First Fridays: Community by Mail

To Whom It May Concern: Letters in the Archives

Use the link below to join the webinar, Friday, April 5, 2024 at noon Central Time:

https://umn.zoom.us/j/92894475876?pwd=dUYzc2dFR0p2LzdUajBBWDZpNEZidz09

Passcode: FFO452024

Correspondence, letters, notes, messages, mail – there are many words for these materials that comprise the backbone of the archives. This year we will uplift the humble letters that pepper our collections. Join us on Friday, April 5 for two archival talks, presented by the Children’s Literature Research Collections and by the Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies.

Please register to attend in person or online. ASL interpreters will be present for all First Fridays events.

Off Topic: Letters From the Children’s Literature Research Collections

Presented by Caitlin Marineau, Assistant Curator, Children’s Literature Research Collections

From editorial notes and rejection letters to fan mail, romance, personal lives, and complaints, letters in CLRC collections span a wide range of topics, only some of which are related to children’s books.

Community by Mail: Finding Liberation Through Reader Written Magazines

Presented by Aiden Bettine, Curator, Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies

Before mass print production and the age of the internet, LGBTQ people built community and found each other through reader written magazines. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, sending mail to underground publications became a critical way to engage in community. Gain a glimpse into the publications held in the Tretter Collection that were made by mail.

Event details

What: First Fridays, “Off Topic: Letters From the Children’s Literature Research Collections” and “Community by Mail: Finding Liberation Through Reader Written Magazines”
When: Friday, April 5, 2024 | Light buffet lunch at 11:30 a.m. | Presentations begin at noon | A tour of the archival caverns will follow the presentation
Where: Elmer L. Andersen Library, room 120 and ONLINE | Parking and directions

First Fridays is made possible by a generous gift from Governor Elmer L. Andersen and Mrs. Eleanor Andersen in honor of former University Librarian Dr. Edward B. Stanford.