World War II Letters Collection at the First Congregational Church of Greenwich

World War II Letters Collection

at the First Congregational Church of Greenwich

by Pat Larrabee, Historian

The First Congregational Church of Greenwich

A recent rediscovery of some wonderful letters is now available to the public to honor our veterans on Memorial Day.  

The archives of The First Congregational Church of Greenwich contains 194 World War II era (1942 - mid 1944) letters that the church Historical Committee sorted and indexed in preparation for the church’s 350^th anniversary in 2015. 

These letters were from Greenwich service people to Mrs. Ethel Parry Fish, office Associate and former Youth Director at First Congregational Church in Old Greenwich.  

I have scanned them for easy access and indexed them by the letter writer’s name, rank, location/APO and date, along with a short summary.  I also scanned and retyped the 11 remaining monthly newsletters that Mrs. Fish mailed to about 500 service people from the whole town of Greenwich, no matter to what church they went. The newsletters and Index are searchable. 

In addition, there is a wonderful New York Times article from April 27, 2003 about Rev. Sally Colegrove saving these letters from the dumpster when they were cleaning out the attics of the church. It has some interesting perspectives and excerpts.

These newsletters and letters are a real treasure trove of town, church and personal history of births, marriages and deaths as well as news from the service people. Some letters are amusing, sometimes with hand-drawn cartoons, and some poignant. 

The service people wrote from all over the world, like India, New Guinea and “Somewhere in the Pacific”.  Every one of them thanked Mrs. Fish for her wonderful long newsletters. It meant so much to them to not only hear the news but to know that everyone at home was thinking about and praying for them.  

The church Youth Group collected Readers Digests and other books to mail to them, which the service people often passed around the barracks.

The paper letters will remain in the church archives, but the whole scanned collection is now available for the public. If anyone is a close relative of one of the letter writers and asks to have the original letter(s) from their relative, we will be glad to send it to them.

The Center for American War Letters Archives at Chapman University in California collects letters from service people from any war, so if you have a collection in your family archive or want to explore what Chapman University's collection contains, please contact them at the link.  I am sending the War Letter Archives a link to the collection so they can add them to their expanding archive.

LETTERS HOME A Webinar with Catherine Ladnier and Mary Owen

You're invited to Letters Home on Thursday, May 21, 2020. 

This Zoom-webinar is hosted by Greenwich Playwright Catherine Ladnier and Mary Owen, the daughter of legendary actress Donna Reed. 

Join Catherine and Mary as they share the letters received by their mothers World War II soldiers "over there." Actress Donna Reed was America's sweetheart. Eva Lee Brown, Catherine's mother, was the devoted sister of a brave soldier. 

Donna and Eva saved and treasured their letters. Both Catherine and Mary discovered their mother's letters, deciding that the news of "the boys over there" should be shared. 

Register in advance for this webinar here. 

This webinar is presented in partnership with the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center Foundation -telling the Army story one soldier at a time. 

A New Future for The Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show

Starting May 1, 2020 the Greenwich, A Town for All Seasons Show I created, own, produce and host will no longer air on Radio 1490 WGCH and WGCH.com per the decision of the station's owner. 

I ask you not to contact the station with angry phone calls or emails. This was strictly a business decision. 

When the inaugural broadcast of the Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show went live on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 it was an exciting time. We were on the eve of the re-opening of the re-imagined campus of the Greenwich Historical Society. There was an air of celebration as I am sure many of you fondly remember.

Radio 1490 WGCH and WGCH.com operates under a for-profit business model that substantially relies on advertising and sponsorship revenue to underwrite its costs. We were not able to bring the level of revenue necessary to fully cover the costs of producing and broadcasting the show every-other Wednesday morning after the 9:00 a.m. top-of-the-hour news. 

From the very beginning of the show's run in 2018 I wanted to expand the show to once a week and to one-hour. This is something many in the listening audience had wanted and hoped for. WGCH and I  were unable to designate a suitable expanded time slot, leaving the show airing only every-other week for a half-hour. 

Needless to say, we are living in exceptionally historic times. It is a time of disruption, surprise and change. Our history is replete with times and circumstances characterized by seismic change. 

With seismic change comes opportunity. With blessings comes challenges -and vice-versa. 

So, I have some good news.

The Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show will continue as an independent podcast available on the Internet. You can listen to all shows on Podcasts.com and SoundCloud Year 2018, Year 2019 and Year 2020. We welcome your support through the show's GoFundMe campaign. 

This provides an opportunity to expand the show to one hour, and for the show to be released on a different day and time. By going this route our audience members will be able to tune-in when they want to and from anywhere they want to online. 

This is just a beginning. 

There are more exciting changes in store. You'll hear from me from time to time as developments continue to unfold. 

I want to thank the staff and management of Radio 1490 WGCH and WGCH.com for providing me with the opportunity to make this show possible. We proved that a program focusing on the history and culture of Greenwich, Connecticut would be welcomed by the community. 

Is it possible that the Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show will return to WGCH? You never know. Let's see what the future brings. 

Spread the word! The Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show is here to stay. 

You are a part of Greenwich's history and you are welcomed to be a part of this program. I welcome your support as we embark on a new path and new avenues. There are many stories yet to be told about Greenwich's history. They will be told here. I also look forward to continued collaboration and partnerships with our local historical and cultural institutions. 

Thank you for your continued support, loyalty and interest. Stay in touch. Stay safe, smile and be well always. 

-- 

Best,

Jeffrey Bingham Mead

Host, Historian and Producer

The Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show