Walter Houk Collection of Ernest Hemingway

Houk, Walter

Walter Houk, an officer of the American Embassy in Havana, Cuba, from 1949 to 1952, married Juanita Jensen, another embassy employee and part-time secretary to writer Ernest Hemingway, in Havana in 1952, with the Hemingways holding the wedding reception at their estate, Finca Vigía. It was through his future wife that Houk first became friends with both Ernest and Mary Hemingway. The couple were frequent visitors at the Finca, used the library, swam in the pool, stayed for lunch or dinner, went fishing on the Pilar, and drank daiquiris with Papa at the Floridita bar.

Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961

Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist, storywriter, and journalist from Oak Park, Illinois. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

The collection is devoted to Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, where he lived a third of his life. It consists of manuscripts, correspondence, stenography notebooks, photographs, maps of Cuba at mid-century, and memorabilia associated with the Houks' years in Havana, documenting their friendship and interaction with the author. The material, from both the Houks' contributions, provides a robust view of the writer when producing his last major works, Across the River and into the Trees (1950) and The Old Man and the Sea(1952). Their story is told in Houk's essays over the years from the perspective of one who was there and in his manuscript memoir Havana and Hemingway, and "Nita" Jensen's half includes anecdotes and her prized letters from Ernest and Mary Hemingway, along with original shorthand notebooks and typed transcriptions of Hemingway's dictated letters (1949, in the year or so before the couple met, and 1952). Also included are photographs, described in detail by Houk, of major Hemingway landmarks in Cuba taken by his friend David Nuffer in December 2004.

The collection was a gift to the Manuscripts Division by Walter Houk in November 2010 (AM2011-54).

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This collection was processed by John Delaney in November 2010. Finding aid written by John Delaney in November 2010.

In 2022, restrictions on Ernest Hemingway letters where researchers were required to use surrogates were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.

No appraisal information is available.

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Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Walter Houk Collection of Ernest Hemingway, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Date

2010

Creator

Houk, Walter

Subject

Stenographers -- Cuba -- 20th century -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc

War correspondents -- United States -- 20th century

People

Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961

Hemingway, Mary Welsh, 1908-1986

Houk, Juanita Jensen

Nuffer, David

Place

Cuba -- Description and travel -- 20th century

Havana (Cuba) -- Description and travel -- 20th century

Language

English

Form

Correspondence -- 20th century

Manuscripts -- 20th century

Nautical charts -- Cuba -- 20th century

Notebooks -- 20th century