	17	Lane, George S.
	18	Lange, Albert
	19	Lange, Magdalen C.
	20	Lange, Victor
	21	Lenz, Harold
	22	Leonard, William E.
	23	Leopold, W. F.
	24	Lessing, Otto Eduard
	25	Liepe, Wolfgang
	26	Loomis, Roger S.
	27	Lubeck, Otto
	28	M
	29	Maier, Georg
	30	Mayer, Sofie
	31	Meade, Laura M.
	32	Meier, Hermann
	33	Meyer, Fritz
	34	Meyer, Heinrich
	35	Milch, Werner
	36	Modern Language Association of America
	37	Modern Language Forum
	38	Morgan, Bayard Q.
	39	Mueller, Walter J.
	40	Must, Gustav
	41	N
	42	Nabholz, Hans
	43	Naumann, Walter
	44	Neuse, Werner
	45	New York University
	46	Newport, Clara Price
	47	Nordmeyer, Albert
	48	Nordmeyer, Armin
	49	Nordmeyer, Erika (Mrs. Albert)
		Nordmeyer, Ernst
		To Henry W. Nordmeyer
	50	1905-14

Box	File
4		Correspondence (cont.)
		Nordmeyer, Ernst (cont.)
		To Henry W. Nordmeyer
	51	1915-16, 1919-20
	52	1923-26
	53	From Henry W. Nordmeyer
	54	Nordmeyer, Friedel, to H. W. Nordmeyer
		Nordmeyer, George (Georg)
	55	1924-33
	56	1934-41
	57	1942-46, 1950-60
		Nordmeyer, Gloria (Goodkind) (Mrs. Klaus)
	58	1950-53
	59	1954-56
	60	1957-58
	61	1959-62

5	1	Nordmeyer, Mrs. Heini
	2	Nordmeyer, Heinrich
	3	Nordmeyer, Klaus
	4	Nordmeyer, Mary B. (Andrews)
		Nordmeyer, Pauline (Paula)
	5	1914-27
	6	1928-41
	7	1945-50
	8	1951-61
		Nordmeyer, Wilhelm (Willie)
	9	1919-28
	10	1929-40
	11	1945-60
	12	Nugent, Theresa
	13	Nutt, Rudolf
	14	O
		Ogi1vy-Ra~say, Isabella
	15	1910-16
	16	1917-20
	17	1923-26
	18	1927-29
	19	1930-33
	20	1934-36
	21	1937-38
	22	1939-42 and undated
	23	Ogilvy-Ramsay, Mary
	24	Ogilvy-Ramsay, Max
	25	Open Court Publishing Company
	26	Otto, M. C.
	27	Orelup, John Wesley and Evelyn
	28	P
	29	Patison, G. M.

Box	File
5		Correspondence (cont.)
	30	Paulsen, Wolfgang
	31	Penzl, Herbert
	32	Peterson, Charlotte Reid
	33	Philippson, Ernst A.
	34	Pick, Hanns and Elly
	35	Price, Hereward J.
	36	Price, Percival

6
		Prokosch, Edward
	1	1926-31
	2	1932-38
	3	Prokosch, Gertrud
	4	Prokosch, Mathilde
	5	Prosser, Jean
	6	Pulgram, Ernst
	7	Purin, C. M.
	8	R
	9	Ramcke, Meta-Maria (lngeborg)
	10	Raschen, John F.
	11	Reichart, Walter
	12	Reichenberger, Arnold G.
	13	Reiss, F. A.
	14	Repmann, Hans
	15	Richter, Georg and lIse
	16	Riepl, lnnocenz
	17	Rittinghaus, F. B.
	18	Robinson, Elizabeth
	19	Roedder, E. C.
	20	Roeseler, R. O.
	21	Rose, Ernst
	22	Rothstock, Walther
	23	Rowe, Helen B.
		Rudolph, Charlotte
	24	1908-13
	25	1914-20
	26	Rudwin, Maximilian J.
	27	Ruhe, Lieselotte
	28	S
	29	Sasse, Gretel
	30	Schaefer, H. Josef
	31	Schafheitlin, Anna
	32	Scherer, Philip
	33	Schering, Herbert
	34	Schiller-Akademie
	35	Schirokauer, Arno
	36	Schlitt, Dorothy Lasher
	37	Schmidt, Jessy and Raymund (includes pencil sketches)

