Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials

The papers consist primarily of scrapbooks, photographs, bibliographical notes, and correspondence. Seven of 10 scrapbooks are sequentially arranged from approximately 1922 to 1946, including news clippings and other material relating to all aspects of Haiti. Other scrapbooks contain material pertaining to specific topics such as superstitions and Faustin E. Wirkus, a U.S. Marine who became known as the "White King of La Gonave" (a Haitian island). The photographs, including some picture postcards, depict numerous Haitian scenes as well as from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Many of the photographs were taken by Hiss on the 1936-37 trip. Four notebooks contain bibliographical notes relating to Haiti and the West Indies in general. The papers also include correspondence and some manuscript notes by Hiss. In addition to the correspondence in Box 1, letters are dispersed throughout the scrapbooks. There is no distinct listing of this correspondence.