Leticia Kent papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-2020-048

Content Description

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Architectural drawings, correspondence, drafts and typescripts, magazine and newspaper articles by Kent, photographs, and environmental and urban activism campaign files created by or received by architect-turned-journalist Leticia "Tish" Kent spanning 1968-1999. Also included are biographical materials such as her birth certificate, high school yearbook, college diploma, and resume.

The bulk of Kent's papers focus on her activism work in New York City and Palm Beach, spanning 1968-1975, including her work against the destruction of city neighborhoods under the guise of urban renewal, defense of cellar dwellings, and protest of air pollution. Her papers also include materials related to friend, mentor, and fellow activist Jane Jacobs. Interview recordings with public figures are another important part of the papers. Kent published these interviews in The New York Times and Vogue magazine. Interviewees include Mohammed Ali, Robert Altman, Werner Herzog, Norman Mailer, Susan Sontag, Lily Tomlin, and Andy Warhol.

A small number of files belonging to Kent's sister, Mignon Madden, include condolences on Kent's death, her obituary, and literary estate management, and some letters from Kent to Madden in the 1960s and 1970s.

Dates

Creation: 1928-2012
Creation: Majority of material found within 1966-1999

Creator

Kent, Leticia (Leticia Jane), 1928-1999 (Person)

Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Biographical Note

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Leticia Kent was born as Leticia Jane Katz on March 22, 1928 in West Palm Beach, Florida to David A. and Erna (Cohn) Katz. She had one sister, Mignon. At around age 18, Leticia changed her last name to Kent when she moved to New York City to study architecture at the Pratt Institute. At this time, she met Jane Jacobs, who became a lifelong friend and mentor. After Pratt, Kent continued her architectural studies at Cooper Union, where she earned a certificate from the evening school in 1960.

Initially, Kent worked at architectural firms in Manhattan following her studies, but by the early 1960s, she was writing freelance for publications including The New York Times and Vogue. Her early journalism focused on arts and culture, and she published interviews with Jane Jacobs, Norman Mailer, Susan Sontag, Lily Tomlin, and Andy Warhol, among others. She worked for The Village Voice from 1966-1968 as a staff writer and acting city editor, with a focus on urban affairs and cultural trends.

Kent was also an urban planning activist, protesting urban renewal projects in the West Village alongside Jacobs and as part of the Village Independent Democrats (VID). She was a founding member of the West Village Committee in 1961, as served as a liaison between the architects, contractors, and housing corporation on the West Village Housing project beginning in 1971. Her advocacy work also included environmental protection in her native southeastern Florida, raising awreness of the potential impacts of the proposed expansion of the port at Palm Beach and air pollution from public utilities in Miami. Her air pollution work included serving on the Izaak Walton League of America's Clean Air Committee and advising President John F. Kennedy and Senator Edmund Muskie.

In 1973, Kent served as Special Assistant to the New York City Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs Commissioner, Edwin L. Weisl, Jr., for two years. In this role, she developed a public relations program to reach community groups, legislative bodies, and the media to promote cultural events produced by the Administration. In 1980, she was a founding director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Leticia Kent died of cancer on July 4, 1999.

Sources:

"Leticia Kent." Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation oral history, accessed on January 16, 2026. https://www.villagepreservation.org/oral_history/leticia-kent/

Leticia Kent resume, Box 1, Folder 4, Leticia Kent papers, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Obituary. New York Times, July 14, 1999.

Smiley, Shannen. "Leticia Kent Oral History: Revisiting Her Unique Window on History." Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation website, accessed on January 16, 2026. https://www.villagepreservation.org/2022/10/11/leticia-kent-oral-history-revisiting-her-unique-window-on-history/

Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930.

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940.

Full Extent

15.5 Linear Feet (11 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers documenting the professional life of twentieth-century American journalist and urban planning activist Leticia Kent. Materials include correspondence, drafts, newspaper and magazine clippings of her published work, photographs, and audio recordings of interviews with public figures of her era, particularly those in arts and entertainment.

Arrangement

Organized in four series: I. Documents; II. Interviews; III. Magazine and newspaper clippings; and IV. Mignon Madden papers regarding Leticia Kent.

Custodial History

The bulk of these materials were retained by Kent's sister, Mignon Madden, after Kent's death. The audio cassettes with the interviews were kept by Kent's neighbor and friend in Greenwich Village, Morris Gesell.

Provenance

Gift of Sue Madden in 2020 and 2024, on behalf of her mother, Mignon Madden.

Related Materials

Related collections at Boston College:

David Gurin and Jane Jacobs correspondence, MS.2017.031, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Jane Jacobs papers, MS.1995.029, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Richard Keeley papers regarding Jane Jacobs, MS.2018.045, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Seymour Rutkin correspondence with Jane Jacobs, MS.2019.015, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Kent's correspondence can also be found in Norman Mailer's papers:

Norman Mailer papers, Manuscript Collection MS-02643, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.

Separated Materials

Books inscribed to Kent that were received with her papers have been transferred within the Burns Library and can be found in the Boston College Library catalog.