Box	File
6		Correspondence (cont.)
	38	Scheffler, Heinz Herbert Scheffler, Helga (Olga) (Dehning)
	39	1913-16, 1919-20
	40	1923-37
	41	1946-60
	42	Schreiber, C. F.
	43	Schreiber, Theodore
	44	Schuchard, G. C. L .
	45	Schütze, Martin
	46	Schumann, Detlev W.
	47	Schwartz, Abraham
	48	Schwenn, Walter
	49	Schwietering, Julius
	50	Selmer, Carl
	51	Senn, Alfred
	52	Smith, Margaret A.
	53	Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study
	54	Sommerfeld, Martin
		Spanknebel, Elizabeth
	55	1923-24
	56	1925-26
	57	1927-29
	59*	1930-35 and undated

	1	Springer, Otto
7	2	Starck, Taylor
	3	Steitz, A.
	4	Strecker, Elisabeth (Gerlits)
	5	Striedieck, Werner
	6	Stuckensen, Alexander and Liesl
		Stuczynski, Alexander
	7	1946-48
	8	1949-58
	9	Stuerm, Francis H.
	10	Swarthmore College
	11	T
	12	Twaddell, W. Freeman
	13	U
	14	Uhlendorf, Bernhard A.
	15	Universität Leipzig
	16	University of Delaware. Committee on Foreign Study
		University of Illinois -President
	17	University of Illinois Press
	18	University of Michigan
	19	German Department


Box	File
7		Correspondence (cont.)
		University of Michigan (cont.)
	20	Goethe Bicentennial
	21	Research Club
		University of Wisconsin
	22	German Department
	23	Library
	24	V
	25	Voss, Ernst and Annie H.
	26	W
	27	Wagman, Frederick
	28	Walz, John A.
	29	Washington University
	30	Weigand, Hermann J.
	31	Weilbrenner, Marie
	32	Wensinger, A. S. (Jerry)
		Wickware, Sarah R.
	33	1910-13
	34	1914-19 and undated
	35	Wilkens, F. H.
		Williams, Charles A.
	36	1918-29
	37	1930-57
	38	Winkelman, John
	39	Wood, Frank H., Jr.
	40	Wulff, Alfred
	41	y
	42	Z
	43	Z-----, Heli
	44	Ziersch, G.
	45	Zinnecker, M. D.
	46	Zucker, A. E.
	47	Zurfluh, Hattie
	48	Book dealers
	49	Publishers
	50	Magazines and journals
	51	Charitable and political organizations
		Letters of solicitation
	52	Outgoing letters -unidentified
		correspondents
	53	Incoming letters -unidentified
		correspondents
		Notes and papers
	54	Official documents
	55	Articles and reviews by H. W. Nordmeyer
	56	Essays
	57	Poems
	58	Notes
	59	Class assignments, 1959?


Box	File
7		Notes and papers (cont.)
	60	Fragments
	61	Reinmar der Alte und Heinrich von Rugge
	62


8	1	Shorthand key
	2	Shorthand notes
	3
	4	Lecture notes taken at the University of Leipzig, 1910-13
	5	Prof. Brugmann, "Elemente der Sprachwissenschaft"
	6	Prof. Koester, "Faust, etc." Lecture notes taken at the University of Leipzig, 1910-13 (cont.)
	7	Prof. Kronenberg, "Kant"
	8	Prof. Lamprecht, "Kulturgeschichte Urzeit und Mittelalter"
		Prof. Sievers
	9	"Deutsche Grammatik"
	10
	11	"Einführung in das Mittelhochdeutsch"
	12	"Einführung in das Studium des Althochdeutsch"
	13	"Einführung in das Studium des Nibelungenliedes"
	14	"Einführung ins Iliad"
	15	"Literaturgeschichte IIIa"
	16	"Parcival"
	17	"Wolfram"
	18	Prof. Witkowski, "Methodik der Literaturgeschichte"
	19	Prof. Wundt, "Philosophie von Kant bis jetzt"
	20	Miscellaneous class notes, 1908-11
		Miscellaneous
	21	Poems by Robert Janecke, 1907-09
	22	Articles by others
	23	Papers and lectures by others
	24	Bibliographies by others
		Photographs
	25	Family
	26	Friends
	27	Clippings
	28
	29
	30	Miscellaneous
	31	Funeral register