Emma Toedteberg (1857-1936) joined the staff of the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society) at the age of 13. Following the tenure of George Hannah, she served as the Society's third librarian from 1889 until her death. Toedteberg was an avid proponent of animal rights and a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Brooklyn. She also inherited from her father a passion for collecting bookplates.
Augustus Toedteberg (1824-1909), her father, emigrated from Germany in 1844 and worked as an inlay illustrator in New York City. He married fellow German immigrant Catherine Lager (d. 1905) in New York City in 1849. In addition to Emma, the couple had another daughter, Louise Toedteberg (1853-1938). The family resided at 274 Vanderbilt Avenue in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, and later at 628 East Delmere Place (now known as East 23rd Street) in Flatbush.
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Sources
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Notes on the Toedteberg family: from the files of the Long Island Historical Society. Brooklyn, N.Y.: [s.n.], 1936.
From the guide to the Emma Toedteberg collection, 1849-1938, (Brooklyn Historical Society)
