Series II. Correspondence of Nancy Palmer Christy: 1921-1976

SERIES II. Correspondence of Nancy Palmer Christy: 1921-1976 (3 record boxes; 3 linear feet) contains the incoming manuscript and typescript letters of Nancy Palmer Christy, the artist’s wife.  Letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent or corresponding agency’s name and then chronologically within each file.  Incoming correspondence includes letters, telegrams, invitations and greeting cards.  Mrs. Christy retained very few outgoing letters in carbon copy.

Many letters date from the 1930s and 1940s and document Mrs. Christy’s humanitarian and philanthropic work prior to and during WWII, her place in the New York City social scene, and her position as secretary/manager in Christy’s career.  A significant portion of this series dates from 1952 and includes letters, cards and telegrams of condolence received by Mrs. Christy upon her husband’s death.  Correspondence dating after 1952 is noteworthy because it often deals with the sale of Christy paintings.

The letters of this series are probably most valuable as record of the Christys’ social life together, their travels, and the friends and acquaintances they made as a result of the artist’s career.  These include noteworthy individuals such as W. R. and Millicent Hearst, Norman Vincent Peale, and Umberto, the Prince of Italy.  Many other letters from noted correspondents to Nancy Palmer Christy appear within the scrapbooks of Series VIII.  As noted in the Series I description, these scrapbooks must be viewed individually in order to locate letters to Mrs. Christy.