Love is within the air, as at all times, round Valentine’s Day. However think about placing pen to paper for the love of your life, a whole lot of instances!
On Show
The Nashville Public Library is showcasing a digital show of greater than 200 love letters exchanged between a loving couple earlier than and after they have been married throughout World Battle II.
“You’ll be able to actually inform how a lot they beloved one another and the way a lot they missed one another,” stated Kelley Sirko, metropolitan archivist with the Nashville Public Library, in an interview with Navy.com.
Simply the lifetime of two very loving individuals throughout a really difficult time in our historical past.
William Raymond Whittaker and Jane Dean met and fell in love on the traditionally Black Meharry Medical School. Whittaker, or Ray as he was identified, was from New Rochelle, New York, and moved to Nashville for college. However he misplaced contact with Jane when he was drafted into the Army in 1942.
Misplaced, Then Discovered
Stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Ray began writing letters to Jane, who was working as a medical lab technician at Vanderbilt College. These letters, virtually a century previous, have been present in a Nashville residence that after belonged to Jane and her siblings. They have been donated in 2016 to the Metro Nashville Archives, paving the best way for the Nashville Public Library to place the letters on digital show.
“The letters got to the archives by somebody who had bought a home that was as soon as owned by Jane’s household,” stated Sirko. “The letters have been in a basket, and after studying by way of a few of them, the brand new home-owner determined to donate them.”
There isn’t any report of Ray’s first letter to Jane, however discovered within the archives was her reply, dated July 30, 1942, the place she used the very formal greeting, “Pricey Wm R.” after which wrote, “It certain was a pleasing and unhappy shock to listen to from you. Nice as a result of you’ll at all times maintain a spot in my coronary heart, and it is good to know you consider me on occasion. Unhappy since you are within the armed forces, possibly I shouldn’t say that, however conflict is so unsure; nonetheless, I’m proud to know that you’re doing all your bit in your nation.”
Relying on the way you interpret Jane’s love letter, she was both already head over heels in love or just itemizing a number of mutual acquaintances who had gotten married just lately, even mentioning these with youngsters. She ends the letter with the phrases, “Write, wire, or name me actual quickly — Lovingly Jane.”
“The couple was married virtually 50 years,” stated Sirko. “And all of it started with these letters.”
Nashville archivists haven’t been in a position to find any dwelling kin of Ray and Jane, so most of what they learn about them is from the letters. The couple didn’t have any youngsters, based on an obituary for Ray, who died in Nashville in 1989.
The trove of letters additionally had just a few images with them, together with Ray’s patch from the traditionally Black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Included. Studying between the traces, the love story between Ray and Jane additionally gave glimpses into what life was like within the segregated South with racial and gender points, Army life, Jane’s work life, and their dream to be collectively freely.
“It’s greater than only a love story between a soldier and his sweetheart. You’ll be able to actually get a have a look at a really pivotal time in our historical past,” stated Sirko. “Ray’s letters give loads of perception into the lifetime of a soldier. With Jane, you get her on a regular basis take of what’s taking place in Nashville.“
One other letter from September 1942 exhibits Ray telling Jane, “I’ve one thing essential to let you know once I do see you, and you can be stunned to know as to what it’s. I’d even ask you to marry me. One by no means is aware of.”
Jane is skeptical in her reply, writing: “What makes you suppose you continue to love me? Is it that you’re lonesome and a great distance from residence? I’m certain I would like you to like me, however not below these circumstances.”
Lastly, Sure
Inside two months, Ray wins Jane over, and they’re married in November 1942 in Birmingham, with extra letters to come back displaying Jane addressing Ray as “my darling husband.”
Nonetheless, the 2 continued to be aside, with Jane returning to her job and household in Nashville whereas Ray returned to his Army base. Ultimately, they moved to New York for some years, then again to Nashville, the place they settled into married life.
“It’s an exquisite factor to have such a candy and beautiful husband. Darling, you’ll by no means understand how a lot I really like you,” wrote Jane. “The one remorse is that we didn’t marry years in the past.”
