Guide to the Mary Grace Heller Cope collection
Alexander C. Guilbert
Center for Sacramento History
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Phone: (916) 808-7072
Fax: (916) 264-7582
Email: csh@cityofsacramento.org
URL: http://www.centerforsacramentohistory.org/
© 2013
Center for Sacramento History. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Mary Grace Heller Cope collection
Cope (Mary Grace Heller) collection
MS0009
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, CA
- Processed by:
- Alexander C. Guilbert
- Date Completed:
- 2013
- Finding aid prepared by:
- Alexander C. Guilbert
- Date Completed:
- 2013
- Encoded by:
- Alexander C. Guilbert
- Date Completed:
- 2015
© 2015 Center for Sacramento History. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Guide to the Mary Grace Heller Cope Collection
Dates: 1896-1982 Bulk 1959-1982
Collection number: MS0009
Creator:
Cope, Mary Grace Heller (daughter of Dorothy Lubin Heller) and the descendants of David Lubin
Collection Size:
0.5 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: The Mary Grace Heller Cope Collection covers a time period from 1896 through 1982. The collection contains copies of David
Lubin's correspondence and writings during his lifetime, and tributes that were published after his death. The collection
also contains family correspondence to archival institutions regarding the donation and use of David Lubin's documents starting
in 1959 and continuing until 1982. The collection is 0.5 cubic feet in size.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Physical location: SP: 28:I:4, 4:G:1 (Drawer I)
Access
Collection is open for research use.
Publication Rights
All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Center for Sacramento History as
the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also
be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
Preferred Citation
[Identifcation of item], Mary Grace Heller Cope Collection, MS0009, Center for Sacramento History.
Acquisition Information
Received from Mary Grace Heller Cope on December 27, 2011 by the Center for Sacramento History (accession #2012/013).
Processing Information
Processed and finding aid prepared by Alexander C. Guilbert, 2013.
Biographical Sketch
David Lubin was born in Klodawa, Poland in 1849. His father died while he was still an infant. His mother, Rachel, eventually
married Solomon Weinstock and the family moved to England. The family immigrated to the United States in 1855. David Lubin
left school at the age of 12 and embarked on a series of odd jobs that took him back and forth across the United States.
David Lubin went to San Francisco, California in 1874 to help his recently widowed sister, Jeannette, and his step-brother,
Harris Weinstock, run a dry goods store. Later that year he decided to open his own store, and unable to find a suitable location
in San Francisco, decided to try his luck in Sacramento.
By 1875, Harris Weinstock joined David Lubin in Sacramento. The business prospered and evolved from a dry goods store into
a department store and mail-order business. The business was incorporated in 1888 as Weinstock, Lubin & Company. Meanwhile,
the store's success allowed David Lubin to focus on his interest in agriculture and the small farmer, specifically, farming
collectives and the California Fruit Exchange.
David Lubin's first marriage to Louisa Lorraine Lyons produced six children. Due to the infidelity of his wife, the couple
divorced in 1896. He then left the country with his children for a trip to Europe to avoid the publicity. After returning
to the United States at the end of the year, Lubin and his family took up residence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and sought
input on President William McKinley's revision of tariffs. His suggestions were not adopted, but while in Philadelphia he
met and later married Florence Platnauer in 1897. David Lubin, his new wife, and children then moved to San Francisco, California.
David Lubin wrote a book,
Let There Be Light, about his ideas of a universal religion that was published in 1900.
Working with his son Simon, from his first marriage, David Lubin developed the idea for an international chamber of agriculture
and unable to obtain support in the United States he pursued his goal in Europe. In 1904, Italian King Victor Emmanuel III
gave political and monetary support to David Lubin's idea. In 1905 a world conference was held with representatives of 41
countries. The result of the conference was the inauguration of the International Institute of Agriculture (IIA) headquartered
in Rome. Lubin was appointed the permanent United States delegate to the IIA. During World War I, Lubin continued his work
with the IIA from Rome.
In 1916 Lubin met H.G. Wells and the two men corresponded until Lubin's death on January 1, 1919 a victim of the influenza
epidemic.
The IIA was dissolved in 1946 and its functions and several of its assets were transferred to the Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations. The David Lubin Memorial Library was dedicated in Rome in 1952.
David Lubin's second marriage produced three children, Dorothy Sophie, Grace, and Theodore. This collection was donated by
Mary Grace Heller Cope, the daughter of Grace Lubin Finesinger.
Information for this biography was partially derived from
Weinstock's: Sacramento's Finest Department Store by Annette Kassis.
Scope and Content
The Mary Grace Heller Cope Collection is arranged in two series: 1. David Lubin and 2. Family. Items span the years 1896 to
1992, with the bulk of items being the family correspondence to archival institutions dating from 1959 through 1982. The total
of both series consists of one-half cubic foot containing documents. Correspondence documents are often photocopies or typewritten
transcriptions of the originals.
