Donating War Letters

[ehenry]

All, as most of you know, my parents both have passed away in the last two years. Pop in the last three months. In going though things at their house in preparation to sell, we came across the letters that Mamma and Daddy wrote to one another while Pop served in the South Pacific. One of my sisters wants to donate the letters to the department of archives. I'm not real sure how I feel about that. Both my parents were private people and I'm pretty sure Pop wouldnt want his private writings mamma available to a bunch of strangers.

Has anyone here thought of doing this or had family members that wanted to do something like this?

 

[GA_Boater]

I agree with you, ehenry. The letters were meant to be shared with only your Mom And Dad. Since they were written between the the two of them, keep them between them. If your folks are buried side by side, put the letters in a sealed box of sorts and bury the box between the graves. In the afterlife Mom and Dad might get a chuckle and maybe a little blushing when re-reading the letters together.

 

[MTboatguy]

I would agree with not donating them, I have to say, after experiencing combat, I don't believe I would want the letters I wrote to my wife available for public view. They are very personal writings between my wife and I, when in a state of despair for the most part. Private stuff to say the least.

 

[southkogs]

If there is something that isn't very personal, that has value in terms of what it meant to a given campaign or action ... then I would consider donating a particular letter. Otherwise, I agree with the rest of the gang ... that's stuff for the family.

 

[four winns 214]

I have the letters my father wrote my mother when he was serving in the Pacific during WWII. They were boyfriend-girlfriend at the time and they are family treasures. If your family does not want to maintain custody, I urge you to donate them to an archive somewhere. Don't bury them. It's very possible a university in your state would take them or contact the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH for suggestions.

The reason it is so important that you find an archive somewhere was illustrated this very evening. PBS is showing Ken Burns' Civil War documentary this week. Narrators reading soldiers' letters home makes for very powerful illustration of that conflict.