Helmecke family papers

The Helmecke family of this collection lived in Braunschweig, Germany before immigrating to the United States. Stephan Helmecke came to Cincinnati in 1902 to work for the Globe Wernecke Company in Norwood, Ohio. It is likely that Stephan Helmecke took this job, because he was related to the Wernecke family. Stephan appears to have done a substantial amount of timber-cruising for the company in the Southern United States and in Michigan. This job consisted of assessing the value of timber.

Stephan's wife, Marie (Engel) and their two children Carl Albert and Marie Gertrud followed him to the United States in 1903. The family lived in Cincinnati for five years before moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Both Carl and Gertrud attended the University of Michigan. Carl became a professor of German language and literature after receiving his M.A. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught at Upper Iowa University and Western State College at Gunnison, Colorado. While at Gunnison, he spent a sabbatical year in Hitler's Germany (1937-1938) serving as an exchange professor at the University of Berlin. Upon retiring from Gunnison in 1955, Helmecke moved to Corpus Christi, Texas where he tuaght at Del Mar College, the Incarnate Word Academy Christopher College and the University of Corpus Christi. He passed away in 1984.