Former NY district attorney donates diary written in 1842

NEW YORK – Former Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau has donated a family diary written in 1842 to a New York City museum of Jewish history.

The 99-year-old Morgenthau donated his great-grandfather’s diary Wednesday to the Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History in New York. The New York Times reports Morgenthau, who served as district attorney in Manhattan from 1975 to 2009, recently unearthed the historical document in his personal files.

The diary concerns the 19th century childhood of Lazarus Morgenthau in the territories that later became modern-day Germany. Lazarus Morgenthau brought the diary with him when he moved to New York in 1866, where he became a successful businessman.

Baeck Institute Director of Collections Renate Evers says the diary will assist researchers in their studies.

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Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com