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 2 contains documents and photographs produced or collected by Howe after his service as an AFS ambulance driver in World War II, but related to his experience with the AFS student exchange programs as a director (1947-1981), vice president (1948-1964), and life trustee (1967-1990; 2007-2014). There are no official administrative records or photographs related to his time as president of AFS (1965-1971) in this collection.
Series 2 includes a large amount of correspondence, including some regarding various topics from the early years of the AFS exchange programs (organization, chaperones for bus trips), AFS projects like the donation of trees to the Tiergarten in Berlin, Germany in 1961, and the new AFS headquarters at 313 E. 43rd St in New York (including an offer to sell the building in 1972). The series also includes correspondence with AFS Director General Stephen Galatti, AFS ambulance drivers from World Wars I and II, AFS directors and trustees, AFS presidents, and AFS volunteers, including Florence Leon, who was the district representative of an AFS Chapter in Northern Jersey. Part of Arthur Howe, Jr.’s AFS correspondence dated 1951-1965 is on Yale letterhead; however, the recipients and the topics are directly related to the AFS.
Series 2 also includes materials related to his service as a director and life trustee with AFS, including correspondence, reports, charts, agendas, and background papers related to meetings of the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustee and their various committees. Although some of these papers are replicated in Subseries 2C: Board of Trustees, in RG4/001, AFS International Records, the versions contained in this series are Howe’s personal copies, which often include his handwritten notes.
Howe traveled before, during, and after his presidency on behalf of AFS. Series 2 includes materials related to his visits to AFS chapters in the United States and around the world, the AFS World Congresses and other AFS conferences, various AFS anniversaries (Germany 1998, Costa Rica 2005), and AFS drivers reunions (1961-2002). The series also includes Arthur and Margaret “Peggy” Howe’s AFS travels before and after his presidency, including correspondence, tickets, event programs, and travelogues written by Peggy Howe, usually titled “Travels with Artie”. Importantly, the travelogues include trips during Howe’s AFS presidency (1965-1970), and were included here as personal accounts written by Peggy from her own experience as his wife.
Series 2 also contains the materials related to Howe’s involvement in the AFS Veterans Fund. He was a member of the Veterans Committee formed by AFS World War I and II drivers and staff members to obtain the veteran status for AFS veterans. Howe served as a liaison between AFS International and the AFS Veterans Committee, and the series includes documents, correspondence, and other papers related to these efforts.
Series 2 also includes Howe’s speeches, both as preparatory notes and some in their final version. Series 2 also contains clippings, publications, and other documents that were collected and annotated by Arthur Howe, Jr., and that were probably used as sources for his speeches. This includes a letter dated May 1, 1914, from Bengali poet and philosopher Rabidranath Tagore to the English poet Thomas Sturge Moore in appreciation of his book The Sea is Kind. The letter was probably collected by Arthur Howe, Jr. and used as inspiration.
In addition to the papers, the series includes 41 photographs and seven negatives that illustrate Howe’s participation in World War II Drivers reunions (1961-2002), his visits to AFS Chapters in the U.S., celebrating the 50th anniversary of AFS Germany in Frankfurt (1998), and his 2007 trip with AFS President Francisco “Tachi” Cazal to Luverne, Minnesota, where Tachi spent his year abroad as an AFS Participant. The photographs range in size from 3.5”x 5” to 6”x 8” and the negatives are all 1 ½”x 1 3/8”.
This subseries is arranged alphabetically by folder title. In some cases, the folder titles reflect the title that Howe originally gave to that folder.
Select material from this series was digitized and made available online as part of the Arthur Howe, Jr. Archival Project in May 2017. This includes all of Arthur Howe, Jr.’s speeches (as notes and final versions) and Peggy’s travelogues. All of the photographs in Series 2 were digitized and made available online. If annotations or captions were present on the back, the verso was also digitized. In the case of four negatives without matching prints, a digitized positive was created and made available online. The titles and dates of the images were assigned by the AFS Archives staff according to the caption on the verso of the photographs, along with additional context.
