To The Letter S2 E13: Mustering Out

We’ve come to the end of Season 2! We’re wrapping up with a little bit more about John’s life in service and what he did after the war.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

The letter featured in Episode 13 is available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, June 13, 1865

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Additional research for this episode:

• “I Hope To Do My Country Service”

Thank you so much for listening! Interested in more seasons? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E12: The End of the War

It takes a long time for the Civil War to be officially over in every state and territory. In this episode we take a look at how the end of the war actually came about.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 12 are available in full below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 15, 1865

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, April 9, 1865

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, April 17, 1865

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, April 6, 1865

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Additional research for this episode:

• Ending the Bloodshed: The Last Surrenders of the Civil War
• The Gentleman’s Agreement that Ended the Civil War
• Why the Civil War Actually Ended 16 Months After Lee Surrendered

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E11: U.S. Sanitary Commission

Once again we’re talking about medical needs during the Civil War. This time, we investigate what the U.S. Sanitary Commission was all about.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 11 are available in full below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, July 30, 1864

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 12, 1865

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Additional research for this episode:

• Olmsted and the Civil War
• Rules for preserving the health of the soldier

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E10: Black Soldiers in the Army

In this episode we’re talking about the roles of Black men and women in the military during the Civil War.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in this episode are available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Apr. 12, 1864

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, February 25, 1865

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 3, 1865

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Additional research for this episode:

• Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War
• African-American Soldiers During the Civil War
• Black Civil War Soldiers
• African-Americans in the Civil War
• African Americans in the Civil War
• The United States Colored Troops
• Black Dispatches: Black American Contributions to Union Intelligence during the Civil War

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E9: Vote for President!

Episode 9 is all about the election of 1864, in which only 25 states participated!

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

The letter featured in Episode 9 is available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Dec. 27, 1863

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Additional research for this episode:

• The Election of 1864
• A Different Kind of Election
• Lincoln reelected

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E8: It’s So Rare We Get Any Mail Here

We couldn’t resist talking about how the mail system worked! While delays in communication were a common theme in Season 1, John hasn’t talked too much about the mail yet. In Episode 8, we take a look at how letters were delivered, especially as troops moved into enemy territory.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 8 are available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Nov. 8th, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Dec. 3, 1863

(Notice in the December letter that John wrote in both directions to conserve paper!)

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Additional research for this episode:

• Mail Service and the Civil War
• Joseph Briggs and the Free City Delivery
• The United States Post Office Domestic Postal Money Order System in the 19th Century
• Civil War Letters
• Railway Mail Service
• Neither snow nor rain nor secession? Mail delivery and the experience of disunion in 1861
• Postal Service during the Civil War

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E7: Bushwhacking

This episode explains “Bushwhackers” and “Jayhawks”. Bushwhackers was the term given to pro-Confederate secessionist guerillas of Missouri, in particular, but was also applied to other guerilla fighters in Kentucky, Tennessee, northern Virginia, and even California. Jayhawks, in contrast, were pro-Union guerilla fighters.

Several famous outlaws in the West got their start as bushwhackers, including Frank and Jesse James.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in the episode are available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, July 21, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Oct. 27, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 3, 1864

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 10, 1864

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Additional research for this episode:

• 6 Civil War Guerilla Leaders
• Bushwhackers and Jayhawks
• Bushwhackers

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E6: The Invalid Corps

In this episode we delve into the aftermath of Civil War medicine. What happened to soldiers wounded in action?

