The collection consists of family papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and photo albums. The family papers include some correspondence, a small amount of material from JM Gerstley’s tenure at Borax, and historical/ biographical materials about the Gerstley and Mack families. There are a few autograph and scrapbooks in the collection as well. The bulk of the collection is made up of photographs and photo albums documenting the history of the Gerstley, Mack, Lilienthal, and Sloss families as well as the travels and milestones of James Mack and Elizabeth Gerstley and their children.

James Mack Gerstley (1907-2007) was born in London to James Gerstley and Adele Mack. The Gerstle(y) family can be traced to Ichenhausen, Germany, where the oldest identifiable ancestor appears to be Abraham Gerstle (1740-1796). Abraham’s son, Isak Michael Gerstle (1787-1851) married Sara Sofie Weil and had seven children: Abraham, Karoline, Sophie, Handele, Löb, Jette, and Moritz. Löb Gerstle eventually moved to San Francisco, changed his name to Lewis, and became the patriarch of the Bay Area branch of the Gerstle family. Lewis married Hannah Greenebaum in 1858 and played key roles in several successful business enterprises, including the Alaska Commercial Company. Moritz, Lewis’ brother, moved to London, where he changed his first name to Maurice and his last name to Gerstley. Maurice was a successful fancy goods wholesaler until his death in 1900. Maurice and his wife Paulina (Cohn) had four children: Sophia, Frederick Julius, James, and Louisa Paulina. James, born in 1867 (died 1955), was to be the last of the English Gerstleys. James Gerstley Sr. worked for Redwood and Sons, a chemical firm specializing in food preservatives. Borax or boron were important ingredients in their enterprise. In 1895, Lewis Gerstle of San Francisco arranged a meeting with Redwood and Sons and a Bay Area company called Pacific Coast Borax. This meeting led to a merger between the companies. In 1904, James Gerstley Sr. married Adele Hannah Mack, a granddaughter of Lewis Gerstle’s. The company merger and the marriage cemented the links between the San Francisco and London branches of the family.

25. cubic feet (7 record cartons, 12 document boxes, 13 overside flat boxes)

Publication Rights The Magnes owns the copyright for many, but not all, of its collections. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be requested in writing to the Magnes Archivist and decided on a case-by-case basis. The Magnes Archivist must be consulted to insure that permission of the copyright holder, in addition to the permission of the Magnes Archivist as owner of the physical items, has been secured prior to publication.