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Box 5: Correspondence, 1942 - July 1943

 File

Scope and Contents

From the File:

Craig routinely kept incoming envelopes and replaced both the incoming letter, any enclosures, and a copy of his reply within the envelope. They were mostly filed chronologically by the postmark. Sometimes there are several letters in a single envelope. During processing the contents of the envelopes were removed and flattened. If the envelope had information not included in the heading, it was retained and clipped to the back of the incoming correspondence. If the letter was undated, the processor added the date of the postmark in brackets. Occasionally circa dates in brackets have been added to undated letters without an envelope based on where they filed. Undatable letters and other material are filed at the end of the series. Letters written during WWII often displayed a significant difference between the date of a letter and its postmark which indicates when it entered the U.S. postal system. These letters are arranged by date they were written, with the envelope attached to show when they entered the U.S. Post Office system. Due to the extreme acidity of much of the paper used, many affected letters and enclosed newspaper clippings have been scanned by the family and are present on the CDs and/or thumb drives created by the family. The original items were retained, but are extremely fragile and many of them in are in fragments. These letters give a vibrant description of daily lives of this large family’s members as the siblings grew up, dated, married, had children, joined the military, started businesses, sought employment and generally lived their lives. This group of materials gives a vivid account of the Great Depression and World War II, both in the European and Pacific Theatres of War as well as on the home front.

Dates

  • Creation: 1910s - 1990s

Creator

Extent

From the Collection: 20 Linear Feet (24 boxes)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Processing Information

Processor’s note: Beginning in January of 1942 there are many more instances of letters from Craig received by their recipients with his carbon copies which are filed with the original. Carbon copies made beginning in March of 1942 are referred to as “the censorship” letters. There are cases where the copy received is not present. The missing letters either were never delivered or were not kept. Where both are present, the received, original letter is filed first and the carbon copy, usually in plastic sleeves, is filed directly behind. He occasionally made notes on his carbon copy which do not appear on the copy received. The received letters were folded and thus are creased. The war-time “censorship” letters are carbon copies, hole-punched at the top and do not have creases indicating that they were never folded. In January of 1943 the use of V-mail began. These are miniaturized copies of letters home. The letters were written on special forms which required the addresses to be written in a specific place and the body of the letter to fit within specific spaces on the form. The letters were reproduced by a photographic process which reduced the letter by about 75%. They were filed with the regular-sized correspondence in chronological order. If a V-mail letter matches a “censorship” letter, it is tucked into the sleeve of the “censorship” letter, if possible

Repository Details

Part of the Columbus State University Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
4225 University Ave
Columbus Georgia 31907 United States