Leo Glueckselig Collection

The Leo Glueckselig Collection includes materials pertaining to Leo Glueckselig and other members of the Glueckselig family and consists mostly of personal correspondence, photographs, and documents, whereas other document types such as printed materials, manuscripts, art works, and a cookbook constitute a smaller part of the collection.

TThe bulk of the correspondence consists of two large segments - correspondence between Leo Glueckselig and his parents, Max and Paulina Glueckselig, and correspondence between Leo Glueckselig and his wife, Ita Glueckselig, née Goldberg.

Correspondence between Leo and his parents is very extensive and was generated mostly between 1942 and 1945, i.e. during Leo Glueckselig’s military service in the United States army. Surprisingly, most of the correspondence is conducted in English.

The earliest correspondence between Leo and Ita Glueckselig dates back to the pre-war period. There is no correspondence generated during WWII, since Leo immigrated to the United States while Ita remained in Europe. Their correspondence resumed in 1945.

Some of the post-war correspondence is addressed to Janina Sklaska, the name used by Ita Glueckselig during the war. In addition to discussing private issues, Leo and Ita discussed the problem of bringing Ita from Europe to New York, where they finally reunited in 1946.

As a matter of fact, the entire Glueckselig family was involved in bringing Ita to the States, issuing AffItavits of Support, and writing countless letters to various governmental agencies. Documents related to these issues are found in Series II: Various and include AffItavits of Support and other financial documents, and legal and court documents.

Other correspondence includes correspondence with friends and other family members, small amount of correspondence regarding Leo Glueckselig’s pension from the Austrian government and some professional correspondence of Max Glueckselig and Leo Glueckselig.

Other materials include educational, immigration, military, and vital documents, as well as examples of Leo Glueckselig’s art works and works by other artists, most notably László Mutulay, and large amounts of personal photographs.