Series I: New-York Historical Society Employees Letters, 1941-1945, inclusive

This series consists of nine folders of letters to New-York Historical Society superintendent Garrett H. Winter by employees on active service: William R. Baillie, Ladislaw (Larry) Csierny, James J. Fisher, William Givens, Joseph Gymory, George Johnson, Vincent J. Marshall, Charles J. Miller, and George Takas. These letters describe a variety of wartime experiences from basic training camps in the United States to active combat overseas. New-York Historical Society employees were deployed in different aspects of service: operating radar in Washington State; guarding prisoners of war in Delaware; serving in India; serving in Germany during and after the German surrender. One employee writes from his hospital bed where he is recovering from "operational fatigue, in other words, nerves."

The letters indicate that Garrett H. Winter wrote and sent care packages to these employees and that the employees in uniform also wrote to each other. The collection includes only the letters written directly to Garrett H. Winter.