The Lost Art of Letter Writing

For hundreds of years, or at least since pens and paper became commonplace, people who wanted to get in touch with other people separated by distance had only one way to do it: they wrote letters, the only means of long-distance communication, at least until the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century. 

Why the study of letters is important

They are primary source materials They give us a look at the life and personality

of the writer and the reader. Letters are the basis of English language

communications.

Types of letters we will look like

Governmental letters War letters Love letters Narrative letters Humorous letters

The American Revolution

Thomas Paine: Collected Writings

George Washington Writings

My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams

The Debate On the Constitution

James Madison Writings

Americans in Paris

Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark

The Civil War: The First Year Told by Those Who Lived It

Grant: Memoirs and Selected Letters

Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Nathaniel West

John Dos Pasos

World War II Radio Heroes: Letters of Compassion

Searching for Anne Frank

Signs of Life: the Correspondence of German POWS at Camp Algona,

Iowa 1940-1946

Only the Least of Me is Hostage

Since You Went Away

The Greatest Generation Speaks

Three collections from Andrew Carroll

As Always, Julia

Ronald Reagan: In Love and at Work

Dear Mr. President

Funny Letters from Famous People

Letters to a Young Iowan

Hope you have a great week,

Dan