Scope and Contents
The family of Abraham and Rebekah Bettelheim Kohut were prominent in the New York Jewish community, and involved in relgious affairs and education. The Kohut School for Girls was operated in New York City from 1899-1905 by Rebekah Kohut. The papers consist primarily of Kohut family memorabilia, photographs, correspondence, and other material. Also included are two ledgers from the Kohut School for Girls for academic year 1904-1905 listing students' names with charges for tuition, books, and other details. The Kohut family endowed the Alexander Kohut Memorial Fund for the purchase of Judaica materials by the Yale University Library.
Dates
- Circa 1880-1966
- Majority of material found within 1890 - 1935
Creator
Language of Materials
The materials are in English, German, and Hebrew.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the stacks of Sterling Memorial Library, 1942; transferred from the Judaica Collection Curator, 2001, 2007, and 2009.
Extent
4 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The family of Abraham and Rebekah Bettelheim Kohut were prominent in the New York Jewish community, and involved in relgious affairs and education. The Kohut School for Girls was operated in New York City from 1899-1905 by Rebekah Kohut. The papers consist primarily of Kohut family memorabilia, photographs, correspondence, and other material. Also included are two ledgers from the Kohut School for Girls for academic year 1904-1905 listing students' names with charges for tuition, books, and other details.
Biographical / Historical
Alexander Kohut was born in Hungary on April 22, 1842. He completed rabbinical studies in Breslau and received a Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig. In 1885 he came to the United States to serve as the chief rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Chesed in New York City. Kohut died on May 25, 1894, in New York City. Rebekah Bettelheim Kohut was born in Hungary on September 9, 1864, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1864. She married Alexander Kohut in 1887, and raised his eight children from a previous marriage. Following his death, she founded and ran the Kohut School for Girls in New York City from 1899-1905. She was a prominent figure in helping to organize Jewish women's groups in New York, and in 1923 became president of the World Congress for Jewish Women. She died in New York City on August 11, 1951. George A. Kohut (1874-1933) was a son of Alexander Kohut, a scholar, and a librarian at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Custodial History
Materials in this collection were received at various times from the Kohut family and descendants of Gisela Kahn Gresser, a granddaughter of Alexander Kohut, by the Yale University Library and the Judaica Collection.
General note
The collection was formerly known as the Kohut Girl's School Records (MS 956). With subsequent additions, Kohut family material now predominates and the title of the collection was changed to reflect this in 2009.
- Title
- Guide to the Kohut Family Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by Janet Elaine Gertz and staff of Manuscripts and Archives
- Date
- July 1983
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Location
Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511