Tusha Howard letters
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection documents British citizen Tusha Howard's 1963 visit to New York City to await the birth of her first grandchild. Her 19 letters home, written to her husband and children, describe her impressions of New York and her excursions in the city and beyond. Also included are two letters from her daughter, Deirdre Wulf, and one letter from her husband, Tom Howard. Her husband's photographs of New York City are included (57 Kodachrome slides). Tusha Howard's letters and Tom Howard's photographs have been published as a book: America Proper: A First Visit to New York City, 1963 (edited and published by Laura Wulf, 2022).
Biographical / Historical
Gertrude "Tusha" Howard was born in South Wales, U.K. in 1911. She met Tom Howard in London in 1927, married him, and had four children: Nicholas (Nicky), Charles, Deirdre (Dee), and John.
Her daughter Deirdre married Melvin Wulf, an American civil liberties lawyer, and settled in New York. The letters in this collection document Tusha Howard's visit to New York in 1963 for the birth of Deirdre's daughter, Laura Wulf (Tusha and Tom's first grandchild).
Arrangement
Materials in the collection are organized by format and chronologically.
Scope and Contents
In 1963, Tusha Howard's daughter Deirdre Wulf was expecting Tusha's first grandchild. Deirdre lived in New York City, so Tusha and a friend travelled from England to New York and spent nine months living and working in the city. Her letters home -- written to her husband Tom, her son Charles and his wife Vita, and her sons Nicky and John -- describe her transatlantic voyage on the S.S. United States, her impressions of New York City, her apartment on Carmine Street in Greenwich Village, her efforts to find a suitable job in New York, her daily activities, and her travels to other places on the East Coast, including Washington, D.C. and Cape Cod. She also comments on the push to end segregation in the United States and President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
Also included in the collection are 57 photographs (Kodachrome slides) taken by Tom Howard during his visit to New York in 1963 (Tom joined Tusha in New York in October 1963 after their granddaughter Laura was born). He photographed famous landmarks, including the New York downtown skyline, the Empire State Building, and the original Pennsylvania Station, as well as street scenes and the buildings where Tusha and Deirdre lived. The slides also include family photos, and there are two 8"x10" prints of a photograph of members of the Howard extended family.
Finally, the collection includes two typescript drafts of a biographical sketch of Tusha Howard written by her daughter Deirdre for inclusion in America Proper: A First Visit of New York City, 1963.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org.
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Tusha Howard letters, MS 3249, The New York Historical.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Laura M. Wulf, 2024.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Letters were transferred to archival folders and slides were transferred to archival sleeves.
Repository
View Inventory
Tusha Howard letters to her family, 1963 March 21-1963 July 19, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Letters are from Tusha Howard unless otherwise noted
Deirdre Wulf letter to Charles and Vita, Wednesday, March 21, [1963]
Letter to Nicky and John, Saturday, April 13, [1963]
Letter to Tom and boys, Saturday, [April] 20, [1963]
Letter to Tom and boys, Saturday, May 5, [1963]
Letter to Vita and Charles, May 10, 1963
Letter to Tom, Wednesday, [May 15, 1963]
Letter to Tom, Sunday, May 26, [1963] (with a photocopy of the letter)
Letter to Tom and the rest of the family, Friday, May 31, [1963] (with a partial photocopy of the letter)
Letter to Tom, Sunday, June 16, [1963]
Letter to Tom, June 22, [1963]
Letter to Vita, July 10, [1963]
Letter to Charles and Vita, July 18, [1963]
Letter to Nicky and John, July 19, [1963]
Tusha Howard letters to her family, 1963 August 20-1963 December 26, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Letters are from Tusha Howard unless otherwise noted
Deirdre Wulf letter to Tom, August 20, 1963
Letter to Tom, August 22, 1963
Letter to Tom, [August 29, 1963]
Tom Howard letter to Charles and Vita, Thursday, [October 10?, 1963] (postmarked October 13, 1963)
Letter to Charles and Vita, October 28, 1963
Letter to Nicky and John, Tuesday, [November 12, 1963]
Letter to John, [November 26, 1963]
Letter to Vita and Charlie, Wednesday, December 11, [1963]
Letter to Vita, Tuesday, [December 17, 1963]
Letter to Charles and Vita, Thursday, December 26, [1963]
57 Kodachrome slides of New York City, 1963, inclusive
Creator
Scope and Contents
Sleeve 1
Corner of East 23rd Street and Third Avenue from roof of 220 East 23rd Street
Corner of East 23rd Street and Third Avenue from roof of 220 East 23rd Street
Skyscrapers on Wall Street and Manhattan Island
Typical New York street (between Bedford and Bleecker Streets)
Women's prison Sixth Avenue and 9th Street
Women's prison Sixth Avenue and 9th Street
West 13th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, looking west
West 30th Street and Sixth Avenue
West 16th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, looking west
33rd Street and Seventh Avenue
33rd Street and Seventh Avenue
Pennsylvania Station on Eighth Avenue
Sleeve 2
East 32nd Street and Lexington Avenue
231 West 13th Street
Times Square, Broadway to left
Times Square by Broadway
[Empire State Building]
Jones Street and Bleecker Street, looking north
West 22nd Street and Eighth Avenue, looking northeast
West 24th Street and Fifth Avenue
[Subway car interior]
[Boat in harbor, New York]
West 50th Street and Broadway
Fifth Avenue at Madison Square
Sleeve 3
Lower Manhattan skyline
Lower Manhattan skyline
Sheridan Square, Greenwich Village
West 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, looking east
East 40th Street between Third Avenue and Lexington Avenue, looking northwest
East 32nd Street and Third Avenue, looking west
8 New Street off Wall Street
West 16th Street and Sixth Avenue, southwest corner
West 16th Street and Sixth Avenue, northwest corner
121-125 Watts Street
East 32nd Street and Third Avenue
Evening from top of the Empire State Building
Sleeve 4
West 26th Street and Ninth Avenue
West Side piers
Atlantic Crossing, S.S. United States
Atlantic Crossing, S.S. United States
Tusha on S.S. United States
Judy Greene and Dee, 231 West 13th Street
Mel and Dee, Troy, NY
Judy Honigsbaum and Mel, Troy, NY
26 24th Street, Troy, NY
Laura, 231 West 13th Street
Howard family, 1969
Jack Wulf, Vivian, Tusha, and Cadillac, Oct. 1963
Sleeve 5
Deirdre and Laura
Vita in London
Joan and Peter Novick and Phil Greene, 231 West 13th Street
Mel and Dee, 231 West 13th Street
Christmas dinner, Joan and Peter Novick, Phil and Judy Greene, and Dee, 231 West 13th Street
Tusha Bravo Howard
Thomas Hulley Howard
Dee and Grace Paley, Washington Square Park
View from 40 Chapel Street dining room
2 8"x10" photographs of members of the Howard family, 1960s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
A black-and-white print and a color print of the same family photo.
Biographical sketch of Gertrude "Tusha" Bravo Howard by her daughter, Deirdre Wulf, 2022 or earlier, inclusive
Creator
Scope and Contents
Two drafts of a biographical sketch of Tusha Howard, written by her daughter, Deirdre Wulf.