Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 34

Repository:

German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library

Extent:

2.2 linear feet (7 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Conrad J. and Marian Linke papers, Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library, German Society of Pennsylvania

Date:

1938-1985 (bulk) and 1917-1991 (inclusive)

Creator:

Linke, Conrad J., (Conrad Johann), 1892-1995 and Linke, Marian, 1896-1985

Form:

Circulars (fliers), Clippings (information artifacts), Correspondence, Financial records, Fliers (printed matter), Letters (correspondence), Manuscripts, American--20th century, Manuscripts, German--20th century, Photographs, Poems, Printed ephemera, Programs (documents), and Scrapbooks

Abstract:

Conrad Linke was a German-American illustrator and painter from Philadelphia. This collection documents the political and charitable activities of him and his wife, Marian Linke, during the years 1917 to 1991. Prior to World War II they were involved in the movement to maintain American neutrality. After World War II they were involved in war relief efforts for Germany through several organizations they were members of or supported. Included are personal writings, notes and drafts, correspondence, speeches, pamphlets, leaflets, clippings, business reports and ephemera from many of those organizations.

Conrad J. Linke

Conrad J. Linke Jr. is best known as an illustrator and painter who had success doing illustrations for the first Atlantic City Beauty Contest in 1923 (which later became known as the Miss America Contest), as well as, magazine covers for Saturday Evening Post and Farm Journal, among others. On December 16, 1892, he was born near Girard Avenue and Marshall Street in Philadelphia, the second of three children of the immigrant parents Conrad and Susan Linke who were Sudeten Germans from an area that was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of the Czech Republic). In 1910, according to census records, he was living with his parents at 1531 Stiles Street.

At the age of 15 he graduated from high school and won a three-year scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where he studied landscaping, portrait painting and illustrating under leading teachers. In the year 1912, at age 20, he opened his own studio at 1305 Arch Street, Philadelphia, where he spent most of his time creating posters and art for lithographers, printers and advertisers. During World War I he was in charge of the poster and publicity department of the Philadelphia Naval Yard. At some point after World War I he moved to Chicago where he spent a few years as the head of staff at a commercial art studio. While there he studied the art of Robert Henri at the Art Institute.

After Chicago, he returned to Philadelphia and, from 1946 to 1962, 1120 Spruce Street was the home of C.J. Linke Art Services, though it is possible based on old letterheads used for scrap paper, that he worked at this address, perhaps for another company, since at least 1938.

It remains to be determined when they were married but by 1937 Conrad Linke was living with his wife Marian at 903 Clinton Street. In 1962 they moved to 43 South Lakeside Drive, Beachwood Lakes, Medford New Jersey.

Mr. Linke was very active in political issues throughout much of his life but only began his activism after his wife Marian Linke became involved with the Society of Friends peace work in 1938. Being German-American they both believed in and campaigned for causes concerning German issues. Conrad was very anti-British and felt that whatever Britain was doing was only to sustain and further expand its empire. Both Mr. and Mrs. Linke were strong believers in peace and campaigned from 1938 to 1940 in favor of American neutrality. Mr. Linke was involved with the organizations America First Committee, Committee to Maintain Neutrality, Peace-Action Service and the Anti-War Committee. During those years of campaigning they sent many letters to elected officials and newspaper editors expressing their views and urging the points they believed were right. Conrad also wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 expressing his views on the situation.

At the end of the war, from 1945 until 1962, Conrad and Marian Linke became involved in the war relief effort, which included sending food and clothing to Germany, as well as, advocating for various German issues. As before the war, he wrote many letters to senators and congressmen. He was also active in the humanitarian organizations Central European Rehabilitation Association, American Friends Service Committee and American Relief for Germany, which was a committee of the Steuben Society of America, and the political advocacy organizations American Aid to Rebuild Germany, Committee for the Return of ConfiscatedGerman and Japanese Property, and Committee For Expellees.

