Frieda Wunderlich Papers

For reference queries contact Grenander Department Reference staff or (518)-437-3935

Finding Aid Compiled by
Sandra Hunt Hawrylchak
October 13, 2005

M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives
University Libraries / University at Albany / State University of New York
1400 Washington Avenue / Albany, New York 12222 / (518) 437-3935

COPYRIGHT: The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Frieda Wunderlich Papers
Biographical Sketch

Frieda Wunderlich was one of ten German professors brought to the United States by the New School for Social Research in 1933 to form the Graduate Faculty of the New School, also known as the "University in Exile."

Frieda Wunderlich was born in Berlin Germany on November 8, 1884. She received her doctorate in economics from the University of Freiburg in 1919 and became a professor at the Handelshochschule in Berlin shortly after graduation.

Wunderlich became one of the leading women figures in pre-Hitler Germany, holding positions in the Berlin City Council and the Prussian State Parliament. In 1930 she was appointed to Judge of the German Supreme Court for Social Welfare.

During the years from 1923 to 1933, she was the editor of the anti-Hitler publication Soziale Praxis, to which she contributed numerous articles on social welfare, unemployment and labor. In 1926 she published Produktivität, which received a great deal of attention not only in Germany, but in the United States as well.

After leaving Hitler's Germany to come to New York and the New School for Social Research in 1933, Wunderlich remained on the faculty for the next two decades. In 1939, she became the first woman in the United States to be elected as Dean of a graduate school when she was elected Dean of the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School. Dr. Wunderlich wrote a series of books on labor and social problems, eight of which were published in the United States and include: Labor under German Democracy (1940), Arbitration, 1918-1933 (1940), British Labor and the War (1941), German Labor Courts (1946), and Farm Labor in Germany, 1810-1945 (1961).

Frieda Wunderlich Papers
Chronology of Events

Frieda Wunderlich Papers
Scope and Content Note

The Frieda Wunderlich Papers, 1920-1941 (1 cu. ft.), have been divided into five series: 1) Biographical materials, 1927-1931; 2) Correspondence, 1926-1930; 3) Protokolls and transcripts of meetings, 1928-1931; 4) Unpublished writings, speech texts, 1927-1933; and 5) Published writings of Frieda Wunderlich, 1920-1941.

The bulk of the collection consists of publications of Frieda Wunderlich, primarily in the anti-Hitler periodical Soziale Praxis, which she edited from 1923 until she emigrated to the United States in 1933. In addition, there are several typescripts of speeches delivered by Wunderlich in Germany during the years 1927-1933. The collection contains only a few letters (primarily concerned with speeches delivered by Dr. Wunderlich), but does contain numerous clippings documenting Dr. Wunderlich's activities during the years 1927-1931.

Frieda Wunderlich Papers
Series Descriptions

This series consists primarily of newspaper clippings about Dr. Wunderlich's activities, promotions, and lectures delivered during the years 1927 to 1931.

This series contains transcripts of testimonies of Frieda Wunderlich before sessions of the Landstag and other governmental representative bodies.

This series contains primarily texts of lectures delivered by Dr. Wunderlich from 1927 to 1933.

This is the largest series in the collection and contains primarily publications by Wunderlich in the periodical Soziale Praxis, which she also edited for over ten years, 1923-1933. Also included in this series are reviews of Wunderlich's writings.