Guide to the Howe Family Papers and Photographs 1886-1980
Senator John Heinz History Center
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
- Title
- Howe Family Papers and Photographs
- Creator
- , Howe Family
- Collection Number
- MSS 0882
- Date [inclusive]
- 1886-1980
- Extent
- 3.5 linear feet (4 boxes)
- Language of Materials
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Abstract
- Walter and Bertha Howe were both born in Patton, Pa., Cambria County, before relocating to Pittsburgh in the 1930s. Walter Howe worked in construction and was active with local amatuer photography clubs. Bertha Howe worked as a registered nurse at the West Penn Hospital.The Howe Family Papers and Photographs document Walter and Bertha Howe and their relatives, and contain correspondence with family and friends, financial, photographs, photograph albums, and 35mm slides.
- Sponsor Note
- This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
Preferred Citation
Howe Family Papers and Photographs, 1886-1980, MSS 0882, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
History
Walter and Bertha Howe were both born in Patton, Pa., a small town northeast of Pittsburgh in Cambria County. They knew one another during their adolescence, and were married in 1937. Both Walter and Berth Howe, married for 59 years, died in 1996.
Walter Howe, born into a family of coal miners, was the son of Thomas M. and Annie Rowley Howe. His mother was thrice re-married, and all three husbands died in coal mines. After heeding his grandfather’s insistence not to become miner himself, Howe relocated to Pittsburgh in the 1930s, becoming a construction worker for U.S. Steel. He was a member of the Carpenters Union, and a member and former president of the Amateur Photographers Club of Pittsburgh.
Bertha (Wilkinson) Howe, the daughter of John and Emma Cothery Wilkinson, was a registered nurse who worked in the burn unit for West Penn Hospital, as well as the private burn unit for U.S. Steel.
Scope and Content Notes
The Howe Family Papers and Photographs document Walter and Bertha Howe and their relatives, and contain correspondence with family and friends, photographs andphotograph albums, and 35mm slides. The photographs depict friends and family, including late 19th and early 20th century images of life in Cambria County containing Wilkinson and Cothery family members.
Box 1 contains Walter and Bertha’s correspondence with family and friends, certificates of marriage, birth, and baptism for the Howes and several Wilkinsons; correspondence materials related to Walter Howe’s involvement in photography clubs, some photo exhibition programs, and several address books.
Box 2 contains photographs including images of Walter and Bertha Howe; Wilkinson family images including hunting and fishing photographs; Howe family members, Cothery family members, posed groups of school children posed outside of school houses, and portraits of unidentified persons. One photograph album depicts Bertha Howe as a young woman with friends.
Box 3 contains 35mm color transparency slides, primarily of photographs taken by Walter Howe, depicting family members, outdoor occasions, and travel.
Box 4 contains two photographs submitted for exhibition by Walter Howe, and a rolled list of Bertha Howe’s family members.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Senator John Heinz History Center Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania , March 2013
Senator John Heinz History Center1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-454-6364
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/libraryArchives.aspx
Restrictions on Access
None.
Restrictions on Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Acquisition Information
Gift from Estate of Walter Howe in 1997.
Archives accession # 1997.0130
Processing Information
Preliminary processing by Alex J. Toner on 11/30/11.
Related Materials
Separated Materials
The museum maintains several 20th century items donated with this collection including a pressed paper letter holder, a WWI fabric remembrance pocket, two egg beaters, and a glass picture frame.
Controlled Access Headings
Geographic Name(s)
- Pittsburgh (Pa.)
- Patton (Pa.)
Personal Name(s)
- Cothery Family.
- Wilkinson Family.
Subject(s)
- Photography-Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh.
- Patton (Pa.)-Genealogy.
- Cambria County (Pa.)-Genealogy.