Series I. Correspondence, 1924-1968 (bulk, 1942-1945)
Extent
Scope and Contents
Series I consists largely of the correspondence exchanged between Beltrone and his fiancée (later wife), Kate Felicita Fabian (1903–1969), during his internment as an alien enemy of the United States, 1941–1945. Beltrone and Fabian each wrote often—sometimes more than once per day—to and from the locations of his internment. Their letters describe conditions in the camps, Beltrone's health, and attempts to clear his name. A number of the letters have been razored or redacted by government censors.
Some correspondence is with Edward J. Ennis (1908–1990), director of the alien enemy control unit of the Department of Justice, and Howard F. Corcoran (1906–1989), U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
A few letters are from Beltrone's fellow detainees on Ellis Island, congratulating him on his release. One, from a woman named Gloria McCleod (postmarked 19 June 1945), describes her attempted suicide: "I am sincerly sorry I had to let you see such an unpleasant sight as it must of been to see me jump from the balcony." Another frequent correspondent in the series is Raven Poetry Circle founder Francis Lambert McCrudden, whose letters are noted in the container list below.
Arrangement
The letters in Series I are in chronological order (box 1 through box 4, folder 2), with undated correspondence following (box 4, folder 3). One folder of miscellaneous documents, ephemera, and photographs completes the series (box 4, folder 4).
Correspondence, 1928 March 10-1940 September 21
Correspondence, 1940 October 1-1942 January 13
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 7 and 13 January 1942.
Correspondence, 1942 January 20-February 23
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 26-27 January; 1 and 14 February 1942.
Correspondence, 1942 March 2-April 27
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 23 March 1942.
Correspondence, 1942 April 28-June 1
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 13 May 1942.
Correspondence, 1942 June 2-July 31
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 26 June and 30 July 1942 (the latter on Raven Anthology letterhead).
Correspondence, 1942 August 3-October 20
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 25 August 1942.
Correspondence, 1942 October 27-December 22
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 4–5 November 1942.
Correspondence, 1943 January 6-June 15
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 2 May 1943.
Correspondence, 1943 June 18-July 27
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 6 and 27 July 1943.
Correspondence, 1943 July 28-September 30
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 2 and 25 August 1943.
Correspondence, 1943 October 4-November 26
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 31 October and 26 November 1943.
Correspondence, 1943 November 27-1944 January 29
Scope and Contents
Includes a detailed Beltrone family tree, 29 January 1944.
Correspondence, 1944 February 1-March 25
Correspondence, 1944 March 27-May 15
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 8 May 1944.
Correspondence, 1944 May 21-July 10
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 16 June 1944.
Correspondence, 1944 July 16-September 4
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 22 July and 4 September 1944.
Correspondence, 1944 September 10-November 11
Correspondence, 1944 November 14-December 30
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letter, 29 November 1944.
Correspondence, 1945 January 13-December 23
Scope and Contents
Includes McCrudden letters, 9 and 25 April 1945.
Correspondence, 1946 February 19-1949 January 19
Correspondence, 1950 January 13-1968 June 19
Correspondence, n.d.
Scope and Contents
Includes ribbons that bundled some of the correspondence.
Documents, ephemera, photographs, 1924-1936
Scope and Contents
Contains:
1. A certified copy (1924) of Beltrone's 1895 birth certificate from Stignano, Italy.
2. A document that appears to be a visa from Beltrone's first return to Italy (1924).
3. A "Compagnie di Navigazione Italiane" steamship line information sheet.
4. A certificate of baptism for Beltrone's first wife, Mary Venezia D'amato, issued at the time of their marriage (1930).
5. His father Giuseppe's Italian passport (1931).
6. Three unidentified photographs, one stamped (on verso) "Lubliner, Photographer, 314 E. Houston St., New York."
7. Two small Italian-language broadsides, one—"Miserabile Mandolinista" (1930)—promoting (or disparaging?) Italian Communist Party leader Palmiro Togliatti (1893–1964), the other—"Ai Legionari dei Fasci Italiani all'Estero" (ca. 1936)—congratulating Italian Fascists abroad on their victories in Ogaden and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.