Dead Letter Office Images: The Civil War’s Lost Sentiments

During the Civil War years, hundreds of thousands of soldiers wrote letters home, many containing card-sized photos of themself. By the end of the conflict, thousands of letters and images remained undelivered at the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C. For decades after the war, the employees of the Dead Letter Office went to extraordinary efforts to return these images to a rightful recipient. Melissa Winn shares photos from her collection of Dead Letter Office images and tell the touching story of these interrupted sentiments and the noble efforts by many to send them home.

Melissa A. Winn is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Previously, she was the Marketing Manager for the American Battlefield Trust and Director of Photography for HistoryNet, publisher of nine history-related magazines, including America’s Civil War, American History, and Civil War Times. Melissa is a Senior Editor for Military Images magazine, with a regular column focused on women and the Civil War. She is the editor of Shavings  and The Chronicle, the member newsletter and magazine of the Early American Industries Association, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Civil War Roundtable Congress and the Manassas Battlefield Trust; and serves as President of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table.

Melissa is a member of the Professional Photographers Association, Authors Guild, Women’s Relief Corps, and the Center for Civil War Photography. She collects Civil War photographs and ephemera, with an emphasis on Dead Letter Office images and Union General John A. Rawlins, chief of staff to General Ulysses S. Grant.