Dolly Haas Family Collection

The Dolly Haas Family Collection contains the papers of members of the Haas family, including Dolly Haas, her parents and sister. The collection contains a large amount of personal correspondence as well as a diary, articles, address book, photographs, educational certificates and wedding memorabilia.

Most prominent in this collection are the papers that relate to Dolly Haas's early acting career. Documentation of this subject will be found in both series of the collection. In Series II is her diary from early 1927, which records some of her daily activities and mentions her participation in theatrical and musical performances at this time. The diary ends in April 1927. By August 1927 she was writing letters home to her mother and elder sister from Berlin, which will be found in the correspondence of Series I. These letters go into more detail of her early professional life, with remarks on venues where she worked, other performers or directors, the hard work required of her both in rehearsal and in finding new employment, as well as more practical details of life, such as her living accommodations.

Another predominant subject in this series is the wedding and early marriage of Charles and Margarethe Haas. There is a significant amount of correspondence of the bookseller Charles Haas in Series I. Although his early letters to his family in England describe various cities he visited in Europe, by late 1905 his upcoming wedding is a frequent topic. Later letters from 1908 are sent from Charles in England to Margarethe in Hamburg: they update her on his travels and mention the health of their eldest child. Other correspondence of Series I includes letters between Margarethe Hansen and "Albertus," possibly her uncle as well as smaller amounts of correspondence of both Margarethe and Charles Haas with other family members or friends.

There is little material in this collection on Dolly Haas's second husband Al Hirschfeld. Material relating to him consists only of two photographs of the couple, one oversized.