Original letters -possible donation

[rbrewer]

I wasn't sure if this was the correct forum, so please move if needed.
A friend has approx. 40 original letters , in good condition , some with envelopes with cancelled stamps. She doesn't want them any more ( aging, downsizing etc.) . She asked me about donating them. As best as I can tell, there is no direct family connection . She is located in SE North Carolina. As best as I can tell , they are from a NC soldier, to his family, also, some back and forth regarding , status of a POW, request for letters, inquiry about sending money home etc. .
Finding a suitable " repository ", where they can be safely stored , possibly available for people to see, is important to her.
Does anyone have any suggestions where she may donate them?
Thank you for your consideration.

 

[Library Lady]

Since she is in North Carolina and the letters are from a soldier from North Carolina, I would start with the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Please see the first question in the FAQ page linked below.

Donating Books and Other Research Materials

Information for Prospective Donors The University Library at UNC-Chapel Hill is home to the largest research collection in the southeast. Unfortunately, we cannot accept most donations of books or other materials, as they generally duplicate items we already hold or exceed our capacity to review

library.unc.edu

The Rubenstein Library at Duke University would be another possibility.

Donating Materials to the Rubenstein Library | Duke University Libraries

Donating to Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Many of the Rubenstein Library's rare and unique materials have been received as gifts, and we welcome inquiries from individuals or organizations interested in adding to the library's holdings. After you submit your inquiry:

library.duke.edu

As would be the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University.

Gift Policy

ZSR Library Gift Policy We appreciate individuals who want to contribute to ZSR Library through in-kind donations. However, due to limited resources and space, ZSR must be highly selective in evaluating and accepting in-kind donations of library materials. In general, we do not accept...

zsr.wfu.edu

 

[Jim in Wisconsin]

I had one and donated it to the local county historical society.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I wasn't sure if this was the correct forum, so please move if needed.
A friend has approx. 40 original letters , in good condition , some with envelopes with cancelled stamps. She doesn't want them any more ( aging, downsizing etc.) . She asked me about donating them. As best as I can tell, there is no direct family connection . She is located in SE North Carolina. As best as I can tell , they are from a NC soldier, to his family, also, some back and forth regarding , status of a POW, request for letters, inquiry about sending money home etc. .
Finding a suitable " repository ", where they can be safely stored , possibly available for people to see, is important to her.
Does anyone have any suggestions where she may donate them?
Thank you for your consideration.

If it weren't so selfish, I would say to donate to ME!

 

[Salterr]

Donating to museums doesn't guarantee anyone will see them. Most things sit in storage. Also confederate letters are expensive. Your friend could literally be missing out on thousands of dollars with the right content

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Donating to museums doesn't guarantee anyone will see them.

Their main value is to researchers. Donating them to a stare archival repository is the best chance a researcher finds them later.

 

[rbrewer]

Thank you for your reply's!, Another option suggested was the NC State Archives ( and some major NC University's)

 

[Jim in Wisconsin]

When I gave it to the county historical research center they put it in a folder along with another letter from the same soldier. The other one was a copy of the original, mine was the original.
Being in someone's collection doesn't necessarily mean anyone else will ever see it or be able to use it for research. To me, the information - where he was at a certain time and what he thought about things is more important than the "thing" itself.
My letter was from a Wisconsin farm kid and had just arrived in Cairo (I think). I remember he said it was real muddy and he was anxious to get into the fight and "lick em". The other letter was after he had been captured and was in a pow camp somewhere.
His outlook had changed a lot!

 

[Allyn]

You might want to consider allowing them to be transcribed and published on a website called Spared and Shared, https://billyyankjohnnyreb.wordpress.com/. Take a look at the website. Then even if their eventual repository was a library somewhere, they would be available online.

"If you possess any Civil War or Antebellum Letters that you are prepared to share, and wish for them to be transcribed, researched, and presented on Spared & Shared, I invite you to contact me. This service is offered at no cost, and I will consider any project that contributes to the public dissemination of these materials, enabling historians and family researchers to benefit from the publication. Announcements regarding recently transcribed letters that I find particularly noteworthy are made on my Spared & Shared Facebook Page, although not all letters are featured. —Will Griffing ("Griff")"

 

[Salterr]

You might want to consider allowing them to be transcribed and published on a website called Spared and Shared, https://billyyankjohnnyreb.wordpress.com/. Take a look at the website. Then even if their eventual repository was a library somewhere, they would be available online.