The first series, David Lubin, is divided into eight subseries: Correspondence; H. G. Wells; Book,
Let There Be Light; Writings; International Institute of Agriculture/Food and Agriculture Organization; Tributes; Biographical Information;
and Correspondence between family members and archival organizations (FAO, American Jewish Archives, and the Western Jewish
History Center of the Judah L. Magnes Memorial Museum).
The second series, Family, is divided into two subseries: American Jewish Archive Interviews and Newspaper Clippings.
Related Material
For additional information regarding David Lubin, researchers should consult the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.
Series 1. David Lubin
1896-1973
Box 1, Folder 1
David Lubin to Dorothy, Gracie and Teddy
1917-1918
Box 1, Folder 3
Excerpt from
The World of William Clissold
1914-1918
Box 1, Folder 4
Book,
Let There Be Light
1900
Box 1, Folder 5
Rural Co-operation a remedy for trust. Letter to Congressman William Sulzer
Box 1, Folder 5
Letter of the Permanent Delegate of the United States to the Minister of Finance of Russia on the form of crop reports
Box 1, Folder 5
Address delivered by David Lubin at the International Congress of Agriculture at Budapest
1896
Box 1, Folder 5
The university in the homes of the people
1901
Box 1, Folder 5
The mission of Israel and the Commonwealth of Nations
1911
Box 1, Folder 5
Frederick William Raiffeisen, Address delivered by David Lubin
1913
Box 1, Folder 5
Cost of Ocean Carriage
1914
Box 1, Folder 5
A Practical National Marketing Organization and Rural Credits System for the United States, a hearing before the State Department
1915
Box 1, Folder 5
Liberty Crop vs. the Ukraine
1915
Box 1, Folder 5
Democracies versus Autocracies
1917
Box 1, Folder 5
An International Confederation Permanent Peace Under a Constitution
1917
Box 1, Folder 5
Letter to Captain Harold Harris, Jewish Battalion, British Expeditionary Force from David Lubin
1918
Box 1
International Institute of Agriculture/Food and Agriculture Organization
1948-1973
Box 1, Folder 6
Paper describing the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the International Institute of Agriculture
Box 1, Folder 6
Addresses delivered to commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the International Institute of Agriculture
Box 1, Folder 6
International Problems of Agriculture
1935
Box 1, Folder 6
Postcard of the bust of David Lubin residing at the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome, Italy
Box 1, Folder 6
Brochures and newsletter
1966-1973
Box 1, Folder 7
Condolences and newspaper articles
1918-1919
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence and copy of review of
David Lubin: A Study in Practical Idealism
1923
Box 1, Folder 7
Newspaper clipping regarding the launch of the liberty ship S. S. David Lubin
undated
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence expressing thanks to the Lubin family for gifts to the S. S. David Lubin
1944
Box 1, Folder 7
Newspaper clipping from The Sun
1949
Box 1, Folder 7
Newspaper clipping of the David Lubin Memorial of the 110th anniversary of his birth, from the Daily American
1959
Box 1, Folder 7
David Lubin (1849-1919) An Appreciation
1969
Box 1, Folder 7
Pamphlet and photograph of the altar window of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Methodist in Richmond, California which contains
a depiction of David Lubin
Box 1, Folder 8
Scrapbook containing a chronological listing of the articles, pamphlets, letters, etc. written by, to, or about David Lubin
Box 1, Folder 9
Photocopies of articles about David Lubin
Box 1
Correspondence between family members and archival organizations (FAO, American Jewish Archives, and the Western Jewish History
Center of the Judah L. Magnes Memorial Museum)
1959-1982
Box 1, Folder 10
Photographs of Grace Lubin Finesinger at the FAO
1974
Box 1
American Jewish Archives Interviews
1975
Box 1, Folder 11
Grace Lubin Finesinger
1975
Box 1, Folder 11
Dorothy Sophie Lubin Heller
1975
Box 1
Newspaper Clippings
1957-1973
Box 1, Folder 12
Newspaper clipping regarding Mrs. David Lubin's 90th birthday from the Press-Journal
1957
Box 1, Folder 12
Newspaper clipping regarding the death of Jess Ira Lubin
undated
Box 1, Folder 12
Newspaper clipping regarding the Judith Magnes Museum obtaining David Lubin material from the Jewish Observer
1973
Box 1, Folder 12
Correspondence from Prentice-Hall, Inc. to Helene Bogaty
1973
Box 1, Folder 12
Newspaper clipping regarding experiments in democracy conducted by the University of Washington from the New York Herald Tribune
1952
Box 1, Folder 12
The Community Development Program of the Bureau of Community Development of the University of Washington document
