Sources of Inquiry

Case 7: Correspondence

Correspondence, including letters, cards, telegrams, postcards, and other written communication, has been exchanged for centuries. Usually sent from one person to another via the mail or other third-party mechanism, it can provide compelling glimpses into the ways those who lived in the past experienced major historical events, significant social movements, and more. Letter writing is sometimes referred to as a "lost art" that peaked in the 19th century when common features of the format were flowery descriptive language, precise rhetoric and grammar, and strict adherence to formatting rules. Even today, electronic correspondence often includes specific elements formatted in a particular way, including the date, an opening salutation, a closing valediction, and the author's signature.

Letters, postcards, and telegrams written over the past two centuries are on display. Examples from the 19th century include a letter abolitionist John Brown sent to his family two days after the beginning of the Wakarusa War in Kansas, a letter a Civil War soldier wrote describing the amputation of a friend's leg and his subsequent death in a Gettysburg battlefield hospital, and a letter authored by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, when he was Poet Laureate of Great Britain.

Other examples include airmail and V-mail letters from Americans fighting in World Wars I and II, hate mail sent to a pastor in Los Angeles who assisted confined Japanese-American congregants during World War II, a telegram sent by the California Democratic Committee a few days after President Kennedy's assassination, a letter written by gangster Mickey Cohen from prison, and a letter from a sex researcher providing information to a magazine advice columnist.

Case 8, Artifacts, is a tall case towards the center of the gallery.

  • 1

    Letter from William Edmont to Sarah Sell about her brother John's death at the Battle of Gettysburg (with envelope), August 13, 1863John M. Sell Civil War Collection

  • 2

    Letter from abolitionist John Brown in Kansas Territory to "Dear Wife + Children; All," November 23, 1855John Brown Letter

  • 3

    Letter from Alfred, Lord Tennyson to "My Dear Sir," January 18, 1883Francis Gilbert Webb Collection

  • 4

    Letter from Dr. John Money to Jan Daily, March 5, 1981Jan Dailey and John Money Correspondence Collection

  • 5

    Letter from Mickey Cohen to Herald Express editor Agness Underwood (with envelope), December 25, 1963Agness M. Underwood Collection

  • 6

    Letter from American Expeditionary Forces soldier Alton Flanders to "Cousin and All," February 26, 1919Alton L. Flanders World War I Correspondence Collection

  • 7

    V-mail letter from "Millie (Lots of love)" to "Dearest Dick," June 17, 1944Richard H. Bryant Collection

  • 8

    V-mail letter from "'Bubs' and Wara and J.O.B." to Captain Richard H. Bryant, March 9, 1944Richard H. Bryant Collection

  • 9

    Letter from Beverly and Wara to Richard H. Bryant (with air mail envelope), July 9, 1945Richard H. Bryant Collection

  • 10

    Postcard from "Capt. Edwards" of North Hollywood to Reverend Wendell L. Miller, May 6, 1942Reverend Wendell L. Miller Collection

  • 11

    Telegram from Eugene L. Wyman of the California Democratic Committee to Senator Tom Carrell, November 26, 1963Thomas C. Carrell Collection

  • 12

    Letter from Frida Kerr, mother of a US soldier imprisoned in Bataan, to Reverend Wendell L. Miller, "Man of Christ(?)"Reverend Wendell L. Miller Collection

Location

Case 7 Map