Frederick Yeiser’s life reads a little like a movie. He came from a well-to-do Cincinnati family and attended Princeton University. He was a music, art, and book critic for the Cincinnati Enquirer, and he traveled extensively through Europe and the Middle East. During World War II, he served as a member of the Office of Strategic Services, the United States’ first intelligence agency and he just happened to marry a German heiress. The staff at the Archives and Rare Books Library (ARB) recently completed re-processing a small collection of Frederick Yeiser’s personal and professional papers. Although ARB has held this collection since the 1990s, the collection had not been fully processed and the photographs and correspondence were not properly housed or organized. ARB was lucky enough to have the assistance of our intern Brittney Smith to better organize and describe the collection.
Frederick Yeiser’s father Henry C. Yeiser, Sr. was President of the Globe-Wernicke Company, but there is very little on Frederick Yeiser’s early life in this collection. Instead, the collection largely begins with information on Yeiser’s attendance at Princeton University in the late 1910’s. Yeiser’s studies were interrupted by World War I and he served for six months in the U.S. Navy. After his service, he returned to Princeton and received his bachelor’s degree in 1921. He then worked for three years for his father’s company, the Globe-Wernicke Company, before accepting a teaching position with American University in Beirut, Syria.
There are a significant number of photographs in the collection documenting Frederick Yeiser’s travels during the 1920s and 1930s. Passports included in the collection show that Yeiser traveled extensively during this time. There are photos of Yeiser’s visits to Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Northern and Central Syria, including Al-Qaryatayn, Damascus, Palmyra, and Nazareth.
Although there are photos documenting visits to Austria in the collection, it is surprising that there are not more. Frederick Yeiser later married the Countess of Reigersberg, Sylvia Reigersberg. They met and were engaged prior to the outbreak of World War II but were separated during the war. The couple was finally able to marry in 1946.
The correspondence in the collection documents Yeiser’s service during World War II and the experiences of his colleagues, friends, and family during the war. Yeiser enlisted in the army in 1942 and served with the Office of Strategic Services in Algiers, Corsica, Belgrade, and other areas of Europe.
Both before and after World War II, Frederick Yeiser’s professional life involved the arts. He began studying music in 1925 and worked for the Rudolf Wurlitz Company for three years before joining the Cincinnati Enquirer as a music critic. There is correspondence in the collection highlighting Frederick’s career.
For more information on the collection, please view the online finding aid. If you’d like to make an appointment to see collection or have questions, please contact us at the Archives and Rare Books Library.