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- Letter from Jack Fogarty to Mary MacDonald
Letter from Jack Fogarty to Mary MacDonald
Object Details
- Description
- Corporal Jack Fogarty enclosed this April 5th, 1945 two-page letter in an illustrated envelope for his pen pal Mary MacDonald. The letter describes the watercolor on the cover (Museum ID 2012.2006.32.1), which depicted the Good Friday Procession in the Philippines: “The drawing on this envelope is supposed to give you an idea of the Good Friday procession that was held in this town. The people lined up on either sides of the street. The women all wore their black veils, shawls, or if they didn’t have any, a handkerchief, and the majority of them had a rosary in their hands. In between the two columns one man carried a large wooden cross and behind him was, as pictured, a bier on which was a figure with a head of Christ carved out of some dark wood. It was a very crudely cared head and had a wig flowing from it of black hair. Behind the procession came a band of four of five pieces that played a funeral dirge. They walked through part of the town and then came back to the little shack that serves as a church.”
- Jack Fogarty served with the US Army’s 98th Evacuation Hospital during World War II. While working in the hospital’s administrative office, Corporal Jack Fogarty (later promoted to Sergeant) struck up a life-long friendship with Chief Warrant Officer John MacDonald and his wife, Mary. Jack and John both wrote regularly to Mary as the war took them to the Pacific Theater. John MacDonald also served as a censor for the unit, and the illustrated covers by Jack Fogarty bear MacDonald’s censor stamp and signature. In his correspondence with Mary, Jack filled the envelopes with scenes in watercolors, ink, and pencil. The illustrated covers show Jack’s life at the Desert Training Center in Yuma, Arizona, and his overseas service in New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan. In addition to illustrating his personal correspondence, Jack contributed artwork to the 98th Evacuation Hospital’s newsletter, The Bulletin. After the war, Fogarty’s artistic career took him into acting and his prolific correspondence with friends sometimes included illustrations.
- References:
- Fogarty, John. Little Boy-Short Trousers-Eaton Cap: This I Remember. AuthorHouse, 2005.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- April 5, 1945
- Object number
- 2012.2006.32.2.1-2
- Type
- Covers & Associated Letters
- Medium
- paper (onionskin); ink
- Dimensions
- Height x Width (2.1 and 2.2): 10 1/2 x 8 1/16 in. (26.6 x 20.5 cm)
- Place of Origin
- Philippines
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Covers & Letters
- Record ID
- npm_2012.2006.32.2.1-2
- Usage
- CC0
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