This collection contains documents and photographs relating to both Isabel Wiel's work and volunteer activities, and to the Sloss, Lilienthal, Gerstley, and Wiel families. The majority of the collection consists of photograph albums from later in Isabel Wiel's life and loosely depicts her daily activities. The collection also includes some correspondence, photographs, some family photo albums, some family documents, wedding invitations, birth and death certificates, obituaries, Gerstley/Sloss reunion invitations, Wiel family genealogical research, three family trees, clippings, recipes, and a medical pamphlet by Harry Wiel. The collection also includes materials from the Bohemian Club (to which Harry Wiel belonged) and a series of drafts of writings by Isabel Wiel describing her childhood, her education, and her work and volunteer activities, as well as a series of trips.

Isabel Wiel, born on March 11, 1916, was the second daughter of Dr. Harry Isaac Wiel and Sarah Sloss Lilienthal Wiel, who married in 1910. Her maternal grandparents were Ernest R. Lilienthal and Hannah Isabelle [Bella] Sloss. Wiel graduated from Miss Burke's School [Katherine Delmar Burke] in San Francisco and attended Mills College in Oakland for two years. Her sister, Barbara, married Frank Dunn on 26 Oct. 1935. After leaving Mills, Wiel worked for Paul Elder & Company (1938-1941), before opening the Personal Bookshop with Gladys E. Seymour (also a former Paul Elder employee). Their partnership dissolved in 1946. Wiel then worked for the San Francisco Museum of Art (1946-1948), the Mills College Shop (1948-1954), White House (1954-1956), Grace Bell Secretarial College (1956-1957) and finally worked for McGraw-Hill, as Regional Benefits coordinator (1957-1973), before retiring. An active volunteer since the age of seven, Wiel volunteered for a variety of arts and cultural organizations, which included: the Oakland Museum, Golden Gate National Recreation Area (as a docent), the Golden Gate Park Carousel, and Angel Island. Isabel passed away on July 27, 2007.

34.5 linear feet (15, cartons, 10 flat boxes, 2 boxes)

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The collection is open for research.