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Louis E. Shecter Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 13 Oct 2010

Biographical History

Louis E. Shecter (1901-1992) was an American advertising entrepreneur, art collector, and a member of the Jewish community of Baltimore, Maryland.

Shecter graduated from City College High School in Baltimore, MD in 1918. His career began by writing for the Baltimore American, and then he moved on to the Joseph Katz Co. Advertising Agency to work in advertising. By 1926, he became the director of advertising at the Hecht Brothers Stores. Through his many years of advertising experience, he contributed to the Advertising Club of Baltimore (1909) by serving on the Civic Award Committee to select the Man of the Year and coordinate the ceremonies annual luncheon from 1936 to 1955. He served as chairman of the National Commission on Ratification of the Genocide Convention, vice-chairman on International Affairs for the American Jewish Congress, chairman of the Baltimore Chapter of the Commission to End Arab Discrimination, and president of the Baltimore Branch of the American Jewish Congress. He was relentless for many years in pushing the U.S. Congress to ratify the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), the first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which they finally did in 1988.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Louis E. Shecter Papers consist of correspondence-subject files, memorabilia, photographs, printed materials, and writings.

Correspondence-subject files includes three subseries: Advertising Club of Baltimore/Civic Awards Committee, American Jewish Congress, and American Jewish Congress: Genocide Convention. Both the Advertising Club and the American Jewish Congress (AJC) materials consist of letters to Shecter relating to his involvement with both groups. The AJC: Genocide Convention material deals with correspondence between Shecter and various politicians in Washington, D.C. pertaining to US ratification of the Convention. Notable correspondents include then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Myer Feldman (Deputy Special Counsel to the President), Senators Edward and Robert Kennedy, J. Glenn Beall, Daniel B Brewster, Thomas Dodd, and others. Since Shecter pushed for the U.S. Congress to ratify the Genocide Convention, this section is arranged in chronological order to illustrate the change in attitudes of the Washington politicians. As well as letters, each section contains other materials, such as notes, agendas, minutes, and memoranda, which relate to that group. The remaining correspondences, filed after these sections, consists of letters, many of which Shecter labeled “Personal.”

Memorabilia contains material about Shecter, such as clippings mentioning him, photographs of him, a biography of him, and gifts presented to him, including a book of Jewish hymns and blessings given at a tribute to Rabbi Samuel Rosenblatt.

Photographs consist of movie stills and publicity photos. The movie stills were a part of his family's collection. Films represented include The Disorderly Orderly, Donovan's Reef, The Great Chase, The General, The Moon-Spinners, and The Prize. Publicity photos include Janet Blair, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Judy Garland, and William Lundigan. Many photos are accompanied by the newspaper clipping in which the photo was used.

Printed materials are divided into the same three subseries as Correspondence-subject files: Advertising Club of Baltimore/Civic Award Committee, AJC, and AJC: Genocide Convention. Each subseries includes newsletters, clippings, programs, and other miscellany such as certificates and posters for the Man of the Year luncheon and a poster for the AJC’s ceremony to recognize The Ten Commandments by Cecil B. DeMille in its representation of the Jewish people.

Writings include advertisements, articles, plays, press releases, speeches, and the beginnings of a book about the historic political events of 1967. For this planned book, which Shecter had tentatively titled Highlights of 1967, he sent letters asking many Washington politicians to contribute their thoughts, speeches, and notes on their involvement with events that year. Some respondents sent a single speech or letter while others sent resolutions, house bills, speeches, and newsletters. Unfortunately, there is no copy of the full manuscript.

Arrangement of the Collection

All materials in Correspondence-subject files subseries are arranged alphabetically except the AJC: Genocide Convention material, which is arranged chronologically. Memorabilia is arranged alphabetically by type and then chronologically within each type. Photographs are subdivided into movie stills and publicity photos, and within that arranged alphabetically. Printed materials are arranged alphabetically by group, then alphabetically by title, type, or topic. Writings are arranged alphabetically by type.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval.

Access to recordings requires advance notice to produce a working copy.

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.

Related Material

Louis Shecter material is also held by the Jewish Museum of Maryland and the American Jewish Archives.

Subject Headings

Persons

Aiken, George D. (George David), 1892-1984.
Allott, Gordon, 1907-1989.
Balaban, Barney, 1887-1971.
Bayh, Birch, 1928-2019.
Beall, J. Glenn, Jr. (John Glenn), 1927-2006.
Blaustein, Jacob, 1892-1970.
Brooke, Edward W. (Edward William), 1919-2015.
Church, Frank, 1924-1984.
Clark, Joseph S.
DeMille, Cecil B. (Cecil Blount), 1881-1959.
Dodd, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph), 1907-1971.
Dutton, Frederick G., 1923-
D’Alesandro, Thomas, Jr. 1903-1987.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
Feldman, Myer, 1914-2007.
Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965.
Friedel, Samuel N. (Samuel Nathaniel), 1898-1979.
Fulbright, J. William (James William), 1905-1995.
Goldstein, Louis L., 1913-
Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978.
Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
Kefauver, Estes, 1903-1963.
Kennedy, Edward M. (Edward Moore), 1932-2009.
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968.
McCarthy, Eugene J., 1916-2005.
McGovern, George S. (George Stanley), 1922-2012.
McKeldin, Theodore R. (Theodore Roosevelt), 1900-1974.
McNamara, Pat, 1894-1966.
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.
Mondale, Walter F., 1928-2021.
Moylan, Charles E., 1930-
Pell, Claiborne, 1918-2009.
Proxmire, William.
Radcliffe, George Lovic Pierce, 1877-1974.
Randolph, Jennings, 1902-1998.
Scott, Hugh, 1900-1994.
Shecter, Louis E.
Shusterman, Abraham, 1906-
Smith, Michael Paul.
Sparkman, John, 1899-1985.
Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965.
Symington, W. Stuart.
Tawes, J. Millard, 1894-1979.
Thurmond, Strom, 1902-2003.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.

Corporate Bodies

American Jewish Congress.
American Jewish Congress. -- Commission on International Affairs.
American Jewish Congress. -- Maryland Chapter.
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948 December 9)
United States -- Foreign relations -- Israel.

Associated Titles

Ten commandments (Motion picture : 1956)

Subjects

Advertising agencies -- United States.
Advertising--Clothing and dress.
Genocide (International law)
Genocide--Government policy--United States.
Genocide--Law and legislation--United States.
Genocide--United States--Public opinion.
Genocide.
Jews -- Israel.
Jews -- United States.

Places

Baltimore (M.D.)

Genres and Forms

Advertisements.
Audio reel tape.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Film stills.
Manuscripts for publication.
Minutes (administrative records)
Newsletters.
Photographs.
Press releases.
Programs (documents).
Resolutions (administrative records)
Scripts (documents)
Sound recordings.
Speeches (documents)

Occupations

Advertisers.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Louis E. Shecter Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Louis E. Shecter, 1964-1972.

Table of Contents

Correspondence-subject files

Memorabilia

Photographs

Printed materials

Writings

Inventory