Joe and Agnes’ story continues in Episode 8, where we delve into injuries sustained  and awards given to soldiers during combat. 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 … Continue reading To The Letter Episode 8: Wounds Received in Action

There's big news in today's episode!

In Episode 6 we’re going to dive into one past time that’s been popular for years – going to the movies! Some truly notable films came out of this period, and many revolved around current events. To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies … Continue reading To The Letter Episode 6: Going to the Movies

We're back with Episode 5 of "To The Letter", a podcast from Grand Valley State University's Special Collections & University Archives. This week's episode is all about morale and the USO.

Episode 4 is here! In this episode, we take a step away from Joe and Agnes' story to meet one of Agnes' friends, Alice Gelisle. This is the only letter we have from Alice, but we felt it was so packed with good information we didn't want to miss it! In her letter, Alice discusses all the facets of her life--working in a factory, playing basketball, rationing, fashion, and going to dances. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries, Professor Len O’Kelly, and a few talented GVSU Communications students. Alice Gelisle was voiced by student --. Special thanks to Marcia Lee for joining us!

Episode 3 is all about reading other people's mail. Many thanks to Lynn Heidelbaugh, a curator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, for speaking to us about the logistics of the postal system in WWII. Lynn is incredibly knowledgeable about all the complexities of how mail and packages traveled overseas, how censorship worked, and the development of Victory mail, or "V-mail".

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries, Professor Len O’Kelly, and a few talented GVSU Communications students. Joe Olexa is voiced by student Logan Church.

In this episode, we take a trip through 1942 to dive into the developing relationship between Joe Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide. 

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries, Professor Len O’Kelly, and a few talented GVSU Communications students. 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. Special thanks to Archivist for Collection Management, Annie Benefiel, who makes a guest appearance to explain how we got these letters, what we're doing to preserve them, and strategies to preserve your own family letters!

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries, Professor Len O'Kelly, and a few talented GVSU Communications students. 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.