Access and Provenance Biographical Sketch Scope and Content Note Box and Folder Listing

A Finding Aid to the David M. Klein Collection Manuscript Collection No. 695 1860-1935. 0.8 Linear ft.

ACCESS AND PROVENANCE

The David M. Klein Collection was donated to the American Jewish Archives in March, 2002, by Mr. Jack Klein and his sister, Mrs. Maxine K. Solomon, of Los Angeles, California. The collection was originally a bequest to Mr. Klein from his father, David M. Klein. Property rights to the materials are held by the American Jewish Archives. Literary rights have not been dedicated to the public. Literary rights to materials are held by the individual authors of the manuscripts or his/her heirs. Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Director of the American Jewish Archives.

The David M. Klein Collection is open to all users. The original manuscript collection is available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH top

Adolphus S. Solomons, businessman, communal worker, and philanthropist, was born in New York City in 1826.  As a young man, he helped found Mount Sinai Hospital. Moving to Washington in 1859, Solomons established the publishing house of Philip & Solomons and did government printing, ran a bookstore, and maintained a photograph gallery. In 1871, he was elected to Washington D.C.'s House of Delegates.

His greatest achievement was in the service of the American Red Cross, which he helped Clara Barton establish in 1881. While she was absent from Washington in 1883, he conducted the young organization's affairs from its Washington headquarters as second vice-president and was described by her as "my good vice-president and kind counsellor." Solomons held this office for 12 years and represented the U.S. at the Red Cross conference in Geneva in 1884. Sent by President Chester A. Arthur as the U.S. representative to the International Red Cross convention in 1887, he was elected vice-president of the convention. For 20 years Solomons was director of Columbia Hospital and Living In Asylum, also serving as an executive of many other health institutions.

Solomons was concerned with Jewish survival and served as acting president of the Jewish Theological Seminary Association (1902) and as a member of the central committee of the Alliance IsraMlite Universelle. Solomons became the champion of the new immigrants from Eastern Europe, and was appointed by Baron de Hirsch as general agent for the Baron de Hirsch Fund in the U.S.

Solomons married Rachel Seixas Phillips in 1851.  The couple had eight daughters: Alma, Rosalie, Isabelle, Julia, Ida, Aline, Lily, and Emma. Solomons died in 1910.

(Material for this biographical sketch was excerpted from the Encyclopedia Judaicia.)

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE top

The David M. Klein Collection contains photographs, a diary, scrapbooks, nearprint materials, correspondence, and genealogical information from the family of philanthropist and businessman Adolphus S. Solomons of Washington DC.  Span dates for the collection are 1860-1935, although the bulk of the items are from the late 19th century.

Of particular significance is a typed transcription of a Civil War era diary (1864) by Solomons' niece, Rachel Rosalie Phillips. In the diary, the teen-aged Phillips details her activities while on an extended visit with her uncle and aunt in Washington DC during the winter and spring of 1864. Included is an account of meeting the President and Mrs. Lincoln at a social event.

Other items in the collection include photographs of extended generations of the Solomons family as well as interior and exterior scenes of their home in Washington, DC. There are also images and genealogies of several related early American colonial Jewish families including the Franks, Seixas, Jacobs, Phillips, and Lopez families.  There is nearprint material and clippings from late 19th century publications and periodicals as well as invitations to various Washington, D.C. political and social events. The correspondence includes letters to one of the Solomons daughters from Supreme Court Justices Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter.
 

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING top

Box     File    Contents

1       1       Scrapbook, 1862-1932
        2       Typescript of diary of Rachel Rosalie Phillips, 1864
        3       Correspondence, 1891-1935               
        4       Nearprint, 1865-1888
        5       Invitations to miscellaneous Washington, D.C. events, 1869-1889
        6       Benjamin Levy: New Orleans Publisher and Printer, inscribed to 
                     Irma Peixotto Sellers from the author, Bertram W. Korn

2       1       Clippings re: Solomons family members, 1868-1932
        2       Genealogy:  Franks, Seixas, Jacobs, Phillips, Lopez and Solomons families
        3       Photographs: A. S. Solomons family, ca. 1860-1900
        4       Photographs: D.L.M. Peixotto family, ca. 1880-1900
        5       Photographs: A.S. Solomons home (Washington, D.C.) exterior and 
                 interior scenes
        6       Copies of portraits of Franks, Seixas, Phillips, Levy, and 
                 Jacobs family members
        7       Daguerrotype, unidentified man, ca. 1860.
        8       Photographs, unidentified.  

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Copyright © 2002 Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives