Finding aid for the Dorothy and Ralph A. Colbert Family Papers

Biography of the Dorothy and Ralph A. Colbert Family

Dorothy and Ralph Colbert were active Jewish community leaders in Cleveland, Ohio, in the mid to late twentieth century. Dorothy Katz Meister Koblitz Colbert (1923-2004) volunteered with The Temple-Tifereth Israel, the Cleveland Rehabilitation Center, and the National Council of Jewish Women. She was also a co-founder of Mt. Sinai Hospital's Junior Auxiliary. She was the daughter of Samuel Meister, who, along with his brothers Eugene and Edward and his brother-in-lawStuart Halle (husband of Zara Meister), founded Meister Brothers, later known as Meistergram, Inc., in 1933. She married Maurice J. Koblitz in 1947, and, before divorcing, the couple had two children, Michael A. Koblitz and Jan K. Blum. In 1974 she married Ralph A. Colbert (1908-1987), an attorney with the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. Ralph A. Colbert served on the boards of Cleveland Council on World Affairs, the Cleveland Play House, and the local chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Meistergram, Inc. was recognized worldwide by manufacturers as the original and largest manufacturer of monogram embroidery machinery. Meistergram sold and leased its machinery and supplies to department and specialty stores, apparel, novelty, and uniform manufacturers, embroiderers, mail order companies, furriers, dry cleaning shops, and towel and linen distributors, for the purpose of promotion and identification. The company was headed by Eugene B. Meister, one of the founders of the company, until the company was sold in 1977.

Scope and Content

The Dorothy and Ralph A. Colbert Family Papers, 1917-1987 and undated, consist of an article, certificates, a manual, a memorandum, newspaper clippings, notices, a poster, a program, reports, and scrapbooks.

This collection is of value to researchers interested in the history of the Meister, Halle, Koblitz, and Colbert families. Those with an interest in the history of the garment industry in Cleveland, Ohio, will find the collection to be of value. The collection offers information about the types of technology used by the garment industry in the mid to late twentieth century. Of special interest are the scrapbooks documenting the legal career of Ralph A. Colbert and the shooting card, in German, of Carl Halle, father of Stuart Halle. A report on the Tuesday Sewing Activities of The Temple-Tifereth Israel written by Zara Meister Hertz Halle is also of interest, and an unpublished article by Eugene Meister's wife Maude offers an account of the development of Meistergram. Those interested in women's history and the history of the Jewish community in Cleveland will find this collection useful.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

All photographs have been removed to the WRHS Photograph and Print Collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5161 Dorothy and Ralph A. Colbert Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Dorothy Colbert in 1993 and 1995.

Processing Information

Processed by Emile Katz and Sean Martin in 2013.

Detailed Description of The Collection