Photo: Abraham Lincoln, by Alexander Gardner, 8 November 1863. Credit: Mead Art Museum; Wikimedia Commons.

Lincoln Pleads for Peace in War-Torn Missouri

By Tony Pettinato on February 20, 2025

A letter Pres. Lincoln wrote to Missouri Gov. Fletcher on 20 February 1865 pleading for “old friendships” and “Christian charity” to end the violence... (Read More)

Illustration: cover of "Harper’s Weekly," Volume 23, 4 January 1879.

Christmas Letters (part 3)

By Melissa Berry on December 26, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares a Christmas letter written by the daughter of a California Gold Rush 49er in 1879 when she was 15... (Read More)

Photo: a “Talking Letter” from Eugene Daly during WWII, February 1945. Courtesy of Portraits of War.

Christmas Letters (part 2)

By Melissa Berry on December 22, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares “talking letters” families sent to their loved ones serving overseas... (Read More)

Photo: Gilbert “Gibby” Wyer in 1989, the year before he died. Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Christmas Letters (part 1)

By Melissa Berry on December 19, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shares a Christmas letter written by a WWII soldier stationed in North Africa in 1942... (Read More)

Photo: Touro Synagogue and gardens. The oldest synagogue in America, built in 1763, it is an active synagogue and is located in the historic district of Newport, Rhode Island. Credit: Zellner55; Wikimedia Commons.

Early Jewish Immigrants Sought Religious Liberty in America

By Jane Cook on November 29, 2023

Jane Cook writes about President Washington’s 1790 letter to the Jewish congregation in Newport affirming America’s commitment to freedom of religion... (Read More)

Photo: 1852 image of 23 miners at a California placer operation (colorized). Credit: Western Mining History.

Letters from California Gold Rush ‘49er’ (part 5)

By Melissa Berry on November 28, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry tells more stories about the California Gold Rush, based on letters a “49er” gold prospector wrote... (Read More)

Photo: a group of miners. Courtesy of the California Historical Society.

Letters from California Gold Rush ‘49er’ (part 4)

By Melissa Berry on September 19, 2023

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues telling stories about the California Gold Rush, based on letters some “49er” gold prospectors wrote... (Read More)

Illustration: "The Sluice"; hydraulic mining for gold in California. Published in "The Century" illustrated monthly magazine, January 1883. Credit: Henry Sandham; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Letters from California Gold Rush ‘49er’ (part 3)

By Melissa Berry on September 8, 2023

Melissa Berry continues with stories about the California Gold Rush based on letters a 49er, Francis Nicholson, wrote to his fiancée, Elizabeth Charles... (Read More)

Photo: river mining for gold on the North Fork of the American River, California, ca.1853. Credit: George H. Johnson; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Wikimedia Commons.

Letters from California Gold Rush ‘49er’ (part 2)

By Melissa Berry on September 6, 2023

Melissa Berry tells more stories about the California Gold Rush, based on letters a 49er, Francis Nicholson, wrote to his fiancée, Elizabeth Charles... (Read More)

Tag: Letters and Diaries or Journals