December 2025: National Write a Friend Month

Dec 4, 2025 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki

This month, many of us will take the time to write to friends near and far in sending holiday cards, recaps of the past year, or best wishes for the coming year. Even our children might take part, as they write and send their wishes to a favorite friend with a North Pole address! In this spirit of connection, please enjoy this selection from our collection focused on letters and the art of letter writing.

Members, find the listed titles on display in the Sawtelle Reading Room through the month of December. (NOTE: Due to the annual holiday party on 12/5, the display will be up by 12/9.)

Piranesi

FICTION

This work of epistolary fiction revolves around the journal entries written by its protagonist, the titular Piranesi. And what are journal entries, but letters to oneself! Piranesi spends his time exploring, cataloging, and documenting his unique world which consists of a great labyrinthine House filled with statues and an ocean. As the novel progresses, he learns about his forgotten past and the truth of the House and its other occupant, “The Other.”

Clarke, Susanna. Piranesi. PR6103 .L375 P57 2020

 

Heartwood

FICTION

Valerie, a 42-year-old woman hiking the Appalachian Trail, disappears about 200 miles before she reaches her destination. This story is from multiple points of view which include the women trying to solve the disappearance and Valerie herself, in the form of letters written to her mother. It addresses the relationships between mothers and daughters, the power found in nature, and the ways in which people become lost and then found again.

Gaige, Amity. Heartwood. PS3557 .A3518 H43 2025

 

 

A Few of Hamilton’s Letters: Including His Description of the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1772

BIOGRAPHY

Why does he write like he’s running out of time? Atherton tells us in her introduction to this collection of letters that “Hamilton’s entire correspondence, exclusive of his state papers, pamphlets, etc., fills three octavo volumes. Much of it is uninteresting to-day to any but a student of the past, and will never be approached by the general reader.” The correspondence gathered here is presented chronologically and divided into several periods of Alexander Hamilton’s life and career: St. Croix; The Army; Law, Politics, ad Domesticity; The Secretary of the Treasury; The Power Behind the Throne; The Duel. For those familiar with the musical based on the life of the statesman, you’ll find that Lin Manuel Miranda captured both the spirit and the text of correspondence between Hamilton and Aaron Burr prior to the duel that resulted in the former’s death.

Atherton, Gertrude, ed. A Few of Hamilton’s Letters: Including His Description of the Great West Indian Hurricane of 1772. BIOG. (Hamilton)

 

 

An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864

BIOGRAPHY

This collection of letters details the US Civil War experience of Sarah Rosetta Lyons who enlisted under the assumed male identity of Private Lyons Wakeman. She was one of many women who joined in secrecy, leaving little evidence and few stories of their service. While the sentiments expressed in her letters home are similar to those from her male colleagues, they provide a unique voice in US Civil War literature.

Burgess, Lauren Cook. An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864. E628 .W35 1994

 

 

War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars

BIOGRAPHY

Historian Andrew Carroll founded the Legacy Project in 1988 with the goal of preserving the letters written by Americans serving their nation. This collection of nearly 200 letters spans conflicts from the US Civil War to the first Persian Gulf War, and the wars in Bosnia and Somalia. We are introduced to the voices and heroism of ordinary men and women serving in a variety of positions from frontline military, nurses, chaplains, and beyond. The work also includes previously unpublished letters from well-known figures including Clara Barton, Julia Child, and Dwight Eisenhower.

Carroll, Andrew, ed. War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars. E181 .W273 2001

 

 

A Seafaring Legacy: The Photographs, Diaries, Letters and Memorabilia of a Maine Sea Captain and His Wife, 1859-1908

BIOGRAPHY

The diaries, correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia related to 19th century sea captain Sumner Drinkwater and his wife Alice collected by Julianna FreeHand in Yarmouth, Maine, allow a unique glimpse at the experience of a life at sea. Not only do readers experience life aboard a down-easter, the successor to the Yankee clipper ship, but we also gain appreciation for life in New England villages dependent on the sea for their survival.

FreeHand, Julianna. A Seafaring Legacy: The Photographs, Diaries, Letters and Memorabilia of a Maine Sea Captain and His Wife, 1859-1908. V63 .F73 1981

 

 

My Dear President: Letters Between Presidents and Their Wives

BIOGRAPHY

This compilation of letters between presidents and first ladies reveals the private thoughts and working partnerships of some of our most public figures. Library of Congress curator Gerard W. Gawalt categorizes this correspondence into thematic topics including love, war politics, travel, and sorrow. The letters are set in historical context, allowing the reader to understand the moments discussed between these famous husbands and wives, who are often at their most vulnerable.

Gawalt, Gerard W. My Dear President: Letters Between Presidents and Their Wives. E176.1 .M98 2006

 

 

Women of the West

BIOGRAPHY

Here we find the true stories of 11 women of various backgrounds who left their homes to come and find a future in the American West. Unlike many stories of the West, this volume includes the stories of minority women and their experiences. Photos, diaries, memoirs, letters, and journals allow these women to share their courage and resourcefulness first-hand.

Luchetti, Carla in collaboration with Carol Olwell. Women of the West. HQ1438 .W45 L8

 

 

How to Weed Your Attic: Getting Rid of Junk Without Destroying History

NON-FICTION

This volume developed by a retired archivist and retired museum curator is a must-read for those of us cleaning out items left to us by previous generations. It gives clear guidelines on what items are worth keeping and what can safely be let go. It also gives options for making sure historic items are correctly preserved or donated to places where they will be of use. Hint? Those letters between your grandparents that you found in a back closet? Save them, if possible.

Dow, Elizabeth H. and Lucinda P. Cockrell. How to Weed Your Attic: Getting Rid of Junk Without Destroying History. CS16 .D69 2018

 

 

Epistolary Practices: Letter Writing in America Before Telecommunications

NON-FICTION

Decker explores the role of personal correspondence in American literary and cultural history from the colonial through postmodern eras. It includes letters from notable and unknown American writers, with particular attention given to the letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickenson, and Henry Adams. Decker also discusses the future of letter writing in the age of technological change and development.

Decker, William Merrill. Epistolary Practices: Letter Writing in America Before Telecommunications. PS417 .D43 1998

 

 

IMAGE: View of postal employees in the sorting room at the Portsmouth (NH) post office on Pleasant Street, circa 1910. [PS2660]