The 4000 letters in this collection center on Gordon T. Kinder (1919-2009) and Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (1922-88). Both had Ohio roots dating to the 1790s: Gordon in Belmont County along the Ohio River and in Warren and Putnam Counties along the Indiana border, and Cary in Summit and Cuyahoga Counties around Cleveland.
The letters begin in 1941 with Gordon’s graduation from university and his commissioning as an Army artillery officer and with Cary’s second year of college. They take the reader through their meeting in 1942; courtship against the backdrop of war; marriage in 1943; training for the invasion; six months in England; ten months of combat in France, Germany and Austria; and seven months in an Army of occupation.
Both were prodigious letter-writers, as were their families who wrote them regularly. Most letters run more than 600 words.
On the homefront, the Ohio River floods; travel and communication suffer the war’s burdens; childhood diseases come in waves; difficult pregnancies don’t end well; the businesses of law, light manufacturing and coal continue; family gatherings continue but with less and less meat and butter; the casualties mount; and, suddenly, the dreams of peace meet harsh realities.
For the compiler, Gordon & Cary’s oldest son, Peter, reading these letters was like renewing conversations with people long dead. For the most part, the letters read as their writers spoke. Their sensibilities bring back to life family dynamics experienced in the 1950s.
Filters
DATE: 04/18/1943
SENDER: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) SEND LOCATION: Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
RECIPIENT: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Kington, Herefordshire, England
SUMMARY:
Lost her voice, making telephoning hard. Logistics of wedding announcement in newspapers. Great affection for MKP and her wedding efforts. MKP very reassuring about CDK’s reaction to wedding. First really spring day, and she sunbathes. Vassar sophmores hosting male friends. Love letter.
DATE: 04/19/1943
SENDER: George D. Kinder (GeoDK) SEND LOCATION: Cleveland, OH
RECIPIENT: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
SUMMARY:
Congratulations on engagement. Helen Potter Stuckey (HPS) in Cleveland. GeoDK and HPS hit it off due to affection for Bourbon and plain water.
DATE: 05/17/1943
SENDER: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) SEND LOCATION: Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
RECIPIENT: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Ft. Sill, Lawton, OK
SUMMARY:
Listening to Princeton’s Nassoons, fantasising about Princeton with GTK. Planning honeymoon. Cooperstown? Much planning not happening. Love letter.
DATE: 06/14/1943
SENDER: Lawrence K. Pickett Sr. SEND LOCATION: Cooperstown, NY
RECIPIENT: Gordon Thomas Kinder, Jr. (GTK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Ft. Sill, Lawton, OK
SUMMARY:
Rejected by Army because of asthma & hay fever [PDK: from both of which, GTK suffered all his life]. Awkward being civilian at Yale when everyone’s in uniform. Starts medical school 6/25. Wished Army was paying for his medical school. Needs information on what groomsmen will wear. In Cooperstown, getting Hyde Bay Camp ready to open. Big demand for spots, first waiting list ever. But no experienced counsellors, so having to train them.
DATE: 06/29/1943
SENDER: Margaret Kinder Paull (Peggy) (MKP) SEND LOCATION: Woodsdale, Wheeling, WV
RECIPIENT: Ann Cary Stuckey Kinder (CSK) RECIPIENT LOCATION: Gilman House, Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), Exeter, NH
SUMMARY:
Newspaper wedding announcements logistics. Liquor for the pre-wedding cocktail party, given Exeter, NH, was dry. thanks to the Stuckeys. GTK & CSK in Boston. Kinders arrive 3 July.