Call Number:

C1039

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 16 boxes
• 16.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Helmut Meyer Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1938-2000 (inclusive)

Creator:

Meyer, Helmut, 1912-2004

Form:

Correspondence., Manuscripts., Photographs., Propaganda., and Scrapbooks.

Abstract:

Helmut Meyer was a German-born American citizen who fought for the United States in World War II and founded the Helmut Meyer Literary Agency in New York City. The collection contains files from the Helmut Meyer Literary Agency, propaganda from both the Allies and the Axis from World War II, manuscripts of Meyer's own work, and correspondence from friends and clients.

Helmut Meyer was born in Germany in 1912. In 1938, he left Germany for New York and became an American citizen, after which he joined the Army and returned to Germany during World War II. His tasks there included creating propaganda for use by the Allies and editing a daily newspaper, Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, for publication in Austria. Among his friends and correspondents during the war were Emil Ludwig and Peter Viereck. In 1962, Meyer established the Helmut Meyer Literary Agency in New York. Meyer died in 2004.

The collection consists of selected papers of Meyer. Included are literary files of the Helmut Meyer Literary Agency, family correspondence from Germany and Bolivia, photographs and printed ephemera related to Germany, the Holocaust, and both Allied and Axis propaganda during World War II, and manuscripts of his own unpublished plays. Correspondents include Alfred Eisenstaedt, Emil Ludwig, Arnold Rosin, Peter Viereck, and other friends and literary clients. In addition, there are two works of art: a signed/numbered, untitled print by Raphael Soyer and an unidentified black watercolor drawing of a face.