Mattimore (Lillian) papers and photographs, circa 1876-1951

Lillian Mattimore was born in the Jewish ghetto of Shanghai, a community made up of refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe. After her parents, Gerhard Schaie and Anita Gerson, decided to leave Shanghai, the family relocated to the newly established State of Israel. They traveled to Israel part of the way via ship, crossed through the U.S. on a train that the American authorities would not allow them to exit, and then continued on to Israel aboard a ship. After she and her family left Israel and officially immigrated to the U.S., they settled in San Francisco, where other members of her family had already been living.

Contains photographs and identity documents relating to Lillian Mattimore and the Holocaust-era history of members of her family. Included are documents and photographs relating to the Gerson family and and the Schaie family dating back to the late 19th century in Germany. Also included are materials relating to Anita Gerson Schaie’s work in exercise therapy for children, gymnastics, and massage, including German pamphlets on these subjects from circa 1920 and a German book on massage technique.