Melvin L. Cohen Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 1033

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Forms part of the Joan and Stanford Alexander South Texas Jewish Archives. Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Content Description

One box containing correspondence, newspaper articles, Temple Beth-El journals and bulletins, a Bar Mitzvah DVD and photo album, and memorabilia documents some activities that Melvin Cohen and the San Antonio Jewish Community were involved in from 1941 to 2014.

Forms part of the Joan and Stanford Alexander South Texas Jewish Archives.

Dates

Creation: 1941 - 2014

Creator

Cohen, Melvin L. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection open for research without restriction. Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from the Melvin L. Cohen Papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library. The Woodson Research Center use policy is that researchers assume sole responsibility for any infringement of privacy, literary rights, copyrights, or other rights arising from their use of the archival materials. In addition to any restrictions placed by donors, certain kinds of archival materials are restricted for the life of the creator plus 50 years. These materials include, but are not limited to, student grades, transcripts, and any job applications or recommendations.

Biographical / Historical

Carrie Bertha Pfeiffer Brown (born August 8, 1886, in Carrizo Springs, Texas) was the second Branch President of the San Antonio Branch of the Southern Association of University Women (1910-1911, 1931-1933, and 1937-1939). She graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a B.A. degree in 1906. She played a significant role in establishing branches of the SAUW in Texas. Carrie was actively involved in the San Antonio Kindergarten Association, Immigrant Night School established by the National Council of Jewish Women, the City Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Bexar County Medical Auxiliary and the PTA. She reportedly was a pioneer of women actively participating in social life and was said to be very independent. Carrie P. Brown married Alexander A. Brown in 1908.

Carrie and Alexander's daughter, Elizabeth Brown (later Brown Cohen) was born in San Antonio on December 20, 1922. She was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Phi fraternity. She married Melvin David Cohen, who was born in Houston on November 8, 1906. Melvin David Cohen (1906-1994) created memoirs. He repeatedly travelled to Mexico City and worked there as an engineer, travelled to Europe (and Morocco) during the 1930s, and served in the military during WWII in France, Luxembourg, and Germany. During the 1960s he traveled to El Salvador, in 1980s he visited Israel, Egypt and India. Melvin attended Rice University for two years, from 1921-1923, as well as his brother, Chester Cohen, who attended from 1917-1919, and two of Melvin’s sons - Dr. David John Cohen (B.S. 1968) and Melvin Lee Cohen (B.A. 1972). Melvin Lee was born on March 18, 1950, in San Antonio.