TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
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Inventory of the Wilhelm Rapp Papers, 1846-1929
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Kelly Kress, 2007. ©2007. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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| Creator | Rapp, Wilhelm, 1827-1907 |
| Title | Wilhelm Rapp Papers |
| Dates | 1846-1929 |
| Extent | 1 cubic ft. (2 boxes, 1 oversize box) |
| Abstract | Correspondence, poetry, and clippings relating to Wilhelm Rapp, German emigre and editor of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung. |
| Language | Materials are in German and English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Rapp |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 42 1 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Wilhelm Rapp Papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift of Emilie Rapp Kemper, William Rapp Kemper and Mrs. J.A. Meiners, 1947.
Processed by
Kelly Kress, 2007.
Acknowledgements
This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Access
The Wilhelm Rapp Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Wilhelm Rapp Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of Wilhelm Rapp
German emigre and editor of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung.
Wilhelm Rapp was born on July 14, 1827, in what is now the Baden-Württemburg region of southwest Germany. As a student at Tübingen University Rapp participated in the German revolution of 1848, and was imprisoned for a year for his activities. Upon his release Rapp lived in Switzerland, where he taught school before emigrating to the United States in 1852.
Rapp edited Die Turn Zeitung in Philadelphia and Cincinnati, then moved to Baltimore in 1857 to become editor of the Baltimore Wecker. Rapp's anti-secessionist and anti-slavery views made him the target of mob violence, and in 1861 he narrowly escaped lynching by fleeing to Washington D.C. disguised as a minister.
While in Washington, Rapp met with Abraham Lincoln, who offered him the position of postmaster general. Rapp declined, instead moving to Chicago to become editor of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung. Rapp remained in Chicago until his death at age 80 on February 28, 1907. He and his wife Gesine had three daughters: Emilie, Frida, and Mathilda, and a son, William Jr.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Correspondence, poetry, photographs, and clippings of Wilhelm Rapp. Correspondence includes letters to Illinois Staats-Zeitung editor Hermann Raster. Also included are personal documents belonging to Rapp and a diary written by relatives describing his wife Gesine's trip to Germany in 1877. Three scrapbooks compiled by Rapp's daughter Emilie consist of obituaries and eulogies from various sources, as well as other miscellaneous materials. Rapp's poetry was written prior to the German revolutionary movement of 1848, and is indicative of his thoughts at the time. A 50th anniversary edition of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung consists of seven sections covering German contributions to Chicago art, music, religion, history, and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
Materials are in German unless otherwise noted.
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Arrangement
Materials are arranged alphabetically by subject.
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Illinois Staatszeitung
- Rapp, Wilhelm, 1828-1907
- Raster, Hermann, 1827-1891
Subjects
- Chicago (Ill.) --Newspapers
- German poetry --19th century
- Germans -- United States
- German Americans -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Newspapers
- Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Newspaper editors -- Illinois -- Chicago
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Container List |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Biographical - Deutsche Amerikanische Geschichtsblätter, poem and obituary, April 1907 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Biographical - legal documents, 1850-1854 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Biographical - last editorial draft for Illinois Staats-Zeitung, Feb. 1907 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Biographical - family information from scrapbook, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Biographical - Königliche Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, photo request & acknowledgement, 1910-1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Biographical - miscellaneous from scrapbook: clippings, eulogies, 1907, 1927-1929 and n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Biographical - National Roosevelt League certificate, Sept. 1, 1904 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Biographical - Schwaben Verein Chicago articles, 1907, 1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Biographical - Schwaben Verein Chicago articles, 1917-1927 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Correspondence - Cousins, Phoebe W. to Wilhelm Rapp (in English), Aug. 16, 1906, Aug. 29, 1906 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Correspondence - Hoennighausen, F.P. to Wilhelm Rapp (from scrapbook), March 16, 1886 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Correspondence - Kemper, Emilie Rapp to Herbert Putnam (Library of Congress) (in English), Aug. 24, 1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Correspondence - Putnam, Herbert (Library of Congress) to Illinois Staats-Zeitung (in English), Aug. 3, 1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Correspondence - Putnam, Herbert (Library of Congress) to Emilie Rapp Kemper (in English), Oct. 27, 1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Correspondence - Rapp, Wilhelm to Hermann Raster, April 3, 1873, May 6, 1891 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Correspondence - Rapp, Wilhelm to father (typed copy), June 30, 1861 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Correspondence - unidentified to Wilhelm Rapp, 1901 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Diary - "Frau Gesine in Schwaben," 1877 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Poetry - Collected Poems, 1846-1848 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Poetry - "Das Mahl Des Herrn, Eine Ballade," ca. 1846-1848 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Poetry - "Die Hugenotten, Freie Dichtungen" (2 copies), ca. 1846-1848 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Poetry - "Gedichte von Wilhelm Rapp, Tübingen," 1848 | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | Poetry - "Gedichte von Wilhelm Rapp," 1848 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Poetry - "Lyrische Versuche von Wilhelm Rapp" (2 copies), 1847 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | Poetry - "Neue Lieder von Wilhelm Rapp," 1847 | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | Poetry - "Papa's Gedicht," June 1889 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | Poetry - "Zwölf Gedichte für Freihiet und Vaterland," 1846 | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | Photograph - Wilhelm Rapp portrait, ca. 1905 | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | Photograph - Wilhelm Rapp in office, ca. 1905 | |||||||||
| 2 | 30 | Portrait - facsimile of pencil drawing by Schlotterbek, 1851 | |||||||||
| 2 | 31 | Scrapbook - obituaries in German and English, 1907 | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | Scrapbook - obituaries, eulogies in German and English, 1907-1908 | |||||||||
| 3 | 33 | Scrapbook (oversize) - obituaries, eulogies in German and English, correspondence, miscellaneous, 1907-1929 | |||||||||
| 3 | 34-40 | Illinois Staats-Zeitung, Anniversary edition (oversize), April 21, 1898 | |||||||||