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Camden NJ1
Jan: 2 '91
Thank you dear girl for y'r kind welcome letter safely rec'd.2 Am here
still holding the fort sort o' (as I call it)—has been four days of glum weather
here but the sun is just shining out.—pretty fair spirits but bad grip & other bothers—Best love
to yr dear father & Alma,3 & all, & God make the new year happy to you all
Walt Whitman
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Correspondent:
Bertha Johnston
(1872–1953) was the daughter of Whitman's friend John H. Johnston and his
first wife Amelia. Like her father, Bertha Johnston was passionate about
literature. She was also involved with the suffrage movement and was a member of
the Brooklyn Society of Ethical Culture.
Notes
- 1. This postal card is
addressed: Miss Bertha Johnston | 305 E 17th street | New York City. It is
postmarked: D | JA 3-91 | 6 A | N.Y.; CAMDEN, N.J. | JAN 2 | 6PM | 91. [back]
- 2. This letter may not
survive. [back]
- 3. John H. (J.H.) Johnston
(1837–1919) was a New York jeweler who became a close friend of Whitman's.
Whitman visited Johnston's home frequently, and Johnston assisted with raising
funds for the aging poet. Alma Calder Johnston was an author and John's second
wife. Her family owned a home and property in Equinunk, Pennsylvania. For more
on the Johnstons, see Susan L. Roberson, "Johnston, John H. (1837–1919) and Alma Calder" (Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]