- Creator
- Rich, Raymond T. (Raymond Thomas), 1899-1959
- Call number
- MssCol 2571
- Physical description
- .7 linear feet (2 boxes)
- Language
- Materials in English
- Preferred Citation
Raymond T. Rich papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
- Repository
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Access to materials
- Request an in-person research appointment.
Raymond Thomas Rich (1899-1959), public relations consultant and editor, was a relief worker in Europe after World War I. Collection consists of papers relating mainly to Rich's activities as field secretary of European Student Relief of the World's Student Christian Federation in Germany and Switzerland from July 1922 to October 1923. Included are many letters from him to his parents concerning relief work and conditions in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe. Also, photographs depicting student life and relief personnel; and flyers, handbills and other printed memorabilia.
Biographical/historical information
Post-World War I European relief worker.
Raymond Rich left for Europe to work for the European Student Relief program in the summer of 1922, immediately following his graduation from Brown University. He served as secretary of European Student Relief's German Student Department during 1922-1923, and in 1923 became Acting Secretary of the program at its Geneva headquarters. Later in 1923 Rich returned to the United States where he worked at the Student Friendship Fund, New York, the American agency of the European Student Relief.
The European Student Relief was begun in 1920 by the World's Student Christian Federation. It aided needy European students, chiefly in Central and Eastern Europe, after World War I by providing them with meals, housing, clothing, medical care, financial help, and other assistance. It was funded by the contributions of students from many countries, with American students making the largest contributions.
Included are Rich's letters to his parents in Massachusetts, July, 1922 - October, 1923 (one letter dates from 1928) describing his work, personal life, and travels in Europe. Also included are a group of records of the European Student Relief and the related Student Friendship Fund, 1922-1926 and n.d. These consist of letters, memoranda, reports, accounts, statements, and other documents. Printed material consists of: annual reports for 1920-1921 and 1923-1924; conference documents; itineraries for American students' trips to Geneva, Hungary, Poland, Prague, and Vienna, July and August, 1922; brochures and other publicity material containing information and appeals for contributions; clippings; and publications, including a weekly news bulletin of the European Student Relief's German Student Department, March-May, 1923, edited by Rich, Dresden.
Photographs in the collection consist mostly of snapshots, 1920s, taken mainly in Germany, also in Czechoslovakia, England, France, Hungary,
Poland (particularly Krakow), and Switzerland. These show groups of students, including refugee students of various nationalities, working and studying; university buildings; student living quarters and dining halls; street scenes and travel scenes; and members of the European Student Relief. Of note are snapshots of a January 14, 1923 demonstration in front of the Reichstag and elsewhere in Berlin on a day of mourning for the French occupation of the Ruhr; photographs of an outdoor reception and tea given by Admiral Horthy,
Regent of Hungary, at the Royal Palace, n.d. (1920s); and views of a large, international meeting in Geneva, 1927, possibly of the League of Nations.
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
1969, Received from Wilmer Shields Rich (Mrs. R. T. R.)
Processing information
Accessioned by JM, August 1, 1988
Key terms
Names
- Rich, Raymond T. (Raymond Thomas), 1899-1959
- World's Student Christian Federation. European Student Relief
Subjects
- Church work with students -- Germany
- Church work with students -- Switzerland
- International relief -- Europe
- Student aid -- Germany
- Student aid -- Switzerland
- Students -- Societies, etc
Places
- Europe, Central -- Social conditions
- Europe, Eastern -- Social conditions
- Germany -- Social conditions -- 1918-1933
Material types
Using the collection
Location
Manuscripts and Archives DivisionStephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328