Conrad Linke was a longtime member of both the German Society of Pennsylvania and the Steuben Society of America and that organization’s Philadelphia branch, the Pastorius Unit No. 38. Throughout his long membership in these organizations he served in various positions, including at one time as chairman of the Pastorius Unit; in 1944 as national secretary of the Steuben Society of America; in 1946 as secretary of the Pastorius Unit No. 38; in 1950 as a Kurtz Endowment Fund Trustee (of the Steuben Society); and in 1954 as Chairman of Legislative and Public Affairs of the Pastorius Unit. He was also on the governing body of the Pastorius Endowment Fund in the year 1977 . In July 1961, with the Steuben Society, he made one of several trips to Germany. He was also a member of Schlarafia Filadelfia from atleast 1946 to 1951 and participated in their events.

In 1969, Linke created a painting depicting Francis Daniel Pastorius and other German immigrants living at Germantown, Pennsylvania, signing the first proclamation against slavery in the year 1688, and donated it to the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Conrad and Marian Linke were awarded the Ehrenbrief (Citation of Honor) and the Badge of Honor of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, in 1975, after working many years on the cause of the expellees from the Sudeten part of Germany (now part of the Czech Republic).

On May 12, 1995, at 102 years of age, Conrad J. Linke died. Today, his alma mater, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts offers a scholarship in his name.

Marian Linke

Marian Linke was the wife of Conrad J. Linke Jr. and was born April 23, 1896 in Pennsylvania. By her own account, she was of German, Dutch, French, English and Scotch-Irish extraction, and her ancestors settled in this country in the 17th Century (these details are from a letter to Mrs. Rahmlow in Germany; December 19, 1948; folder 49). Her maternal grandfather was a pacifist in World War I and she claims he had an effect on her way of thinking.

Together with her husband, Conrad, Mrs. Linke was very active in political issues throughout much of her life. In 1938, she became involved with the Society of Friends peace work. She identified as German-American and believed in and campaigned for causes concerning Germany and German issues. Both she and Mr. Linke were strong believers in peace and campaigned from 1938 to 1940 in favor of American neutrality. In doing so she wrote many letters to senators and congressmen expressing her views and ideas on that subject.

At the end of the war, from 1945 until 1962, Marian Linke was involved in the war relief effort, which included sending food and clothing to Germany, as well as advocating for various German issues. Her war relief work was conducted primarily through the Philadelphia branch of the Women’s International League (W.I.L.)and began with writing statements, which were to be read before congress, on the issue of allowing the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail to Germany. After the postal routes to Germany were opened she began work on the W.I.L.’s Food Drive. During this time, 1947 to 1949, she wrote and received many personal letters from Germany in regards to food parcels received. At one point she was president of the Philadelphia branch of the W.I.L.

Marian Linke was a longtime member of the Women’s Auxiliary of the German Society of Pennsylvania. In 1948 Marian was appointed Auxiliary representative and sat on the German Society of Pennsylvania board. She was President of the Women’s Auxiliary from 1951 to 1954.

Mrs. Linke was a member of the Steuben Society of America’s Philadelphia unit, the Pastorius Unit No. 38. In 1954 she is listed as being on that organization’s Book Review Committee, Legislative and Public Affairs Committee, and the Steuben News Reporting Committee.

For her many years of work on the cause of the expellees from what had been the Sudeten part of Germany (now part of the Czech Republic), Marian Linke, along with her husband Conrad, was awarded the Ehrenbrief (Citation of Honor) and the Badge of Honor of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, in 1975.

From at least 1937 until 1962 Mrs. Linke's residence was 903 Clinton Street, where she lived with Conrad. In 1962 they moved to 43 South Lakeside Drive, Beachwood Lakes, Medford New Jersey. On January 23, 1985, she died at 88 years of age.

This collection documents the activities of Conrad J. Linke and his wife Marian. Approximately 80 percent of the collection comprises the papers of Conrad Linke. The collection spans the years 1916 to 1990 with the greater part of the material dating from 1938 to 1985.

