SONIA AND TIM GIDAL PAPERS

de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
The University of Southern Mississippi

Biographical Note

Tim Gidal was born Ignaz Gidalewitsch in Munich, Germany, on May 18, 1909 to Abraham and Pauline (Eiba) Gidalewitsch. He began his career as a photojournalist while studying history, art history, and literature at the Universities of Munich and Berlin between 1928 and 1931. Gidal received a Ph.D. from the University of Basel in 1935. He took photographs for German magazines until immigrating to Palestine in 1936, where he worked as both a freelance and magazine photographer. Over the following years, Gidal acquired a reputation as a noteworthy photojournalist of major world events, particularly those concerning Jewish subjects. He also served with the British army as a photographer during World War II.

Sonia Epstein was born in Berlin, Germany, on September 23, 1922, to Michael and Ellen (Lipschutz) Epstein. She attended schools in Germany and Palestine and worked as a press photographer in the early 1940s. Epstein married Tim Gidal on July 4, 1944. They immigrated to the United States in 1948 and he became a naturalized citizen in 1953. Tim Gidal taught visual communication at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1955-58 and Sonia taught arts and crafts in Mount Vernon, New York. Both also published books. He wrote and illustrated books on photojournalism while she wrote children's books, some of which were illustrated with his photographs. They collaborated on the 25-volume "My Village" series of children's books in which each volume presented a child's view of life in a different country.

The Gidals divorced in 1970. Tim Gidal began teaching visual communication at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1971 and married Pia Lis in 1980. He died in Jerusalem on October 6, 1996. Sonia Gidal has worked as a photojournalist and as a writer for children's television programs.

Sources:
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series, ed. Linda Metzger (Detroit: Gale Research, 1985), 14:195-196.
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series, ed. Susan M. Trosky (Detroit: Gale Research, 1994), 44:157-159.
Contemporary Authors, ed. Terrie M. Rooney (Detroit: Gale Research, 1997), 154:163.
"Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Acquires Collection of Photographer Tim Gidal," press release from the Israel Museum on 22 February 2002, available online at http://www.resnicowschroeder.com/news/gidal.html, accessed 27 August 2003.

Scope and Content Note

The Sonia and Tim Gidal Papers contain manuscripts, typescripts, a dummy, a drawing, and printed material created and accumulated by Sonia and Tim Gidal between 1956 and 1974. The Gidals' papers were created from their composition of 16 published books. The material is organized into a single series for books.

The Gidal Papers contain primarily manuscripts, typescripts, and some printed material for 15 titles in the My Village Series published between 1956 and 1974. The Gidals collaborated on all of these titles but one--My Village in Hungary written by Sonia Gidal in 1974. All of the titles are in English except for the German language version of My Village in Japan (Mein Dorf in Japan). The papers also include page proofs and photocopies of typescripts for five anthology pieces written by Sonia Gidal for Families Live Everywhere, an educational text co-written with Peggy Shackelton and published in 1972. Like the "My Village" Series, each piece follows the life of a family in a different country.

The Gidal Papers are arranged alphabetically by title and the material for each book is arranged chronologically in order of creation when known. Following departmental custom, the processor has numbered each typescript and proof by order of creation (first, second, third, etc.). The container listing offers detailed descriptions of the holdings for each title and information on the material's process of creation may be gleaned easily from the container listing for each book.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Use

Noncirculating; available for research.

Copyright Restrictions

The collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). Reproductions can be made only if they are to be used for "private study, scholarship, or research." It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials, other than that noted above.

Related Material

The Anne Marie Jauss Papers (DG 0510) contain illustrations for the endpapers and maps for 21 books in the "My Village" Series.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Sonia and Tim Gidal Papers, de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, University of Southern Mississippi Libraries, (cite the item's box/folder numbers).

Provenance

These papers were donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection of the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries by Sonia and Tim Gidal between 1966 and 1983.

Processing Information

Processed by Hans Rasmussen, August 2003. This finding aid is the product of a grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Container Listing

Contact:
The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
The University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Drive, #5148
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
(601) 266-4349
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