Edith Wise Sommerich (born 1880) was an early student and supporter of the New School for Social Research and chair of the New School Associates, a group of students and former students who promoted the school, fund raised, and, early on, influenced the curricular direction of the school. Edith was close friends with the New School’s first director, Alvin Johnson, who later acknowledged her important contribution in the early 1920s, when she proposed that the school expand its mission from a school solely dedicated to social research and add lecture series in psychology, art, music, theater, and literature. Edith Sommerich was married to Otto Charles Sommerich (born December 31st, 1877), a prominent New York City lawyer specializing in international law. They had one child, Jane Sommerich. In 1970, Edith was made an honorary life member of the New School Alumni Association. In 1973, the New School named the Edith & Otto C. Sommerich Reading Room, located in what was then the Graduate Faculty building at 65 5th Avenue. Otto died on January 10th, 1968, and Edith on January 24th, 1974.

Bibliography

Friedlander, Judith. 2018. A Light in Dark Times: The New School for Social Research and Its University in Exile. New York: Columbia University Press.

“Mrs. Sommerich, 94, helped New School,” The New York Times, January 25, 1974.

“Otto C. Sommerich, 90, Dead; An International Lawyer Here,” The New York Times, January 11, 1968.