Letters

In 1776, the year she married, Julia Stockton Rush was painted by Charles Willson Peale.

Rediscovering a Founding Mother

Just-discovered letters herald the significance of an unsung Revolutionary woman, Julia Rush

Did George Orwell Pick Up TB During the Spanish Civil War?

A new technique was able to pull tuberculosis bacteria and morphine residue from a letter the author sent in 1938, ten years befor his diagnosis

Envelope decoration was always a staple of the mail art experience. This colorful letter was sent from performance artist Anna Banana (Anna Lee Long) to collagist John Evans in 2010.

Collaborative “Mail Art” Puts the Post in Postmodernism

Letters, envelopes and enclosures take center stage in an intimate new art show

An authentic copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus as displayed at the Vatican. The United States is returning to the Vatican Library a letter written by Christopher Columbus in 1493 announcing his discovery of the New World that was stolen and replaced with a forgery.

Stolen Christopher Columbus Letter Returned to Vatican, But Mystery Persists

The letter, which had been printed in 1493, was replaced with a convincing fake—and investigators still don’t know who committed the crime

Ruth (Woodworth) Creveling, US Navy Yeoman (F), 1917-1920

During World War I, Many Women Served and Some Got Equal Pay

Remembering the aspirations, struggles and accomplishments of women who served a century ago

The "Saucy Jacky" postcard

Were the Jack the Ripper Letters Fabricated by Journalists?

Linguistic analysis indicates at least two of the most infamous letters were likely written by the same person—and that person was not the Ripper

Why a Collection of Simone de Beauvoir’s Love Letters Was Just Sold to Yale

The 112 letters were written to filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, who had a seven-year relationship with the French philosopher

Envelope for stationary packet, "Torch of Love," George W. Fisher Bookseller and Stationer, Rochester, New York.

How the Civil War Taught Americans the Art of Letter Writing

Soldiers and their families, sometimes barely literate, wrote to assuage fear and convey love

Arthur Miller in his study, Roxbury, Connecticut, 1987.

Arthur Miller’s Vast Archive Comes to the University of Texas at Austin

The collection includes a wealth of material, from theatrical manuscripts to personal memorabilia

These Letters Tell the Inside Story of Mary, Queen of Scots’ Imprisonment

A collection of 43 letters relating to the latter years of the queen’s confinement was recently donated to the British Library

The 200 or so volunteer “elves” at the Santa Claus museum in Indiana respond to about 20,000 letters each year.

What Happens to All Those Letters Sent to Santa?

Believe it or not, most get answered

The Profound Loneliness of Greta Garbo

Sotheby’s is auctioning off a collection of letters that reveal Garbo’s deep dissatisfaction with her life in Hollywood

Message From the Past Found Inside Spanish Statue of Jesus

A local chaplain wanted people from the future to know what crops his region grew, what games they played and what diseases they suffered

Lee receiving the Medal of Freedom in 2007

Unpublished Harper Lee Letters Purchased at Auction Share Intimate Reflections

The letters from the <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> scribe include remembrances of Hollywood celebrities, a bit of history and some sass

Einstein's Maxims on Life Fetch $1.8 Million at Auction

The notes were given as a tip to a Tokyo bellboy in 1922

Nine letters written by Barack Obama from 1982 to 1984 are being made available to the public for the first time

Barack Obama's Letters From Three Decades Ago

As a striving college student and recent graduate, letters by the future president depict a man coming to terms with his identity and future

Newly found letters by Alan Turing

New Letters Show Alan Turing Wasn't a Fan of the U.S.A.

The groundbreaking mathematician and computer scientist who spent 2 years at Princeton wrote that he 'detests America' in newly found documents

Alexander served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and was a prominent Founding Father before his untimely death.

Get Your Hamilton Fix With This New Trove of Digitized Documents

The Library of Congress has uploaded 12,000 items relating to the 'ten-dollar Founding Father without a father'

The dead letter office circa 1922. The contents of unresolvable dead letters and packages are periodically sold off by the USPS.

A Brief History of American Dead Letter Offices

The United States postal system was established on this day in 1775, and mail started going "dead" very soon after

A later copy of the Bixby Letter

Was This Famous Lincoln Letter Written by His Secretary?

After a century of rumors, textual analysis suggests the Bixby letter sent to a grieving mother was penned by John Hay

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