By Nicole Milano
Title: Arthur Howe, Jr. Collection, 1914-2014
Predominant Dates:1940-2013
ID: RG2/006
Creator: Howe, Arthur, Jr. (1921-2014)
Extent: 6.92 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: This collection is organized into the following three series, based on the date and type of the materials: Series 1: World War II, circa 1940-2009 (bulk 1940-1945); Series 2: AFS Intercultural Programs, 1914-2014 (bulk 1952-2013); and Series 3: Media and Memorabilia, circa 1914- 2014 (bulk 1941-1944).
Date Acquired: 00/00/2011
Languages: English
Arthur Howe, Jr. was an American Field Service (AFS) ambulance driver during World War II (1942-1943), and a director (1947-1981), a vice president (1948-1964), president (1965-1971), and a life trustee (1967-1990; 2007-2014) of the AFS student exchange programs created in 1946. The Arthur Howe, Jr. Collection consists of photographs, negatives, correspondence, administrative files, media, memorabilia, and other papers related to Howe’s long association with AFS from his service as a volunteer AFS ambulance driver in World War II to his experience as a director, vice president, and life trustee for the AFS student exchange programs. This collection does not include official administrative files created during Arthur Howe, Jr.’s tenure as president of AFS.
The Arthur Howe, Jr. Collection consists of photographs, negatives, correspondence, administrative files, media, memorabilia, and other papers related to Howe’s long association with AFS from his service as a volunteer AFS ambulance driver in World War II (1942-1943), to his experience as a director (1947-1981), vice president (1948-1964), and life trustee (1967-1990; 2007-2014). This collection does not include official administrative files created during Arthur Howe, Jr.’s tenure as president of AFS (1965-1971).
See the individual series descriptions for more information.
Alternate Extent Statement: 13 boxes, 1 rolled tube
Access Restrictions: Series 1 and 3 of this collection are open for research. Series 2 requires advance permission to access; additionally, there are a number of restricted folders in Series 2 that are temporarily restricted to internal access. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material.
Use Restrictions: With the exception of restricted materials, single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs. In the event that this research becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required. Any copyright vested in Arthur Howe, Jr. has passed to AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. Researchers must determine any other copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: This collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs in several accruals between 2011-2017 by Arthur Howe, Jr. and his children.
Appraisal Information: Six books related to the history of AFS were removed from this collection and added to the AFS Library in 2011. For a list of the books or questions about accessing them, please contact the AFS Archives.
Related Materials: Arthur Howe, Jr.’s presidential records are in Series 1 of RG4/001, AFS International Records (which are currently restricted from public access.) Additional documents related to the AFS Veterans Benefits Project are inSubseries 3B, the Board of Trustees in Subseries 2C, and the AFS driver reunions are in Subseries 3A of RG4/001, AFS International Records (which are currently restricted from public access.)To view official administrative records related to the American Field Service in World War II, view RG2/001, American Field Service World War II Records. To view additional photographs related to the American Field Service in World War II, view RG2/002, American Field Service World War II Photographic Collection.
Processing Information: This collection was partially processed by Nicole Milano in 2011. New accruals were processed by Elena Abou Mrad and Nicole Milano in 2016-2017 and again in 2018. Finding aid written by Nicole Milano and encoded in EAD in March 2011 under the scope of the 2010-2011 Basic Processing Grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and updated by Nicole Milano and Elena Abou Mrad in May 2017.
Series 1 includes papers and photographs created during Arthur Howe, Jr.’s time overseas as an ambulance driver with the American Field Service in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy between 1942 and 1944.
See the individual subseries descriptions for more information
Subseries 1A consists of correspondence, publications, clippings, maps, and other papers produced or collected by Arthur Howe, Jr. and related to his service as an AFS volunteer ambulance driver during World War II. The bulk of the materials date from 1942-1943 during his period of service in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy. However, the papers also include documents produced in the period immediately prior to his departure from the United States (1941) and after his return (1944-1945).
