By Arlene Holt Baker, Board Chair, Community Change
Like many of you of a certain generation my family kept keep sakes in the cedar chest (the place you stored family photos, letters and important papers before there was the cloud). Sheltering in place because of Covid-19 has moved me to open up the cedar chest and read handwritten letters that in my case dated back to the early 1900’s and others correspondence that documented my family’s journey.
I rediscovered letters and other correspondence that had been sent by my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, aunts and uncles, my siblings and me in neatly tied bundles. There were very few letters from my own children, except a few handwritten thank you notes they wrote to their late maternal grandmother that we discovered among letters and papers she had marked, “Important, do not throw out Arlene!”
Rediscovering my family’s handwritten treasures made me think of the men, and later women, of the United States Postal Service over the centuries who delivered these highly-anticipated letters. Many of the letters told of births, marriages, illnesses, deaths, divorces, hardships, wars, depression, jobs lost, jobs found, first train rides, first plane rides, first cars, courtships, higher education pursuits, discrimination, determination, faith and hope. Thanks to the USPS these letters were delivered to our families regardless of our race, our economic status or our geographical location.
This tour of my family history made me resolve to send handwritten letters to the younger generation in my family over the next several weeks, along with copies of some of the handwritten letters rediscovered in the cedar chest.
I will also send them a typewritten correspondence sent by an attorney to my maternal grandmother in response to her pending suit of $37,700 against the M.K.T Railroad after the death of her husband and son. The suit was filed after my grandfather and uncle were killed by a train in Waco, Texas that struck the truck my grandfather was the driver and my uncle was the passenger. A portion of the attorney’s letter reads, “that is, that juries do not always place a large price on the lives of negroes; in this connection, I submitted a case yesterday at Austin before the Commission of Appeals of the Supreme court, in which I recovered a judgment in the trial court for the death of a negro with a surviving wife and five children for $2765.00.”
My grandmother in the end settled for $3,500.
Then, as now, this country shows how we must fight relentlessly to change a system that does not value our lives. I will remind them that the struggle for fairness must continue and that they owe it to their generation and the next generation to get involved and stay involved in the movements for fairness, justice and equality. I will also strongly encourage them to make a commitment to vote – which remains our stronger course for change – and to encourage other family members, friends and neighbors to do the same. By voting, I will tell them, they can literally help save our democracy, right an unjust judicial system, help save lives and bring about a more just economy for all.
Enclosed with my letter will be a U.S. postage stamp for them – so they can respond to me with a handwritten letter or note by mail. I don’t want a text or an e-mail. Once received, I will add their handwritten letters, delivered by my letter carrier, to the other keepsakes, with the hope that one day another generation will open the cedar chest and be driven and inspired by the insight they will obtain among its findings.
Some things shouldn’t go by the wayside. Letters and parcels delivered by the USPS should continue to be a part of America’s rich history – and the letters and parcels that they deliver to our doors should remain the job of the United States Postal Service.