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in this episode are available in full below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, July 5, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, May 19, 1863

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Additional research for this episode:

• Minie Ball
• The Wounded
• Invalid Corps
• From “Invalid Corps” to full active duty: America’s disabled soldiers return to war
• Veterans Reserve Corps

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E5: Prisoner of War

In today’s episode we discuss the capture of the 19th Michigan Infantry by Confederate troops near Brentwood, Tennessee and how prisoners of war were treated during the Civil War.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 5 are available in full below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 28, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, April 26, 1863

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Additional research for this episode:

• Civil War Fact: The Prison Camps Were Total Hell
• Andersonville Prison
• History of the Andersonville Prison
• Union Civil War Prison Camp an All-but-Forgotten Relic of Brutality
• Civil War Prison Camps
• Inside Andersonville Prison, The Civil War’s Most Brutal POW Camp
• ‘We did this to ourselves’: Death and despair at Civil War prisons

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E4: Sisters of Charity

In Episode 4, we continue to talk about medical treatment during the Civil War – particularly the role that women in religious organizations played. The Sisters of Charity, Daughters of Charity, Sisters of the Holy Cross, and Sisters of St. Joseph all provided volunteer nurses.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them.

The letter featured in Episode 4 is available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, January 17, 1863

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Additional research for this episode came from:

• Women in the Civil War
• The Sisters of Charity: The ‘Battlefield Angels’ of the Civil War
• Sisters of Charity: Nuns, Medicine, and the Civil War

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E3: Sawbones

Episode 3 is all about Civil War medicine – which is a huge topic! John was one of many Civil War surgeons, but one of few that had prior medical training.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 3 are available below in full:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, November 9th, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, November 30, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Dec. 28, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, February 7, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 18, 1863

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Additional research for this episode:

• Wounds, Ammunition, and Amputation
• Civil War Battlefield Surgery
• Civil War Medicine
• Civil War Medical Practice
• Medical and surgical care during the American Civil War, 1861–1865

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E2: Always Be Prepared

In Episode 2 we’re getting into what military camps looked like during the Civil War and how John got involved in the war. He enlists as an assistant surgeon in 1862 with the 19th Michigan Infantry.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 2 are available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, August 21, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, October 23, 1862

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Additional research for this episode:

• The Drought that Changed the War
• Soldier’s Food During the Civil War
• If the Civil War Didn’t Kill You, The Food Might

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

To The Letter S2 E1: An Introduction

We’re so pleased to bring you Season Two of To The Letter!

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them.

This season, we’re discussing the letters of John Bennitt, a Civil War surgeon from Michigan. Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at GVSU.

Letters featured in Episode 1 are available below:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife, Charlotte “Lottie”, Dec. 1861

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Aug. 21, 1862

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For more information about John Bennitt, or if you are interested in reading all of these letters in their entirety, our Curator of Rare Books & Distinguished Collections, Robert Beasecker, edited a book called “I Hope to Do My Country Service” that contains all of the letters, with additional footnotes. It is available through Wayne State University Press.

Questions? Comments? Tell us what you think! Contact Leigh at rupinskl@gvsu.edu or leave a review on iTunes or Spotify!

To the Letter Episode 15: The End

Well this is it! The big finale. After enlisting in 1941, Joe has made it all the way to 1946…and is still writing to Agnes. ❤

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Digital Studio. Joe Olexa was voiced by Kevin McCasland.

The final letter featured in Episode 15 is available below:

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We have really enjoyed getting to share Joe and Agnes’ story with you through this podcast. Are you interested in learning more about the Veteran’s History Project? Visit https://www.loc.gov/vets/. Have questions or comments about this week’s episode or the podcast in general? Send them to rupinskl@gvsu.edu. Want to see the Olexa Letters in person? Visit GVSU Special Collections & University Archives at Seidman House, Allendale, MI.

Thank you so much for listening!

-Leigh & Jackie

To The Letter Episode 14: Concentration Camps

Although Joe may not have been directly involved in the liberation of any concentration camps, he certainly knew what was going on and talked with survivors. This episode we’re talking about the Holocaust.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Digital Studio. Joe Olexa was voiced by Kevin McCasland and Agnes Van Der Weide was played by Tracy Cook.

Letters featured in Episode 14 are available below:

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Letter from Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, May 4, 1945

 

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Letter from Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, May 31, 1945

There is a lot more to be said on this topic than we had time for – if you’re interested, we highly recommend checking out the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The BBC History article mentioned in the episode is also worth reading. Have questions or comments about this week’s episode? Send them to rupinskl@gvsu.edu. Happy listening!