The bulk of Subseries 1A consists of correspondence. This includes letters from the AFS headquarters staff in New York City, including Joan Belmont, Dorothy Field, AFS Director General Stephen Galatti, and Lillian A. Gordon, to Howe’s parents. Correspondents also included Edward Philips, who was an officer with the British Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy, and Marguerite R. Taylor, the mother of AFS volunteer Frederick “Fred” C. Taylor. Taylor was in the same unit as Howe, and is present in some of the photographs available in Subseries 1B. Additionally, there is one letter from Arthur Howe, Sr. to his wife about their son’s enlistment in AFS.
Subseries 1A also includes correspondence written by Howe to his family and girlfriend, Margaret “Peggy” Burke (whom he would marry in June 1944), while overseas. The collection includes 161 letters to Peggy, which were transcribed in 2016 by their son, Thomas, who also wrote an introduction to the correspondence. The original letters are not in this collection; only a transcribed PDF file exists. The two folders with Howe’s letters to his family are partially overlapping in date range and content, as there were transcription copies made from the originals for two different purposes: one folder was numbered and given by Howe’s mother to AFS for the AFS Letters publication, while the other folder was supposed to be shared among other family members. The letter transcriptions intended for the AFS Letters are dated from January 1942-January 2, 1943; March 28-July 30, 1943; and August 14- September 20, 1943. The letter transcriptions for the family are from June 25- August 23, 1942; October 1, 1942; January 19-April 20, 1943; and August 8-20, 1943. There is a letter numbered 56 (written sometime in September 1943) that is missing from both folders. There is only one handwritten letter to his grandmother in the folder intended for the AFS Letters.
Subseries 1A also includes letters Howe wrote to AFS volunteer (and lieutenant colonel) Fred Hoeing, Galatti, and William H. Wallace, Jr., who was Galatti’s assistant, as well as letters of recommendation for Howe’s Africa Star and Order of the British Empire, which includes also a cable from Galatti congratulating Howe for this award.
In addition to original material, Subseries 1A also contains the publication FDR Meets Ibn Saud by William A. Eddy (1954), and a veteran interview conducted with Howe by his granddaughter Carter Howe for a school project in 2009.
This subseries is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
A selection of Subseries 1A was digitized and made available online in 2017 as part of the Arthur Howe, Jr. Archival Project. This selection includes all the correspondence and cables, his passport application and departure papers, his Yale B.A. progress certification, recommendation letters, AFS unit lists, invitations to AFS events, and the roster of the Old AFS Men.
Subseries 1B consists of 290 black and white photographs, 216 negatives, and 73 black and white contact prints taken or collected by Arthur Howe, Jr. between 1941 and 1943, during his service as a volunteer AFS ambulance driver in the Middle East, North Africa, and periods of transit in between. There are no photographs in the collection of his time in Italy in 1943.
The bulk of the photographs are 3”x 5” (with six oversize items at 8”x 10” or smaller), the contact prints are 2”x 1½” and smaller, and the negatives are 2”x 1” or smaller. For certain images, only the contact print (and no larger photograph) exists, and 27 negatives had no corresponding positive print.
The photographs feature camp life, ambulance maintenance, group photos, individual AFS volunteers, British military personnel, local civilians, scenery, and occasional visits to cities and archaeological sites, such as Baalbek (Lebanon), Jerusalem (Palestine), Cairo (Egypt), and Sabratha (Libya). The photographs include also the preparation of the ambulances for the transfer to Italy, including vehicles loaded onto the LST (landing ship tanks), which transported vehicles and personnel during the war.
Many photographs contain captions written on the verso. Some were written by Arthur Howe, Jr. (either during or after World War II), and others were written by Howe’s mother and son, Thomas.
The photographs were arranged alphabetically by topic within four groups: Portraits and Passport Photos (circa 1941-1942), Journey to the Middle East and North Africa (January-March 1942), Middle East and North Africa (1942-1943), and Journey to Italy (1943).
All photographs (including most versos, which often included captions or annotations) from Subseries 1B were digitized in 2017 as part of the Arthur Howe, Jr. Archival Project. In the case of multiple versions of the same photographs with differing captions on the back, both versos were digitized. Positive digital images were created for the 27 negatives without a corresponding positive print.
The titles and dates of the digital photographs were assigned according to the captions on the verso; if a caption was absent, titles and dates were provided by the AFS Archives staff. Although Howe typically used nicknames for individuals in his captions, full names for individuals (when known) that appear in the photographs are listed in the digital image metadata for clarity.
