2nd Saturday Civil War Series: Dead Letter Office Images: The Civil War’s Lost Sentiments with Melissa A. Winn

In Person in the Lincoln Gallery at ACFL&MH

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Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9370579279 Meeting ID: 937 057 9279

During the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of soldiers wrote letters home, many containing card-sized photos of themself. By the end of the conflict, thousands of letters remained undelivered at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C. For decades after, the employees of the Dead Letter Office went to extraordinary efforts to return these images to a rightful recipient. Melissa Winn will share photos from her collection of Dead Letter Office images and tell the touching story of these interrupted sentiments and the noble efforts by many to send them home.

Melissa A. Winn is the Marketing Manager at the American Battlefield Trust, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Civil War. Previously, she was director of photography for HistoryNet, publisher of nine history-related magazines, including America’s Civil War, American History, and Civil War Times, for which she served as the primary photo researcher, photographer, and a regular writer. Winn received a BA in English from the University of Wisconsin and has written for and published articles in multiple trade and commercial publications for more than 20 years. She was a 2015 finalist for the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Portfolio. She’s a member of the Professional Photographers Association, Authors Guild, and the Center for Civil War Photography. Winn collects Civil War photographs and ephemera, with an emphasis on Dead Letter Office images and Union General John A. Rawlins, chief of staff to General Ulysses S. Grant.