What is the best way to preserve old family letters?

User15722025107965608645 · September 1, 2020

I recently inherited dozens and dozens (and dozens) of my great grandmothers letters and have discovered correspondence she kept that dates back to 1860s. I need to digitize them and somehow preserve as a couple letters are in more than one piece. I'd like to be able to read them with the pieces lined up but don't know the best way to do that without harming the paper. Ideas?

Dennis J Yancey · September 1, 2020

see:

http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/familysearch.htm

http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/scanner.htm

Do you have a scanner?

LegacyUser · September 1, 2020

At one time when I was young, I had the opportunity to take a collection of letters home that belonged to my great grandmother. I was young and thought that these letters would always be available. I was uncomfortable taking them home while my great grandmother was still alive. (I think that her granddaughter was willing to give them away.) There were other items that my great grandmother offered me, like her wedding ring and some photos. Do you know how much I kick myself for not taking these? It seemed wrong to take her treasures while she was alive. I now realize that I would have preserved them and that opportunity is gone. I should have taken what she offered and asked permission to take the other items.

I have a few letters that are in the acid free archive type see thru sleeves. I have these in book form. My goal will be to digitize all of these and make them available to other family members.

There are some amazing scanners in the Brigham Young University Family History Library. I can scan stacks of photos or documents by putting the pile on the scanner and they scan to my flash drive in seconds. Then I can upload them to memories or sort the items chronologically to make a book.

Dennis J Yancey · September 1, 2020

This is a collection of family correspondence and research that I had scanned:

http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/adam_yancey_letter_collection.htm

I realize there is a strong desire to "pretty things up" and format things nicely, and transcribe and edit

and there is nothing at all wrong with that. But all too often - people wait till that is in process or done before they scan items. It really should be the reverse. You should scan items as early on as you can

then you know things are archived. Then , from those digital records you can go above and beyond (with time) to create some nicely formatted documents/reports/book that you can share.

too many people wait until things are organized perfectly before they scan - waiting so long until they are six feet under - and the stuff gets thrown out in the garbage upon estate settlement.

User15722025107965608645 · September 1, 2020

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to answer my questions. Carolyn, thanks for the advice. I'm definitely taking advantage of this opportunity. My plan is to scan all the letters and then make them available to my family. I don't have a scanner right now but am thinking about getting one. The problem is that I live in Manhattan so space is limited and I'd prefer to use a scanner like Carolyn described at BYU. I was in Utah just a couple weeks ago but couldn't use the SLC or Layton Family History Centers because they were closed due to covid-19. I brought the letters with me to New York but the FH Center here at the Manhattan Temple is also closed and the missionaries have even been released and gone home. I'm doing some preliminary research to see if a historical society offers these services to the public but I'm not hopeful I'll find something open as things are more strict here in NYC regarding the pandemic. Perhaps when I visit Utah again I'll set aside some time to visit BYU (if the center is open).

I do plan to preserve the original letters in archival plastic sheeting. I've read that this is best because when letters stay in their envelopes they weaken where they are folded. This has definitely happened to the letters from the 1800s. A couple are in four pieces, separated along the folds. My concern is that if I just place the pieces of the letters in a plastic sleeve, is that enough? Won't they slide around and perhaps crumple? I suppose if the plastic is stiff enough they won't get bent, but I can imagine someone looking at them in the book and the pieces being shifted and wearing over time. Perhaps there is enough static to keep them in place. I keep thinking I need to stabilize them somehow. Thoughts?