This is a collection of letters (as well as telegrams) written by Umberto Nobile largely in Rochester, NY to Hermine Speier in Rome during July through December of 1940. The majority of the envelopes in this folder bear indications that their contents have been censored. During this period, Nobile is enjoying the peacefulness of the countryside at his cousin’s home in Rochester; rather than doing the work he intended to accomplish during his vacation, he admits to passing his days reading, writing, going for long walks in nature with the dogs, and playing chess. The couple reads Orlando furioso together during this period. Nobile is evidently extremely concerned for Speier’s health at this time, so he is pleased to hear that she decides to take one of her trips to the countryside in Chianciano for some rest and relaxation; he is continually requesting updates on her health and her doctor visits, and when he doesn’t receive a steady stream of letters from her he begins to express an overwhelming sense of anxiety and an inkling that all is not well with his loved ones in Rome. In September he once again reminds Speier of the precarious situation of surveillance in which foreigners in America find themselves, which is the reason why he neglects to telephone her. Nobile travels to Washington D.C. for a conference in late September, after which time he begins a period of travel between Rochester, Chicago, and Joliet. In his letters, he apologizes for not providing Speier with more detailed updates on his life, but he assures her that there is nothing good to tell of his nomadic existence. He spends much of his time in Rochester cataloging the books in his cousin’s library. He travels to Niagara Falls in November. By the final months of 1940, it is clear that there is such a massive delay in the postal service that epistolary correspondence between the two has become an erratic and impractical undertaking. Nobile also suspects that some letters are being intercepted and not delivered at all, based on the fact that Speier reported not having received articles he sent her about the plight of the Italians in the U.S. Nobile continues to await news from Chicago regarding the potential for his departure, but he receives none. Newspaper clippings are included with some letters. One is an interview with Nobile in which he is asked to comment on the status of military aviation in the United States. His response is that it has the most advanced civil aviation of any country, and it is prescient in that he says the use of plastics in aviation may lead to mass airplane production and the accessibility of airplanes to the common man.