Call Number:

Ms. Coll. AH 1000

Repository:

German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library

Extent:

0.5 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language:

German

Preferred Citation:

Anita Shade scrapbook, Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library, German Society of Pennsylvania

Date:

1891-1957 (inclusive)

Creator:

Schade, Anita, 1869-1957

Form:

Clippings (information artifacts), Correspondence, Leaflets (printed works), Photographs, Programs (documents), Scores, and Scrapbooks

Abstract:

This scrapbook documents the activities of Anita Schade and spans the years 1891 to 1957. A large portion of the materials are related to the German Literary Society which she founded in Washington, D.C., 1901. There is also content from several other organizations she was involved with, including the German Dramatic Society, the Goethe Society of America and the Shakespeare Club.

Anita Schade was well known in the literary and musical circles of Washington, D.C., in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was a teacher, amateur actress, poet, lecturer, composer, and writer. She was born the daughter of Louis Schade on October 3, 1869 on her father's farm, Annaruh, in Fairfax County, Virginia. Louis Schade was a German Forty-Eighter (a participant in the failed 1848 revolution in Germany), lawyer, publisher of the Washington Sentinel weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C., and very active in American politics. In 1878 he bought the house at 516 10th Street, which was the house where President Abraham Lincoln died in 1865. Anita grew up on the farm and at the family home in Washington, D.C. From the 1890s to 1956 she lived at 1529 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. In 1956, she moved to an apartment at 1722 19th Street, Apartment 603, Washington, D.C., and lived there until she died on September 6, 1957.

Anita Schade received her higher education in Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. She became fluent in both German and French. For over fifty years she worked as a German language teacher at such institutions as Washington College, Gunston Hall (the home of founding father George Mason), Fairmount Seminary, National Park Seminary, and Miss Madiera's School for Girls.

In the 1890s, Schade was a member of the German Dramatic Society and the Shakespeare Club, and acted in many plays and and participated in many music events, some of which were staged in her home.

In 1901 she founded the German Literary Society in Washington, D.C., which presented many music events featuring the music of Brahms, Schubert, Schiller, Bach, Schumann and Wagner. As president of the society she was presented a small marble bust of Goethe at the German Embassy on February 2, 1932. Also in 1932, she presented an English translation of Goethe's Faust, Part I, to Mrs. Herbert Hoover. She is one of a group of people who helped to organize the Goethe celebration that was held in Washington on March 8, 1932.

As a member of the Goethe Society of America, Schade gave lectures at universities and radio talks, and wrote articles and gave readings on works of or about Goethe. She also had a large collection of autographs and letters from Goethe students and authorities.

Schade was the composer of songs, choruses, odes, and anthems which have been performed in public and have been played by the United States Marine Band.

In 1927 Schade was awarded the German Red Cross medal for her benevolent and charitable activities during World War I, and in 1955 she was awarded the Federal Republic of Germany's Order of Merit for helping to further cultural relations between Germany and the United States.

This scrapbook contains clippings, correspondence, leaflets, programs, and photographs related to the life of Anita Schade. The material spans the years 1891 to 1957. Schade founded the the German Literary Society in Washington, D.C., in 1901, and a large portion of the content is related to that organization. She was also a member of various other German-American societies, including the German Dramatic Society, the Goethe Society of America, and the Shakespeare Club, and there are materials related to those organizations also. She worked as a German language teacher for 50 years, and the scrapbook contains several letters from former students. Also included are several clippings about her famous father, and a score for a song she wrote.