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Oppler Family Photographs

A description of their photographs at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: LMD
Date: 03 December 2009

Biographical History

The Opplers were an ethnically Jewish and German family from the disputed region of Lorraine. After the first World War, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to French control and the Opplers were forced to leave, moving to Berlin. There, family member Alfred C. Oppler (1893-1982) became a jurist and civil servant. Although he had been raised as a Protestant, after the Nazi party took power Oppler was demoted due to his Jewish heritage and expelled from the civil service. In 1939, he and his wife, Charlotte Preuss Oppler, immigrated to the United States. Their daughter, Ellen C. Oppler, earned her BA degree in art history from Smith College and PhD from Columbia University; she was a professor of art history at Syracuse University and a noted Picasso scholar.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Oppler Family Photographs contains a photograph album with 97 images taken in 1896. It includes photographs of the city of Metz as well as many unidentified family portraits. Also included are pictures of other cities in Lorrain, such as Diedenhofen (now called Thionville).

Arrangement of the Collection

Single item.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Oppler family.
Oppler, Alfred C. (Alfred Christian), 1893-1982.
Oppler, Ellen C.

Places

Lorraine (France) -- History.
Metz (France) -- History.
Thionville (Moselle, France) -- History.

Genres and Forms

Photographs.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Oppler Family Photographs,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ellen C. Oppler, 2001.

Table of Contents

Photograph Album

Inventory