Good idea...here are a couple more, building on Tim's. Our local universities happily take donations of family and other papers -- the University of Houston and Rice University. Both have excellent archiving facilities, and they routinely make papers like this available for researchers. Some collections are based on topic -- such as the UH's Women's History Collection. My grandfather's wartime "love letters" between him and my grandmother are there, and now online, which as a family member I really enjoy.
I’m sure there are similar university opportunities in your area.
Likewise, some museums and local library systems accept these, and they often like family collections. For example, the Houston Public Library houses the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, which is chock-full of family collections. I'm sure libraries in your area have similar departments.
Tim notes, I'm sure there are many options. Good luck!
Cheers,
Carol
*****************************
Carol McDavid, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Community Archaeology Research Institute, Inc.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Rice University
Co-editor, Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage
1638 Branard
Houston, TX 77006
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Timothy James Scarlett
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2017 12:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: old letters
Susan,
There are surely many, many options. Keeping them together makes sense, but is there a key central person, such as a matriarch or patriarch, with whom the family is associated? Is there a single most significant event? Knowing that would help an archivist narrow down their suggestions.
I'd recommend reaching out to a local archivist to get started. You could also contact the SAA:
https://www2.archivists.org/contact
Sincerely,
Tim
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jun 22, 2017, at 12:55 PM, Susan Walter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> June 22, 2017
> Hi All,
> Can someone help me with a documents issue?
> I have several boxes of (mostly) old letters, dating from the 1840s through WWII, that I’d like to find a home for.
> Vermont, Indiana, Illinois, Washington DC, New York, Montana, Panama, New Mexico, Florida, California are some the states these people lived in.
> Subjects range from linguistics, military (Army & Navy), teaching (biology), women’s suffrage, arts (particularly music), social activities, and more.
> Ideally, I’d like to send it as a collection; it is several generations of an extended family.
> S. Walter
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