If you’ve been an Out of the Box reader for a while, you may remember this September 2011 article about a Norfolk, Virginia, girl and her World War II-era Norfolk, England, penpals, and the story of a 21st-century correspondence that came out of it (see Broadside’s spring 2012 issue, page 6). Jan Godfrey of Norfolk, England, is one of the people I’ve been privileged to “meet” online through this correspondence. She contacted me after reading about the Leona Robbins Fitchett Collection (Acc. 50068) on the blog. I took another look at the collection and was excited to discover letters from Jan’s sister, her sister-in-law, and even her 5-year-old self (even though she was not a member of the class that was corresponding with Leona Robbins, young Jan had stuffed a short note in with a letter sent by her elder sister).
Jan, who is very active in the study and promotion of the history of the Wayland area of Norfolk, England, recently gave a talk to the Wayland Heritage Group. She shared the story of the original letters, the memories they brought up, and the new trans-Atlantic friendships forged thanks to archives and the Internet. You can see her talk by clicking the link in this Wayland News article.
-Jessica Tyree Burgess, Senior Accessioning Archivist