Loading...
Creator
Zunser, Miriam Shomer
Call number
MssCol 3424
Physical description
.5 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Miriam Shomer Zunser papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Miriam Shomer Zunser (born Manya Shaikevitsch) was a playwright for the Yiddish and English language theater. She was born in Odessa, Russia and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1890. She began her literary career writing for the English section of the Yiddish newspaper Tageblat and translating Yiddish pieces into English. She began writing for the Yiddish theater in the 1920s and later in English for the Broadway stage. In 1939 she published a memoir of her mother's family, Yesterday. The collection contains a small amount of correspondence, 1905-1942; typescripts of her dramatic and other works, including her family memoir, YESTERDAY (1939); a poem and a monologue by her husband, Charles Zunser, and printed materials.

Biographical/historical information

Miriam Shomer Zunser (née Manya Shaikevitsch) was born on November 25, 1882 in Odessa, Russia. The Shomers left Russia in 1890 and settled in the United States. Shomer, as her father was known, had been hired as a playwright for the Rumanian House in New York City the year before. Once in the United States Manya's name became Miriam. However, she was known by her nickname Minnie. In 1905, she married Charles Zunser a lawyer, social worker and writer.

Zunser was admitted to Hunter College but chose to take a job as a librarian and leader of girls clubs at the Hebrew Educational Society. She taught fine arts for the Board of Education and other institutions. Zunser also wrote for the English section of the Yiddish newspaper Tageblat and translated Yiddish pieces into English. Zunser was an active Zionist and, in 1917, was nominated as a delegate to the American Jewish Congress, an organization co-founded by her brother Abraham Shomer.

In the 1920s, Zunser's decided to expand her literary career. She and her sister Rose began writing for the Yiddish theater. Among their joint works was The master of Thronfield; a play in 4 acts, built on the story of Jane Eyre (c. 1920).

When the Yiddish theater began to lose popularity in the 1930s, Zunser instead wrote for the Broadway stage. In 1939 she published a memoir of her mother's family, Yesterday. The book was republished in 1978 by her granddaughter Emily Wortis Leider as Yesterday: A memoir of a Russian Jewish family. Miriam Shomer Zunser died in 1951.

Scope and arrangement

The Miriam Shomer Zunser Papers, 1903-1965 (bulk dates 1903-1930) consist chiefly of her writings. These typescripts with annotations are rough drafts; some are undated and incomplete. Noteworthy among them are the memoir Yesterday (1939) which depicts three generations of Jewish life, and The Enchanted Well (c. 1920s). One of the works in the collection, The Dance of Love was written in collaboration with her sister Rose Shomer. There are two examples of her husband Charles Zunser's writing, "The wife beater: a monologue" and the poem "Ode to a Dead Lily".

Zunser's correspondence, 1905-1942, is scant. Included among the few items addressed to Zunser is a letter dated May 18, 1917 from the General Board of Elections notifying her of her nomination as a delegate to the American Jewish Congress. A letter of recommendation dated 1905 commends her for her teaching skills at the Educational Alliance. Overall, the correspondence sheds very little light on Zunser's life or her dramatic writings. The remainder of the collection consists of printed matter, including a brochure for the art exhibit of her son Shomer Zunser, 1965, and a family tree of the Zunser family.

The Miriam Shomer Zunser papers are arranged in three series:

  • Series I. Correspondence

    The General Correspondence, 1905-1942, contains mainly incoming letters to Zunser. The second section is a smattering of family related correspondence, 1920; 1930.

  • Series II. Writings

    The bulk of the writings consist of dramatic works by Miriam Shomer Zunser; there are also two works by Charles Zunser. This series contains Zunser's memoir, Yesterday (bound typescript).

  • Series III. Printed Matter

    This series contains a brochure for an exhibit of watercolors by Shomer Zunser, 1965, miscellaneous newspaper clippings relating to Charles Zunser, and a pencilled family tree of the Zunser family.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of the Jewish Division, 1970

Processing information

Valerie Wingfield, June 2001

Valerie Wingfield, June 2001

Related Material

In The New York Public Library:

Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Dorot Jewish Division:

Page proofs and published copies of Yesterday (classmark *PWZ)

Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Collection.

Additional typescripts of Zunser's plays

In Other Repositories:

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, NY:

Charles Zunser Papers [circa 1890] -1956

Abraham S. Shomer Papers

Rose Shomer-Batchelis Papers

Brown University, John Hay Archives

Nahum Meir Shaikewich plays

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328