Collection Guide
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Hermann C. Raebel papers, 1865-1997
522
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Title: Hermann C. Raebel papers
Collection number: 522
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1 oversize box
Date: 1865-1997
Abstract: Hermann C. Raebel Jr. (1848-1869) was born in Leipzig, Germany. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy (1866). While on
maneuvers off the coast of Brazil in 1866, received a commission as ensign. He painted watercolors and wrote letters home
while serving on several U.S. Navy ships along the west coast of South America (1866-69). The collection contains 46 about
10 x 6 watercolors of scenes from the east coast of South America, along with color photocopies.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance through our electronic
paging system using the request button located on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are
retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance through our electronic paging system using the request button located on this page.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Darvel T. Lloyd, 1997.
[Identification of item], Hermann C. Raebel Papers (Collection 522). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Hermann C. Raebel Jr. was born in 1848 in Leipzig, Germany; at age 9, he came to the U.S. with his family; graduated from
high school in 1862 in Cleveland, Ohio at age 14, then entered the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1866; while on maneuvers
off the coast of Brazil in 1866, received a commission as ensign; painted watercolors and wrote letters home while serving
on several U.S. Navy ships along the west coast of South America, 1866-69; died on June 25, 1869 in the hospital ship Illinois
in New York Harbor after contracting yellow fever in the Caribbean.
Biographical Narrative from original legacy finding aid
Hermann C. Raebel Jr. was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1848 (exact date unknown). His family emigrated to the United States
in 1857, when he was 9 years old. In 1862, at the age of 14, Raebel graduated from high school in Cleveland, Ohio. That same
year he entered the U.S. Naval Academy, and graduated from there in 1866. On November 1, 1866, aged 18, and whilst on maneuvers
off the coast of Brazil, Raebel received a commission as Ensign in the U. S. Navy from President Andrew Johnson. Reputedly
that made him the youngest officer in the Navy at the time. Raebel painted his watercolors and wrote the letters that are
recorded in the collection by his father whilst serving on several U. S. Navy ships up and down the coast of South America
between 1866 and 1869. In 1869 Raebel caught yellow fever in the Caribbean and on June 25 died in the hospital ship Illinois
in New York harbor. He was 21 years old.
Collection contains 46 about 10 x 6 watercolors of scenes from the east coast of South America, along with color photocopies.
Also contains a letter to his sister, and a notebook in which his father copied his letters. These are in German, but a translation
of them was done by family members in the late 1950s. Collection also contains photographs of Raebel, his obituary from a
German-American newspaper, and his original 1866 commission from President Andrew Johnson to be an ensign in the U.S. Navy.
Scope and Content note from legacy finding aid
This is a small collection whose main features are 46 watercolors painted by Raebel on his journeys up and down the east coast
of South America, and copies of his letters to his father about his journeys. The watercolors, all about 10 x 6, are mainly
of views of the Brazilian coast and coastal towns. There are also several views of Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Rio Negro
in Patagonia. Raebel wrote a series of letters to his father about his naval training and travels, which his father copied
in to a notebook which is in the collection. He letters were all in German, as that is all his father understood, but there
is also a translation of them done by family members in the late 1950's. Other items in the collection include photographs
of Raebel, alone and with Navy colleagues, and his original commission from President Johnson.
Arranged in the following series:
- Watercolors (Box 1).
- Photographs (Box 1).
- Correspondence (Box 1).
- Obituary (Box 1).
- Family history (Box 2).
- Navy commission (Box 2).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Raebel, Hermann C., 1848-1869--Archives.
Diaries.
United States. Navy Department--Officers--Archives.
Watercolorists--United States--Archives.