"If you possess any Civil War or Antebellum Letters that you are prepared to share, and wish for them to be transcribed, researched, and presented on Spared & Shared, I invite you to contact me. This service is offered at no cost, and I will consider any project that contributes to the public dissemination of these materials, enabling historians and family researchers to benefit from the publication. Announcements regarding recently transcribed letters that I find particularly noteworthy are made on my Spared & Shared Facebook Page, although not all letters are featured. —Will Griffing ("Griff")"

Griff is hands down the best and he's lightning fast at transcribing. I've given him letters to transcribe in the past

 

[lupaglupa]

@Stryker65 could these be the basis of a research project for you?

 

[Stryker65]

@Stryker65 could these be the basis of a research project for you?

Could be. I don't know that I could transcribe it better than some of the experts here though!

 

[Ben Ford 987]

I wasn't sure if this was the correct forum, so please move if needed.
A friend has approx. 40 original letters , in good condition , some with envelopes with cancelled stamps. She doesn't want them any more ( aging, downsizing etc.) . She asked me about donating them. As best as I can tell, there is no direct family connection . She is located in SE North Carolina. As best as I can tell , they are from a NC soldier, to his family, also, some back and forth regarding , status of a POW, request for letters, inquiry about sending money home etc. .
Finding a suitable " repository ", where they can be safely stored , possibly available for people to see, is important to her.
Does anyone have any suggestions where she may donate them?
Thank you for your consideration.

I suggest that you let the website "spared and shared,com" have copies of the letters to share with everyone.
Then give the originals to a Historical Society State Archives, or Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans or even sell them.

The main thing is to let researchers and others have access to the information in them before the letters get sold or donated to a repository where they will put in a folder and never seen again.

 

[lelliott19]

Could be. I don't know that I could transcribe it better than some of the experts here though!

I don't think @lupaglupa was necessarily talking about just transcribing the letters. Anyone can do that. I believe she's talking about using this group of previously unknown, recently surfaced letters to develop a research project and then reporting the results.

For example - who was this soldier? Where did he live? What motivated him to enlist? What was going on in his home county during the war? What was going on with his family during the war. Did he have siblings? Parents? A wife/children? What happened to him during the war? What battles did his regiment participate in? Was he wounded or captured? Sick or hospitalized? Did he make it home? Can anything be gleaned about his life before and after the war? Census? Newspapers?

Interpreting his life; not just transcribing the letters he wrote. The newly discovered letters could serve as the springboard to a book, research paper, magazine article, or just a presentation to be recorded and uploaded to YouTube to tell his story.

 

[lupaglupa]

@lelliott19 is right - this is what I was thinking! I didn't have time to reply as I've been away. But letters like these could be the basis for a great research paper @Stryker65 . Maybe even something you could publish.

 

[Stryker65]

@lelliott19 is right - this is what I was thinking! I didn't have time to reply as I've been away. But letters like these could be the basis for a great research paper @Stryker65 . Maybe even something you could publish.

I'll...look into it!

 

[DaveBrt]

Since she is in North Carolina and the letters are from a soldier from North Carolina, I would start with the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Please see the first question in the FAQ page linked below.

Donating Books and Other Research Materials

Information for Prospective Donors The University Library at UNC-Chapel Hill is home to the largest research collection in the southeast. Unfortunately, we cannot accept most donations of books or other materials, as they generally duplicate items we already hold or exceed our capacity to review

library.unc.edu

The Rubenstein Library at Duke University would be another possibility.

Donating Materials to the Rubenstein Library | Duke University Libraries

Donating to Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Many of the Rubenstein Library's rare and unique materials have been received as gifts, and we welcome inquiries from individuals or organizations interested in adding to the library's holdings. After you submit your inquiry:

library.duke.edu

As would be the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University.

Gift Policy

ZSR Library Gift Policy We appreciate individuals who want to contribute to ZSR Library through in-kind donations. However, due to limited resources and space, ZSR must be highly selective in evaluating and accepting in-kind donations of library materials. In general, we do not accept...

zsr.wfu.edu

I can see no difference in donating to the UNC or Duke libraries -- they share the same storage site, both libraries' catalogues show hits in the other library's holdings, and anyone can request and use either library's holdings and use them in either library's research room.