Schamp-Levin Collection, circa 1923-1998 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Schamp-Levin Collection, circa 1923-1998

ID: 01/01/MSS00057

Primary Creator: Levin, Eli (1938-)

Extent: 1.5 Cubic Feet

Arrangement:

This small collection consists of five sections:

1. Notebooks (Box 1; Box 3)

2. Documents (Box 1)

3. Correspondence (Box 1)

4. Manuscripts (Box 1; Box 2)

5. Photographs (Box 2)

Subjects: Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939, Spanish Civil War Collections (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library)

Languages: English, Spanish;Castilian

This small collection is comprised of papers relating to Mable Schamp and her second husband, Meyer Levin. Box 1 contains Mable's journals, documents pertaining to Mable and Meyer's time spent in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, copied newspapers on Levin's Anne Frank playscript, correspondence, and manuscripts. Box 2 includes biographical manuscripts and photographs, including images from a nudist camp where Mable lived in the 1940s and a signed card from African American actor, activist, and musician, Canada Lee. Box 3 contains Mable's "School Memories" scrapbook from her high school graduation in 1926-1927, which includes her girl scout buttons, newspaper clippings, report cards, photographs, and other memorabilia from her time at El Paso High School.

Mable E. Schamp (1912-1950) was born in Mathis, Texas to Harvey and Belle Schamp. When her mother died of sleeping sickness in 1923, Mable helped her widowed father raise her younger siblings, but intellect and perseverance made her the youngest graduate of her high school class in 1927, when she was 15. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago in 1931 and a Ph.D. in 1936. She married Murray Foy in December 1932, a fellow student who died of typhoid fever shortly after the marriage.

Remarrying to Jewish activist and author Meyer Levin in 1935, Mable relocated to Spain and assisted the Loyalist cause during the Spanish Civil War. Mable served with the International Brigades, and she was placed in charge of a laboratory in a hospital to care for wounded soldiers. Returning to the United States, Mable remarried Irving Jacoby in 1944. She continued working in chemistry in both the District of Columbia and Honolulu and briefly oversaw on the development of contraceptives. Mable was the first woman appointed to the faculty of the Chemistry Department at the City College of New York, teaching there as an instructor from 1947-1948 and in 1950.

After Mable developed schizophrenia, she underwent treatment, but chronic depression resulted in a fatal overdose in 1950. Jo Basiste’s memories of his mother are located in the memoir “Mable,” Box 2 Folder 8.

Meyer Levin (1905-1981) was an American journalist and novelist who wrote for the Chicago Daily News and, from 1933-1939, Esquire. Born in Chicago, Levin developed an interest in Jewish history and literature, and much of his novels reflect this passion. Levin acted as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and World War II, and he wrote books such as My Father’s House (1947), a story about Jewish people driven from Poland. He later directed a film adaptation of this book, the first Palestinian feature film, in 1945. Other works include Compulsion (1956), which recounts the Leopold-Loeb murder case, and a stage adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank from a Jewish perspective. Levin died in Jerusalem in 1981.

Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939
Spanish Civil War Collections (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library)

Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Access Restrictions: Open to researchers.

Use Restrictions:

The RBML reproductions policies can be found here:

http://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/ReproductionServices.htm

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would damage materials or involve violation of copyright law.

Acquisition Source: Jo Basiste

Processing Information: https://wiki.cites.uiuc.edu/wiki/display/librare/Home

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/rbmlsfa/MSS00057%20_Schamp_Levin_Collection.pdf

PDF finding aid for Schamp-Levin Collection (01/01/MSS00057)

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Notebooks],
[Series 2: Documents],
[Series 3: Correspondence],
[Series 4: Manuscripts],
[Series 5: Photographs],
[All]

Series 1: Notebooks

Box 1

Folder 1: Administrative file
Folder 2: Jo Basiste photograph notebook, circa 1949-1950
Folder 3: Mable Schamp journal, 1949 July-August, 1950 June
Folder 4: Mable Schamp journal, 1947-1950

Box 3

Folder 1: “School Memories: The Book of Mable Schamp”, circa 1926-1927

Series 2: Documents

Box 1

Folder 5: Anne Frank clippings (Meyer Levin playscript controversy), circa 1997-1998

Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4
Item 5
Item 6
Item 7
Item 8

Folder 6: Anne Frank clippings (Meyer Levin playscript controversy), circa 1997-1998

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Item 18

Folder 7: Mable Schamp and Meyer Levin, circa 1923-1970

Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4
Item 5
Item 6
Item 7
Item 8
Item 9
Item 10
Item 11
Item 12
Item 13
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Item 15
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Item 18

Series 3: Correspondence

Box 1

Folder 8: “Mable’s Letters from Spain in my book”

Item 1
Item 2
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Item 7
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Item 9
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Folder 9: Mable Schamp to Meyer Levin

Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
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Item 7
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Item 12

Series 4: Manuscripts

Box 1

Folder 10: “Audacious Pilgrim: The Story of Meyer Levin, Chicago Writer, A Biography” by Martin Litvin, edited by Jo Basiste
Folder 11: “In Love” by Meyer Levin

Box 2

Folder 1: “Mable” by Jo Basiste
Folder 2: “The Haunted Houses of Meyer Levin” by Tereska Torres, 1991

Series 5: Photographs

Box 2

Folder 3: Meyer Levin

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Folder 4: Mable Schamp

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Folder 5: Jo Basiste

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Folder 6: Mable Schamp family

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Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Notebooks],
[Series 2: Documents],
[Series 3: Correspondence],
[Series 4: Manuscripts],
[Series 5: Photographs],
[All]

Schamp-Levin Collection, circa 1923-1998 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Collection Overview

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Collection Historical Note

Subject/Index Terms

Administrative Information

PDF Box/Folder List

Box and Folder Listing