New Gifts Secure Work on Collections, Scholarship, and Public History

A bequest from the estate of Mark M. and Lottie Salton will be used to support and deepen the Institute’s ongoing work to support new scholarship on German-Jewish history and culture by endowing the position of Senior Historian. As the inaugural Mark M. and Lottie Salton Senior Historian, Frank Mecklenburg, formerly Director of Research, will continue building relationships with scholarly communities and institutions and overseeing the Institute’s numerous grants and fellowships to support academic research on German-Jewish history. As the senior trained historian on LBI’s staff , he also advises on collection development and public programming. Mark (1914–2005) and Lottie (1924–2020) were refugees from Germany who met in New York and married in 1948. Both interested in coins and medals, the couple amassed a highly respected coin collection and were deeply involved in the American Numismatic Society.

A multi-year gift from the Charles E. Scheidt Family Foundation will endow the position currently held by Renate Evers, who will become the Bruno and Suzanne Scheidt Director of Collections. In this position, she will continue to oversee the acquisition, processing, cataloging, preservation, and digitization of LBI’s art, archival, and library collections. Bruno and Suzanne Scheidt were Jewish refugees from Frankfurt who fl ed to Paris in 1933 and New York in 1939, where they founded Roland Foods, which became the leading branded importer of specialty foods in the US.

The Scheidt Foundation gift will also support LBI’s efforts in making German-Jewish history present and relevant for publics in North America, Europe, and beyond with exhibitions, public programs, education, and outreach. These activities will be coordinated by a Public History team led by Director of Public History David Brown and Associate Director Magda Wrobel.

From LBI News 113