Mr. Linke is generally known for his art but the majority of the contents of this collection cover his political activities and interests. Mrs. Linke was also involved in the same political issues as Conrad. He and Marian were both German-American so were very involved in issues and causes related to Germany. In the period, 1938 to 1940, prior to the United States entering World War II, they were involved with the pro-American neutrality movement that tried to stop the United States from entering into war against or supplying allies with materials to make war on Germany. There are personal writings, handwritten notes, correspondence, speeches, pamphlets, leaflets, newspaper clippings and other documents pertaining to their efforts in this movement including very anti-British sentiments written by Conrad J. Linke, and also a scrapbook with, among other things, return letters written from elected, as well as former officials to Marian Linke. Other leaflets and documents from organizations they were involved with or supported, such as the America First Committee, Committee to Maintain Neutrality, Peace-Action Service, Anti-War Committee, and the National Council for the Prevention of War, are collected here also.

After World War II, from 1945 to 1961, the Linkes were involved in the war relief effort. Relating to this effort, Conrad Linke was involved with the humanitarian organizations American Relief for Germany, Central European Rehabilitation Association, American Friends Service Committee, and American Aid to Rebuild Germany, as well as the political advocacy groups Committee for the Return of Confiscated German and Japanese Property and Committee for Expellees. Correspondence, personal notes, leaflets, minutes, business records, newsletters, press statements, newspaper clippings and other documents give information on the actions of these organizations in that time period.

Mr. Linke was also a member of the Steuben Society of America and their Philadelphia branch the Pastorius Unit No. 38 and through these organizations he conducted a good deal of, but not only, neutrality and war relief effort activities. Many documents, including personal notes, correspondence, newsletters, newspaper clippings and business records in the date span 1924 to 1990, have been collected.

Marian Linke conducted her war relief efforts through membership in the Philadelphia branch of the Women’s International League. A large portion of her papers are correspondence she shared with people in Germany that she was involved in sending food and clothing to. There are also food package order forms, business records and correspondence related to the W.I.L. food drive. Marian Linke also was president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the German Society of Pennsylvania from 1951 to 1954, and her papers include her tribute speech to Mrs. Henrietta M. Keller from 1947, a 1952 German Society anniversary program and other documents related to both the Woman’s Auxiliary and the Society.

Conrad and Marian Linke wrote many letters to elected officials to express and promote their political opinions and ideas and to agitate for the positions they believed were right. In return they not only received letters but also copies of Congressional Records, House Resolutions, Bills and transcripts of speeches by some of these elected officials that run the years from 1937 to 1961 on the subjects of neutrality, war relief and other German topics. One German topic Conrad J. Linke had an interest in was war crimes and there are several documents from the years 1948 to 1951 including a Lucius D. Clay statement, lawyer’s statements and a clemency plea from one condemned German.

A file of ephemera includes leaflets, newsletters, pamphlets, and booklets from 1938 to 1983. In a miscellaneous organizations file there is a booklet for the fiftieth anniversary of the Teutonia Lodge from 1939; and from the Sons of Herman Lodge, a state President’s speech and a Letter to Lodges, both from 1944.

Conrad J. Linke was a friend of Dr. Austin J. App, who was a German-American professor of Medieval English Literature and the originator of the Holocaust denial movement in the United States. Several pamphlets authored by Dr. App, some of his correspondence to newspaper editors, and newspaper clippings between the years 1946 and 1978 are collected here. Linke was also friends with the German-American writer Karl T. Marx (see Karl T. Marx papers), and there is correspondence between them from 1975 to 1985.

From the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge Pennsylvania there are a newsletter, correspondence, and speech notes relating to a painting depicting Francis Daniel Pastorius signing the first proclamation against slavery in 1688 that was painted and donated by Conrad Linke to the Foundation in 1969. And, in 1975 Conrad and Marian Linke were awarded the Ehrenbrief (Citation of Honor) and the Badge of Honor of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft after working many years on the cause of the expellees from the Sudeten part of Germany (now part of the Czech Republic). Correspondence and a speech relating to this event document their award.

The collection has been arranged in three series: Conrad Linke and Marian Linke, both of which are arranged by areas of activity; and a scrapbook. While both Mr. and Mrs. Linke worked in the same areas of activities the things they worked on specifically do not overlap except in the scrapbook. A rough chronological sequence according to the time period in which their activities occurred has been used. In the Conrad Linke series the subseries for his various activities all include correspondence, notes and drafts, and miscellaneous items. In the Marian Linke series, besides the subseries of correspondence related to war relief, the subseries Women’s International League also includes correspondence.