Rosa Kurtz was born in 1908 in Warsaw, Poland, to Abram and Balbina Kurtz, Yiddish actors working for touring theaters. Rosa's career in the theater began before the age of 20 and lasted over six decades. Rosa performed in the Moscow State Yiddish Theater (GOSET) from 1928 until the theater's liquidation in 1950, then in the Moscow Yiddish Ensemble between 1962 and 1978, and after immigration to the United States, in several American Yiddish theaters, including in Houston, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and New York City, New York.

The personal archive of Rosa Kurtz is comprised of 94 photographs; 283 letters and 33 postcards dated 1920-1997 and exchanged between Rosa and her family members; four performance programs; and a memoir. Alexander Dranov, the son of Rosa Kurtz, has shared this incredible collection with the Archive.