An ordinary man

[msmemory_archive]

My father was not an extraordinary man in any way -- he wasn't famous, did not invent anything, never held political office, was not a war hero, did not rise far in his company or become wealthy. Nor did he do anything notorious.

I've got a box of letters, mostly those received by him rather than sent by him, which provide an interesting portrait of him in the 1930s and 1940s. Interesting to me, anyway. I opened the topmost dozen or so yesterday, which turn out to be a couple letters from his fraternity brothers chiding him for not writing while recovering from his appendectomy; notes from his girlfriend who would be his first wife, telling him which trains to meet for their weekend visits; a note from his brother at another college, in intentionally fractured "German," and a note from his uncle, recommending particular college courses to prepare for an engineering career.

It seems a shame to toss them, but is it worth it to keep them or organize them? They are interesting to me, because they shed light on what Dad was like as a young man, and also on the times (I know some of the notes date from his Annapolis days right after Pearl, for instance.). Would they be interesting to anyone else? Should I set them up into a book or scrapbook? (Uncle Truman's letters would have to be translated facing-page, his penmanship was so dreadful!) Should I sort out the college memorabilia, and offer it to their Archives? If I had a child to save them for, I would do so, but there's just me.

Comments

[tpau]

they might be itnerested to his colleges or to museums somewhere...

[antoniseb.livejournal.com]

It's hard to say. I can picture some future Ken Burns using them to typify an American life from this period. I have a great great great uncle who wrote and received some pretty unremarkable letters with very lame spelling and grammar to and from his mother and his sister (the sister was my Mothers, Mothers, Mothers, Mother). Now he was a Yankee stationed in the South during the Civil War, and died of illnes. My mother has one of these letters, and a museum in Hartford has most of the rest.

The letters say some interesting things abut the relationships between neighbors, and landlords and occupants during the 1860s. They say little of the plight of the soldier. But there they are, available for reading.

Note that my 4Gs Grandmother seems to ahve been illiterate, and some of the outbound letters were actually penned by a neighbor.

[staceyspins.livejournal.com]

My fater in law has a huge family archive and I find it very interesting. I'm all for keeping them. If you feel that the college would be interested then why not. As for the other stuff, it sounds cool and well worth the effort of archiving in albums or scrapbooks. :o)

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

If they are interesting to you, keep them. The space they take up is likely worth it -- you can save space with something more replace-able. These are not replaceable if you decide later it was a mistake to get rid of them.

[ornerie.livejournal.com]

I allow myself two boxes of "memorabilia". whent he boxes are full, something has to get taken out to make room for new stuff.

its worked so far...I have one box of my childhood stuff, photos, trophies, etc and one box of stuff from adulthood...

I bet if my parents pass though, I'll have to get more boxes :)

you're really lukcy that you have those letters. they dont take up much room, do they?

[bubbette.livejournal.com]

You know this already, but...

Be sure and scan them for storage somewhere. If you're going to save them, really save them.

And, if you scan them and decide it's worth the effort, you might put them online (especially with some key words that search engines can put up). You never know who might contact you about them.

[kimberlycreates.livejournal.com]

I think family history and connections are important and fascinating. I vote for keeping them. I'd even vote for buying a nifty scrapbook to set them up in.

[kfitzwarin.livejournal.com]

As a genealogist and history geek, I'm for saving them, and preserving them as best you can.

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

I'm a genealogist too*, and just love rooting around in the letters and photos Dad left me. I think I will keep them all - it's just one Xerox box of letters, and a half-box of loose snapshots - with aspirations of really organizing them Someday.

*which always leads to the question "are we distantly related?"

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

Maybe a local historical socity? In 100 years someone may use them to figure out what everyday life was in the US at the time.

I was listening to NPR science friday a while ago and they made a point, if you want to be famous to history keep a paper diary and put in your will that it should go to the local historical socity.