Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biographical Information
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: James Mack and Elizabeth Lilienthal Gerstley family papers and photographs
Date (inclusive): 1867-2003,
Date (bulk): bulk 1910-1985
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2010/607
Creators:
Gerstley, James M.
Gerstley, Elizabeth Lilienthal
Extent:
Number of containers: 11 cartons, 13 oversize boxes, and 4 oversize folders
Linear feet: 17.2
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The collection consists of the papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and photo albums of the family of James Mack and Elizabeth
Lilienthal Gerstley. The family papers include some correspondence, a small amount of material from James Mack Gerstley's
tenure at Borax, and historical/ biographical materials about the Gerstley and Mack families. There are a few autograph albums
and scrapbooks in the collection as well. The bulk of the collection is made up of photographs and photo albums documenting
the history of the Gerstley, Mack, Lilienthal, and Sloss families as well as the travels and milestones of James Mack and
Elizabeth Gerstley and their children.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition,
the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor
restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public
domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], James Mack and Elizabeth Lilienthal Gerstley family papers, BANC MSS 2010/607, The Magnes Collection
of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Gerstley, James Mack, 1907-2007--Archives
Gerstley, Elizabeth, 1913-2007
Gerstley family
Gerstle family
Mack family
Lilienthal family
Sloss family
Borax Consolidated, ltd
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Avery Brundage Collection
Gerstley, Elizabeth, 1913-2007
Judah L. Magnes Museum. 2009.5
Bancroft Library. Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The James Mack and Elizabeth Lilienthal Gerstley family papers were gifted to the Bancroft Library by the Judah L. Magnes
Museum in 2010.
Accruals
No future additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life staff in 2011.
Biographical Information
James Mack Gerstley (1907-2007) was born in London to James Gerstley and Adele Mack. The Gerstle(y) family can be traced to
Ichenhausen, Germany, where the oldest identifiable ancestor appears to be Abraham Gerstle (1740-1796). Abraham's son, Isak
Michael Gerstle (1787-1851) married Sara Sofie Weil and had seven children: Abraham, Karoline, Sophie, Handele, Löb, Jette,
and Moritz. Löb Gerstle eventually moved to San Francisco, changed his name to Lewis, and became the patriarch of the Bay
Area branch of the Gerstle family. Lewis married Hannah Greenebaum in 1858 and played key roles in several successful business
enterprises, including the Alaska Commercial Company. Moritz, Lewis' brother, moved to London, where he changed his first
name to Maurice and his last name to Gerstley. Maurice was a successful "fancy goods" wholesaler until his death in 1900.
Maurice and his wife Paulina (Cohn) had four children: Sophia, Frederick Julius, James, and Louisa Paulina. James, born in
1867 (died 1955), was to be the last of the English Gerstleys. James Gerstley Sr. worked for Redwood and Sons, a chemical
firm specializing in food preservatives. Borax or boron was an important ingredient in their enterprise. In 1895, Lewis Gerstle
of San Francisco arranged a meeting with Redwood and Sons and a Bay Area company called Pacific Coast Borax. This meeting
led to a merger between the companies. In 1904, James Gerstley Sr. married Adele Hannah Mack, a granddaughter of Lewis Gerstle.
The company merger and the marriage cemented the links between the San Francisco and London branches of the family.
The Mack family originates in Reckendorf, Bavaria. Abraham Mack (1775-1857) and his wife Luala (1777-1831) had a son named
Lawrence in 1819. Lawrence immigrated to New York in 1836. There he met and married Miriam Massenbacher in 1849 and together
they had nine children. In 1880, Lawrence and Miriam and most of their children moved to San Francisco. One of the Mack children,
Adolph, married Clara Gerstle (born in Sacramento to Lewis and Hannah Gerstle in 1861). Adolph and Clara were the parents
of Edith Miriam (1883-1963), Harold Lewis (b. 1884), and Adele Mack (b. 1886-1973).
James Mack Gerstley, son of James Gerstley Sr. and Adele Mack, grew up in London and attended Cambridge University. He came
to San Francisco in 1929 and worked initially for the Great Western Electric Company. Shortly after arriving in the Bay Area,
Gerstley met Elizabeth Lilienthal (1913-2007), daughter of Samuel Lilienthal and Alice Haas (both from prominent California
Jewish families). Elizabeth was raised in San Francisco and spent her young life in the Haas-Lilienthal House on Franklin
Street. She attended the Burke School, Stanford University and Smith College. James Mack Gerstley and Elizabeth Lilienthal
married at the home of Madeleine Russell in Atherton in 1934. In the mid-1930s, James Mack Gerstley started working for the
Pacific Borax Company in Los Angeles. By 1950, he had become president of the company, which later became known as U.S. Borax
and Chemical Co. The company was cemented in the popular imagination by its 20-mule team, which became an icon of the American
West. James Mack and Elizabeth had two children, Ann and Jimmy (James). Gerstley was also an active philanthropist in the
Bay Area, working particularly on local arts and culture. He was one of the co-founders of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
and was instrumental in securing for the new museum the Avery Brundage collection. Elizabeth was also an active philanthropist.
James and Elizabeth both died in 2007 at the respective ages of 99 and 94.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of family papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and photo albums. The family papers include some correspondence,
a small amount of material from James Mack Gerstley's tenure at Borax, and historical/ biographical materials about the Gerstley
and Mack families. There are a few autograph albums and scrapbooks in the collection as well. The bulk of the collection is
made up of photographs and photo albums documenting the history of the Gerstley, Mack, Lilienthal, and Sloss families as well
as the travels and milestones of James Mack and Elizabeth Gerstley and their children.