Sommer family papers

Julius Sommer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on July 1st, 1876 to Loeser and Bertha Wohl Sommer. At age 14, he began to work a a Metallgesellschaft. He was a vice-president of the company before being forced to leave his job in the 1930s. Sommer and his wife, Paula (Wormser) had two sons, Richard and Alfred, both of whom had immigrated overseas (to the United States and London, respectively). After Kristallnacht, Sommer was able to leave Germany, immigrating to the United States in February 1939. He died on February 3, 1962.

Alfred Sommer was born in 1909 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany to Julius and Paula Wormser Sommer. He earned his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Berlin in 1934. He immigrated to England, and, on July 16, 1938, married Rosemary Hulm, who was not Jewish. As Alfred was an enemy alien and not a British citizen, Rosemary lost her British citizenship upon their marriage. Though acquaintances were sent to Australia as enemy aliens, the couple remained in England since Alfred was employed doing scientific work for the war effort. They immigrated to the United States in 1953 and lived in Princeton, NJ, where Sommer worked at RCA Labs as a research chemist on photoemissive materials. The couple had three daughters. Alfred Sommer passed away on December 8, 2003.