{"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcreators%5D%5B%5D=Windmueller%2C+Steven","last":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcreators%5D%5B%5D=Windmueller%2C+Steven\u0026page=1"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":null,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":1,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":1,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":true}},"data":[{"id":"vircu_repositories_5_resources_596","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Otti Y. 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Windmueller papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1951-1999"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1951-1999"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["M 424","/repositories/5/resources/596"],"text":["M 424","/repositories/5/resources/596","Otti Y. Windmueller papers","Jews","Jews -- Germany -- History -- 1933-1945","Jews -- Germany -- Migrations","Fashion design","There are no restrictions.","The materials are arranged alphabetically. Correspondence, photographs, and newsletters are grouped with like materials.","Ottilie Yohanna Heimann Windmueller was born in Borghorst, Germany, on August 16, 1916, to Albert and Freida Heimann. Otti, as she was known, was the oldest of four children and grew up in an upper-middle class Jewish family. After graduating high school, Otti could not continue her education, even though she wished to, because Nazi laws made it difficult if not impossible for Jews to enter universities or obtain apprenticeships. However, a sympathetic Gentile dressmaker took her on as an apprentice despite the laws prohibiting such a practice. Otti learned tailoring, pattern making, and the dress-making business, first as an apprentice and later as a journeywoman dressmaker.","Otti married Fritz (Fred) Walter Windmueller in February 1938, and two months later, the newlyweds fled Nazi German on the S.S. Volendam. Initially, Otti wished to follow her brother to South Africa, but South Africa's border closed before they could leave. The couple then chose to join Fred's sister Ilse and her family in Richmond, VA. All three of Otti's siblings survived the Holocaust, but her parents died in concentration camps - Albert at Auschwitz and Freida at Theresienstadt. Eventually, the siblings reunited and recorded an oral history, which can be found at the Jacob Radar Marcus Center of Jewish American Archives in Cincinnati. ","Otti and Fred arrived in Richmond nearly penniless. Drawing on her dressmaking experience, she found work doing alterations, saved money to buy fine fabrics, and created dresses on the side for private clients. During this time, the Windmueller's had a son, Steven, in 1942. Otti also took classes at Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) and eventually accepted a part-time position in the Fashion Department in 1953. She quickly became known for bringing a high-fashion couture flare to the design courses. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in 1959 and became a full-time professor. She established a fashion \"museum\" in the department with clothes spanning the past few centuries so students could study the evolution of construction, design, fabrics, embellishments, and techniques up close. She also established a full scholarship for one student a year sponsored by Thalheimer's. She brought well-known fashion designers to campus to lecture and organized trips to fashion meccas for students.","Otti became department chair in 1965 and continued in that role until 1976. In 1969, she received a Master's degree from the Deutsche Bekleidings Academie-Suscheide Schule in Munich, where she studied a new method of pattern-making. In 1973, after translating the method from German to English and converting the measurement units from metric to Imperial, Otti introduced it at VCU, calling it the best way of pattern-making in the Western hemisphere. She stepped down as chair to resume full-time teaching until her retirement in 1993, when she was named Professor Emerita. VCU established the Otti Y. Windmueller scholarship for fashion students to mark the occasion. She continued to work at VCU as a volunteer, both in Special Collections in Archives, and in the hospital. 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"],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open for research.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["Collection is open for research."],"names_coll_ssim":["Richmond Professional Institute","Virginia Commonwealth University. Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising","Windmueller, Steven","Windmueller, Otti Y."],"names_ssim":["VCU James Branch Cabell Library","Richmond Professional Institute","Virginia Commonwealth University. Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising","Windmueller, Steven","Windmueller, Otti Y."],"corpname_ssim":["VCU James Branch Cabell Library","Richmond Professional Institute","Virginia Commonwealth University. 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