Receiving the 2011 J. Michael Miller History Award from the Alexandria Historical Society

Pictured, from left to right, Vola Lawson, Jim Mackay, Barb Winters, Anne Paul

Barb's Banter

My son has been bugging me to bring my blog up-to-date so I'd better do so. In April I had a delightful time with the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). They were very attentive during my presentation, laughed at the right times and bought quite a few books. They also got the autograph of Rita Holtz, a member and the one to whom my book is dedicated. . . Next up was a talk at a retirement home which registered zero in the book sales department. . . Then came the hilite of the month - the Alexandria Historical Society Michael Miller History Award for 2011. With it came a framed declaration of a lot of Whereases, signed by the mayor, and a beautiful round, fluted 13" silver tray engraved with my name. . . I have another presentation next week and Alexandria is going to start their sesquicentennial commemoration on May 21st, at which time I shall be back at UDC. Then I'm planning to branch out to libraries thruout VA to acquaint others with Letters to Virginia and to learn more history about my adopted state.

More from readers: Diane, an author, wrote "I loved your book. It reads like a novel with characters who engage us because we virtually hear their voices - the 'drummer' Jack, as wrongheaded as he is vulnerable, the flighty young Nancy etc. Your narration sets exactly the right tone, not so much the cold all-seeing narrator as the sympathetic listener, writing from the vantage point of the future, setting the historic scene and then, with a touch of suspense and even humor, stepping back." . . .Rita prefers to savor the book. "I'm about half way through your book - into the Fendalls. I cannot read this book fast - I'm afraid I will miss something. It is sooooo interesting." . . . Dawn likes the way "you fill in the information about the battles that Towny writes about." . . . Converse found "Following the lives of three prominent families during the turbulent years of the 1800s was a compelling and enjoyable read."

reviews

Elly, from San Francisco, says: "It is real class. The content is fascinating history and easy to read while being so erudite." René of Arizona, adds: "I think your book is most unusual, very interesting and quite understandable." Ellen, in Alexandria, wrote: "The primary source material is so wonderful and you have done such a great job putting it into context."

Voices from the Past - article from the Alexandria Gazette

Voices from the Past

Uncovering three generations of Alexandria families, one letter at a time.

By Michael Lee Pope

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

When she was confronted with six boxes of old letters, author Barb Winters knew she had a good story. She could smell it. There, in the handwritten script from three generations of Alexandria families was every bit of drama a storyteller could hope to craft — love, larceny, triumph and tragedy. Now that story is finally available in her new book, "Letters to Virginia," published by Acclaim press and available for $24.95.

"I feel like I know these people," said Winters after the official book launch last weekend at the Burke Library. "I certainly spent enough time with them."

It all began in 2000, when a descendant of the family arrived at the Local History Special Collections Department of the Barrett Library with boxes and boxes of handwritten letters. Winters was a library assistant at the time, and she volunteered to sort the letters and see what was there — essentially an effort to see if these letters were worth keeping. The conclusion, it didn’t take long to figure out, was that these old letters were not only worth keeping, there was something special here. She spent the next three years sifting through the letters and writing her book.

"I often think of the inspiration of true love, writing as I do a love letter about every day," Jack Tackett writes to his wife in 1902. "I fear some times that the material will exhaust but no, each day brings some thought that is new and the stream goes on just as the mountain torrent and yet changing its ripples with the passing days."

The letters read like an epic story of love and loss, devotion and betrayal. In the Victorian prose of the era, the generations struggle through hopes and fears, revealing an Alexandria long forgotten by the modern mind. There’s the heart-rending letter describing the death of Carrie Eaches, written by a grieving husband. There’s the plodding sense of determination family members adopted during the Union occupation. There’s even a carefully orchestrated swindle in which Will Fendall systematically stole his sister’s savings and inheritance.

"As usual that scoundrel has presented a pack of lies," Ben Fendall writes to his sister in 1921 about their brother’s scheme. "When you get down to real facts, your money has been taken from you by a trick."The pages of "Letters to Virginia" include descriptions of a prisoner of war camp and describe the construction of a railroad. Some are steamy romantic letters while other outline the course of war and disease.

Winters concludes the book with an observation that modern people no longer collect correspondence in a way that would make a project like this possible for future generations, allowing the story of the past to be told in a series gripping first-person accounts."Our inventions and gadgets wear out before we do," she writes at the end of the book, "and instead of passing on our history, thoughts, and feelings — as these families did — we pass on pollution and landfills."

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The article appears here.