A podcast from Grand Valley State University Special Collections and University Archives. This podcast brings archival correspondence 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.
Season 1: Letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide
Season 1 explores the story of Joe Olexa, a World War II U.S. Army soldier and his budding romance with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young girl living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The letters and other archival materials referenced in this season come from the Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93).
- Episode 1: An Introduction to the Letters
- Episode 2: Building a Relationship
- Episode 3: Reading Other People’s Mail
- Episode 4: An Interlude with Alice
- Episode 5: Raising Morale
- Episode 6: Going to the Movies
- Episode 7: Going to the Chapel (And They Are Gonna Get Married!)
- Episode 8: Wounds Received in Action
- Episode 9: We Will Always Have Paris
- Episode 10: Remembering the Bad Times
- Episode 11: Peace on Earth
- Episode 12: Wounded in Action
- Episode 13: Hurt Again at Hürtgen
- Episode 14: Concentration Camps
- Episode 15: The End
Season 2: Letters from John Bennitt, A Civil War Surgeon
Season 2 explores the letters Dr. John Bennitt sent home to wife Lottie. Bennitt served as a surgeon in the 19th Michigan Infantry. The letters referenced in this season come from the Correspondence and Diaries of Civil War surgeon, John Bennitt (RHC-43).
- Episode 1: An Introduction
- Episode 2: Always Be Prepared
- Episode 3: Sawbones
- Episode 4: Sisters of Charity
- Episode 5: Prisoner of War
- Episode 6: The Invalid Corps
- Episode 7: Bushwhacking
- Episode 8: It’s So Rare We Get Any Mail Here
- Episode 9: Vote for President!
- Episode 10: Black Soldiers in the Army
- Episode 11: U.S. Sanitary Commission
- Episode 12: The End of the War
- Episode 13: Mustering Out
GVSU Special Collections & University Archives 