Provenance & Access

The first installment of the Howard Chandler Christy Papers was donated to Lafayette College in December,1999, by Jane and Joe Conneen and Larry Miley in memory of Mimi Conneen Miley.  Three subsequent additions were made to the collection in 2000, and four more in 2001.

The Conneen family’s connection with Howard Chandler Christy was through Joe Conneen’s older brother Bob’s marriage to Nancy Palmer Christy, Howard’s widow.  After Nancy’s death, Bob Conneen gave the papers to his niece, Mimi Miley, Chief Curator at the Allentown Art Museum, and her mother, Jane Conneen.  The papers were used extensively in the research for the first major exhibition of Christy’s work after his death at the AAM in 1977.  Much of the research generated by Jane Conneen in preparation for this exhibition is located in Series XI. Related Collections, Subseries 1, Jane Conneen Files.

A second related collection was donated to Series XI in two installments from Holly Christina Longuski, Christy’s daughter.  The first donation in 2000 consisted of a photocopy of the scrapbook of Elise Ford, model and longtime companion of Christy and mother of Longuski.  The second donation in 2001 was a photocopy of the journal of Elise Ford, as dictated to her by Christy.  Both installments are now housed in Subseries 2, Holly Christina Longuski Files.

While the bulk of Series IX, Films and Videotapes, came as part of the Conneen installments, Holly Christina Longuski and Helen Copely donated two additional videotapes in 2001.  Further information on the contents of these tapes is available within the series description.

Access to the papers by qualified researchers is without restriction.  Photocopying and publishing from the collection are allowed, subject to the guidelines of the repository and the laws of copyright.