Eunice (Lundbeck) Mannheim, 1907-1960

Eunice (Lundbeck) Mannheim, member of the Amherst (Mass.) Board of Selectmen, was active in community, civic, political and church affairs. Born July 31, 1907 in Brooklyn, N.Y., she was the daughter of Dr. Charles J. and Emma H. (Detlefsen) Lundbeck. She attended public school in Brooklyn, spent two years (1924-1926) at the Packer Collegiate Institute, and finished her undergraduate degree at Adelphi College in 1928. Before her marriage to Robert Mannheim in 1930 she taught school in Brooklyn. The Mannheims had three sons: Charles, John, and Paul. They lived in New York City, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Prior to their move to Amherst in 1946, ELM traveled throughout the United States explaining the Dumbarton Oaks proposal and promoting the adoption of the United Nations charter. She also worked with the League of Women Voters in Rhode Island on behalf of the successful effort to enact direct-primary legislation.

ELM was a member of the Amherst town meeting for eight years before becoming the first woman elected to the Amherst Board of Selectmen in 1954. She had previously worked for the change to the town manager form of government for Amherst, and was a member of the town manager charter committee. The 1954 Board was the first to serve under the new plan. Mannheim was twice re-elected to the Board, and elected chairman in 1960. She also served as the Hampshire County Selectmen's Association's delegate to the executive committee of the Massachusetts Selectmen's Association.

Also active in Republican politics statewide, ELM ran in the 1956 and 1958 primaries for the Governor's Council. Although successful in the 1958 primary, she was defeated by her Democratic opponent in the general election. In 1960 she won the Republican nomination for state representative from the 4th Hampshire district, but was again defeated by the opposing Democrat.

Involved in a variety of community and civic activities, Mannheim served as president of the League of Women Voters of Amherst, financial chairman of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, vice president of the Amherst Woman's Club, president of the Area Mental Health Centers Association, chairman of the Massachusetts Conference on Mental Health Centers, and president of the Associated Speakers Clubs of Western Massachusetts. She headed fund drives in Amherst for such causes as the American Cancer Society, the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and the cerebral palsy campaign. Mannheim belonged to a variety of other organizations, including the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, for which she was a speaker.

She died suddenly on December 13, 1960, less than one week after receiving the Citizen of the Year award from the Amherst Chamber of Commerce for "outstanding community spirit and service." For additional biographical information, see folders 6, 8, and 66.

From the guide to the Papers, 1926, 1940 [1950-1960] 1961, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)