Helen M. Knubel (July 10, 1901 – July 23, 1992) was an American archivist for the National Lutheran Council from 1954 to 1971.

Early life

Helen M. Knubel was born in New York City, the daughter of

Frederick Hermann Knubel Frederick Hermann Knubel (May 22, 1870 – October 16, 1945) was a U.S. Lutheran clergyman and first president of the United Lutheran Church in America from 1918 to October 1944. Knubel was born in New York City to Friedrich (Frederick) C. Kn ...

and Christine A. Ritscher Knubel. Her father was president of the United Lutheran Church in America from 1918 to 1944. Her brother, Frederick R. Knubel, was head of the United Lutheran Synod of New York and New England. Knubel survived

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

as a teenager, and used a wheelchair. She attended The New School for Social Research, the Biblical Seminary of New York, and trained as a librarian at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

Knubel worked as an archivist for the National Lutheran Council from 1954 to 1971, and "was considered the foremost archivist of the history of the

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

in North America," noted her obituary in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She was founder and director of the Oral History of Cooperative Lutheranism in America project. She was the author of ''An Introductory Guide to Lutheran Archives'' (1981), and ''The Oral History Collection of the Archives of Cooperative Lutheranism'' (1984 and 1987, with Alice M. Kendrick). She was also editor of the annual ''Lutheran Church Directory for the United States and Canada''. Knubel had a scholarly interest in early American book illustration. She wrote "

Alexander Anderson Alexander Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Alexander Anderson (illustrator) (1775–1870), American illustrator * Alexander Anderson (poet) (1845–1909), Scottish poet * Alexander Anderson (cartoonist) (1920–2010), American car ...

and Early American Book Illustration" (''Princeton University Library Chronicle'', 1940), and owned fourteen of Anderson's original printing blocks.

Personal life

Helen Knubel died in 1992 in a hospital in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, a ...

, aged 91 years. Her grave is in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. The Helen M. Knubel Archives of Cooperative Lutheranism are housed at the ELCA Archives in

Elk Grove Village, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorporat ...

References

External links

A photograph taken at Lutheran Historical Conference 1964
in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

; Knubel is the only woman of the fourteen participants in this group photograph, and her wheelchair is visible; from the ELCA Archives, on Flickr. {{DEFAULTSORT:Knubel, Helen 1901 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century American women 20th-century American people American archivists American Lutherans Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Columbia University School of Library Service alumni Wheelchair users People with polio New York Theological Seminary alumni American librarians The New School alumni Female archivists American women librarians People from New York City