Access and Provenance Scope and Content Note Box and Folder Listing

A Finding Aid to the Phearson Family Collection   Manuscript Collection No. 733 1909-1922. 0.8 Linear ft.

ACCESS AND PROVENANCE

 The Phearson Family Collection was donated to the American Jewish Archives by Nancy Phearson of Tustin, California in April of 2005. The papers were found in the home of Daniel and Victoria Phearson, and are donated in their honor. Nancy Phearson, by the act of donating the Phearson Family Collection to the American Jewish Archives, assigned the property rights to the American Jewish Archives. All literary rights to material authored by Max and Becky Cantor are held by the Phearson heirs. Literary rights to materials authored by others are held by the individual author or his/her heirs. Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives. The papers are available to researchers in the reading room of the Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE top

 The Phearson Family Collection consists of letters written to Max Cantor and Becky Freedland Cantor between the years 1909 and 1922. The collection is comprised of correspondence between Max and Becky, Max and various family members, Becky and Sam Selmanoff, Becky and family members, and Max’s business correspondence. Because the vast majority of letters are not written in English, information regarding the correspondents and date of the letter are taken from the envelope in which the letter was sent. The majority of the correspondence is written in Yiddish. The collection also includes some correspondence written in an unidentified East European language and in English. Max wrote letters in all three languages, while Becky wrote letters primarily in Yiddish. Also included in the collection are cards of various types. Of particular interest are the tiny Jewish New Year’s cards, and the “Suffragette Madonna” postcard.

The Cantors were well-traveled, before and after their marriage. Addresses found on the envelopes within the collection include Kansas City, Kansas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; and, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For a time, Becky’s address was London, England. Max’s family lived in New York City.

Please see the Box and Folder List for details.
 

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING top

Box	Folder	Contents

1	1	Letters to Max Cantor from Becky Freedland (in Yiddish).  1913-1914.
	2	Letters to Max Cantor from Becky Freedland (Cantor) (in Yiddish).  1915-1920.
	3	Letters from Max Cantor to Becky Freedland (in Yiddish).  1913.
	4	Letters from Max Cantor to Becky Freedland (in Yiddish).  1914.
	5	Letters from Max Cantor to Becky Freedland (in Yiddish).  1915.
	6	Letters from Max Cantor to Becky Freedland (in Yiddish).  1917.
	7	Letters from Max Cantor to Celia Cantor.  1912-1913.


2	1	Correspondence with Max Cantor (various languages).  1911-1914.
	2	Correspondence with Max Cantor (various languages).  1915-1919, n.d.
	3	Correspondence with Becky Freedland (in Yiddish and English).  1916.
	4	Correspondence with Becky Freedland Cantor (in Yiddish).  1917-1922.
	5	Letters to Becky Freedland from Sam Selmanoff (in Yiddish).  1909-1915.
	6	New Year’s Cards, Postcards, etc.  1910-1922.
	7	Miscellaneous Correspondence (various languages).  1914-1918.
	8	Unidentified Correspondence (in Yiddish).  1912-1918.

top

Copyright © 2001 Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives