Agnes von Kurowsky (#299)

An Inventory of Her Personal Papers
1918-1985
In the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
List of Series
Series Description


Administrative Information

Abstract
Papers, 1918-1985
Red Cross nurse during World War I and friend of Ernest Hemingway. Letters, diary.

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the deed of gift signed December 1986, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States.

Copyright
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form. Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff.

Provenance
Received from Henry Villard, in September 1985 (Acc. 1985-047).

Extent
About 250 items (8 linear inches ; 0.75 cubic foot)

Items Separated
Photographs transferred to the Audiovisual archives .

Date Opened
January 1987, August 1988, and October 1989.

Processed by
Lisa Middents

Encoded by
James M. Roth

Related Collections
Ernest Hemingway Collection, John F. Kennedy Library
Hemingway Miscellaneous Accessions Collection , John F. Kennedy Library:
   HEM 3 Red Cross Research Material, ca. 1920
   HEM 4 Papers of Charlotte M. Hielman

The Personal Papers of Agnes von Kurowsky (1892-1984)

Biographical Note
Agnes von Kurowsky was born in Germantown, Penn., on 5 January 1892. In 1917, she received her nursing certificate from Bellevue Hospital Training School for Nurses in New York, N.Y., and received her diploma from the University of the State of New York. She began service with the American Expeditionary Forces Europe on 26 June 1918. During her service in Italy, Agnes was among the nurses attending to Ernest Hemingway following his battle injuries. Their relationship developed, however, Agnes' feelings for Hemingway were never as deep as his attachment to her, and she broke off the relationship in a letter not long after he returned home. Hemingway used Agnes as a primary model for the heroine in his novel of World War I, A Farewell to Arms . On 23 November 1928, Agnes married Howard Preston Garner. They were divorced in 1931. On 7 August 1934, Agnes married William C. Stanfield Jr. The following list documents her nursing career.

Collection Overview
The personal papers of Agnes von Kurowsky span the years 1918-1985. Most of the papers are from Agnes' career as a nurse, particularly emphasizing her service with the Red Cross in World War I. They also contain correspondence from the last 20 years of her life regarding her relationship with Ernest Hemingway during World War I. Most of the correspondence dated from the 1980's is about arranging her burial in Arlington National Cemetery and the custodianship of her papers. The papers are arranged in four categories: Outgoing Correspondence [of Agnes von Kurowsky and William C. Stanfield, Jr.], Incoming Correspondence, Newsclippings, and Other Material.

List of Series
Series 1. Outgoing Correspondence
Series 2. Incoming Correspondence
Series 3. News Clippings
Series 4. Other Material

Series Description

Series 1. Outgoing Correspondence, 1918-1985.
About 40 items.
Arrangement: chronological.

The Agnes von Kurowsky papers begin with her outgoing correspondence which dates from c.1918/1919 through 1985. The correspondence includes letters she wrote from Europe in 1920 just before and during her service with the Red Cross in Rumania and letters she exchanged after 1962 with Ambassador Henry S. Villard, who was her patient at the Milan Hospital in 1918 when Ernest Hemingway was there. Willam Stanfield, Jr., Agnes' husband, took over her correspondence after 1982 when she became disabled. There are several letters in the outgoing correspondence that he wrote concerning her.

Series 2. Incoming Correspondence, 1919-1985.
About 40 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by correspondent.

Incoming correspondence mainly contains letters written after 1960 by people interested in Agnes's relationship with Hemingway, such as researchers, members of the Hemingway family, and Henry S. Villard. In this category are also letters concerning her burial at Arlington National Cemetery and the custodianship of her papers.

Series 3. News Clippings.
About 9 items.
Arrangement: chronological.

The news clippings contain items from periodicals relating to Agnes' career which she or Henry Villard saved.

Series 4. Other Material.
23 items.
Arrangement: alphabetically by type.

The items in Other Materials mostly relate to Agnes's nursing career. Of interest to researchers is her personal diary which she kept faithfully every day from 12 June to 20 October 1918. It describes her daily life as a Red Cross nurse in Milan and has some references to her patient Ernest Hemingway. Also in this category are nursing certificates, her diploma from the University of the State of New York, military orders, discharge papers, and Red Cross pins and medals.