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Portrait

Object | Accession Number: 1991.158.85
Artwork Title
Portrait of Miram Devenport Ebel
Series Title
2 in a portfolio of 3
Classification
Art
Category
Drawings
Object Type
Portrait drawing (lcsh)
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Miriam Davenport Ebel
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About This Object

Signature
"Bill . . . à M. Fry
Contributor
Artist: Bill Spira
Subject: Miriam Davenport Ebel
Biography
Bill Spira, a cartoonist, was also known as Bil Freier. He was originally from Austria. During the Holocaust he forged passports for the Emergency Rescue Committee. Despite Varian Fry's (an American ERC representative) intervention, he was arrested and deported to Auschwitz. He survived the camp.
Miriam Davenport Ebel (1915-1999) was born Miriam Davenport in Boston, studied art and architecture history at Smith College, New York University, and the University of Paris, and escaped to Toulouse and then Marseille during the German invasion in May 1940. She worked with Varian Fry at the Centre Américain de Secours, a cover for the Emergency Rescue Committee, helping to smuggle antifascist artists, writers, and intellectuals out of Europe. She joined her fiancé in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, in October, returned to the United States via Lisbon just after Pearl Harbor, and continued to work for relief, rescue, and refugee organizations. After the war she pursued her career in painting and sculpture and as an instructor in art and French. She married Charles Ebel (1937-2013) in the 1960s.

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The portrait was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991 by Miriam Davenport Ebel.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use
No restrictions on use
 
Record last modified: 2018-10-24 14:05:27
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn4569

Also in Miriam Davenport Ebel collection

Hatbox

Hatbox

Object

Miriam Davenport Ebel took the hatbox to France with her in June, 1938. At one point, she lived for five months using only what was packed in the box. Steamer sticker on box is that of the Companie Generale Transatlantique's SS Champlain.

Miriam Davenport Ebel papers

Miriam Davenport Ebel papers

Document

The Miriam Davenport Ebel papers consist of correspondence, identification papers, mementos, photographs, and printed materials documenting Davenport's wartime experiences in Marseilles and Ljubljana; her work and friendships with Varian Fry, Mary Jayne Gold, Walter Mehring, Hans Sahl, and others; and relief committees including the Emergency Rescue Committee, the International Relief and Rescue Committee, the Progressive Schools Committee for Refugee Children, and the Refugee Relief Trustees, Inc.

Sticker

Object

Affixed to Miriam Davenport Ebel's hatbox, 1941, Madrid, Spain.

Portrait

Object

Sketch

Object

Portfolio cover

Object

View Collection