\"Northwestern University\" Walter Lichtenstein Signed Album Page For Sale

Up for sale "Northwestern University" Walter Lichtenstein Signed Album Page.

Joseph Lichtenstein and Rosa Elkan. Lichtenstein succeeded Lodilla Ambrose as

Head Librarian at Northwestern University Library in 1908, a position he held

for 10 years. Lichtenstein is best remembered for his extensive book-buying

trips to Europe. He was forced to resign from the library amidst strong

anti-German sentiment in 1918, at which point he joined the First National Bank

of Chicago. Lichtenstein eventually became Vice President of the bank.

The Lichtenstein family immigrated to the United States when

Walter was two years old. Upon their arrival in the United States, the

Lichtenstein family resided in New Jersey. Walter was raised to be bilingual.

He attended the Hoboken Academy, and then went on to New York University where

he studied French and earned his Bachelors degree in Philosophy in 1899. From

there, he began work at Harvard University. For several years, he was employed

at Harvard's Hohenzollern Collection of German History. During this time, he

made himself invaluable to Harvard's Head Librarian, Archibald Cary Coolidge,

going on several book-buying trips to Europe. In 1907, Lichtenstein graduated

from Harvard with a PhD in History. On August 7, 1908, Lichtenstein was

appointed Head Librarian of the Northwestern University Library, succeeding

Lodilla Ambrose. In his ten years as Head Librarian, Lichtenstein increased the

staff from eight to fifteen, catalogued 40,000 volumes, created a complete

shelf list and inventory, and greatly improved the reference and bibliographic

collections. In 1912, because of organizational changes at the University, all

the departmental libraries were brought under Lichtenstein's control.

Throughout his time at Northwestern, Lichtenstein worked to increase library

funding, and was successful in changing accounting practices to increase funds

for book buying. While at Northwestern, he constantly struggled with lack of

adequate space in the Orrington Lunt Library. This was exacerbated by the

forced economies of World War I. Lichtenstein is perhaps best known in

the library world for his important book-buying trips. In 1911 he traveled to

Europe and in 1913 to South America. On this second trip, which lasted eighteen

months, Lichtenstein purchased materials for Northwestern University, as well

as for several other institutions, including Harvard University, the John

Crerar Library at the University of Chicago, and the American Antiquarian

Society. In 1918, Lichtenstein was forced to resign from his position at

Northwestern Library. While the administration presented financial reasons for

their decision, it was surmised that the anti-German sentiment inspired by the

war was most likely a major factor. In addition to this, there was considerable

attention given to Lichtenstein's suspicious behavior while overseas. The

perceived misconduct was such that a State Department investigation was

initiated and Lichtenstein's passport was at one point seized. Although charges

were eventually dismissed, the events caused permanent damage to his reputation

at Northwestern. Following his dismissal, Lichtenstein took a job at the First

National Bank of Chicago, where he eventually became the Vice President. During

his nearly 30 years at the bank, he became an expert on international banking.

He retired from the bank in 1945. After his retirement, he remained an

important figure in the international financial arena, serving in the Financial

Institutions Division of the U.S. Military Government in Germany, consulting

for International Harvester Company, and speaking and writing extensively. He

retired from this second career in 1954 and was at that time appointed Honorary

Curator of Harvard University Library. He died at the age of 83 on March 14,

1964 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was survived by his wife Gemma Baumgarten,

and their two daughters, Gemma Rizer and Maxine Laves.