Julius (1902-1989) and Helen Kahn (1902-1992) Weil left Germany for the United States in the late 1930s to escape mounting Nazi persecution of Jews. Julius emigrated in 1937 and his wife, Helen, with their two young children followed the next year. After a brief stay in New York City, they settled in the Cleveland, Ohio, area in 1941 where their professional work in the fields of geriatrics and social work earned national and international recognition.
Born in Steinfurth, Germany, Dr. Julius Weil (Ph.D., clinical psychology, University of Munich) spent his early professional career in the field of child care, as director of institutions for dependent and delinquent youth. His later career, from 1941 on, was devoted to work with the aging. He was executive director of Montefiore Home, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, from 1941-1968. From 1969-1985 he served as president of the Cornelia Schnurmann Foundation, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, a non-profit housing community for senior citizens. Dr. Weil was founder of the Ohio Association of Homes for the Aging and one of the founders of the North American Jewish Homes for the Aging.
Helen (nee Kahn) Weil, born in Breisach, Germany, received vocational training in teaching and social work in Freiburg and was employed as a social worker in an institute for delinquent children in Munich. After emigrating to the United States, she continued her education. In 1943, she earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio, with the added distinction of being the school's first woman graduate. She was granted a Master of Social Work degree by Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Weil served as director of Social Services at Montefiore Home, 1943-1968, and director of Social Services at Schnurmann House beginning in 1969. She also taught courses in gerontology at Western Reserve University.
The Julius and Helen K. Weil Papers, 1942-1977 and undated, consist of published and unpublished articles, presentations, teaching materials, correspondence, and memoirs of Julius and Helen K. Weil.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, and careers of Julius and Helen K. Weil there in the mid-to-late twentieth century. The Weils worked during an important transitional period in which the traditional "old folks home" developed into a facility with services in medicine, psychiatry, social work, and rehabilitation. Many innovations instrumental to this transformation were pioneered by the Weils at the Montefiore Home: the sheltered workshop; use of social workers; psychiatric treatment; occupational therapy; the out-resident program; the day care program; specialized care for mentally deteriorated residents; and field training of social work students.
The collection is arranged in three series.
One voice record has been removed to the WRHS audio collection.
The researcher should also consult MS 4735 Julius and Helen K. Weil Papers, Series II; and MS 3835 Montefiore Home Records.
Processed by Louis Rosenblum in 1990.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4499 Julius and Helen K. Weil Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Julius and Helen K. Weil, 1983.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.