The Stark Family Papers are comprised largely of the newlywed correspondence of lithographer Eugene R. and Catherine Dehn Stark of Brooklyn, New York, and Springfield, Massachusetts. The couple lived apart during the three years following their 1919 marriage so that Eugene could take a job in Springfield. During that time, the couple wrote deeply affectionate, sometimes sexually explicit letters expressing longing for one another and discussing finances, family updates, and the birth and infancy of their son John Eugene Stark.
The collection also includes a small number of letters from Eugene Stark's World War I service, letters from Charles Brant of Middle Village, New York, and correspondence with brother Gus, uncle John, and aunt Mamie.
Eugene Reginald Stark was born in 1881 and served in the First World War as a cook for Company C of the 347th Infantry, 87th Division. On October 30, 1919, he married his sweetheart Catherine Dehn (1881-1961). Shortly after their marriage, Eugene moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, for employment reasons, working first as a clerk, then as a lithographer for the Milton Bradley Company. Catherine eventually joined her husband in Springfield and the couple had at least two children, John Eugene (b. 1921) and Richard G. (b. ca. 1924).
