Elsa Marie Hofheinz Wurtz (1912-2012) became the secretary for the Art League of Philadelphia in 1944. Elsa was enthusiastic about art from a young age as evidenced from her high school journal. She was a cartoonist for her school's newspaper and her diary contains many sketches and doodles. Little is known about Elsa's later life outside of the Art League, but it is known that she met her husband Charles Wurtz through the Art League.

The Art League of Philadelphia aimed to present and promote the work of member artists, both male and female. Their work included painting, watercolors, ceramics, photography and a variety of printmaking techniques. The League held exhibitions of members' work, lectures, and studio classes. Many members were graduates of art institutions including the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, the Pennsylvannia Academy of the Fine Arts, the Woodmere Art Museum, and the Barnes Foundation.

In 2015, the following biographical information was submitted by family of Elsa Wurtz. This and additional information from the family has been included with the collection:

A Philadelphian, Mrs. Wurtz was awarded a four-year scholarship to Moore College of Art. She designed greeting cards for Norcross in New York City before learning to read blueprints and then illustrating them for Fleetwings (an aircraft supplier or manufacturer outside Philadelphia) during World War II.

Early in her career, she painted in watercolor and exhibited at numerous venues, including the Rittenhouse Square Clothesline Exhibit. As time went on, she painted Impressionistic works in acrylic. She also created silkscreen art, prints, and worked in stained glass.

Her future husband always said that he picked out his mother-in-law and married her only single daughter. Elsa preferred to put it that she picked out her father-in-law (a fellow member of the Art League) and married his only single son!