LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Civil War Grand Format Auction #663  / 

74435

Superb Correspondence by Helen Dortch Longstreet

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Superb Correspondence by Helen Dortch Longstreet
<B>Superb Correspondence by Helen Dortch Longstreet, Widow of Confederate General James Longstreet.</B></I> Over 130 typed letters signed, documents signed, copies of typed manuscripts, and retained copies of letters on various letterheads including Longstreet Memorial Association stationery, all addressed to historian Carl W. Breihan, spanning the years 1945-1949. All good content, including her efforts to build a memorial to honor her husband James on the field of Gettysburg as well as a run for office and various other public service campaigns. In small part; "<I>October 19th, 1945... after two years in a war production plant, I do not find it easy to reconvert my activities to normal living... Be assured of my deep appreciation of your interest in the proposed Longstreet monument on the Gettysburg field... If we could formulate a plan for securing $2 contributions from about 150,000, that would supply the monument fund and an additional amount to cover the expenses of unveiling... October 29th, 1945... The raising of funds for the Longstreet Monument is a difficult problem. General Longstreet has been dead forty-one years and the rank and file of the present generations know nothing about him. His Republican politics caused the Solid South to rise in arms against him in the reconstruction period and make the infamous charge that he disobeyed Lee's orders at Gettysburg and lost the Confederate cause. The Daughters of the Confederacy and Southern writers, have kept alive the shameless slander; so no help can be had from them. The old Confederate veterans who organized the Longstreet Memorial Association could not give it one dollar of support. The movement has been financed by me... and just as we were about ready to launch a drive for funds, the world war interrupted and all our efforts had to be devoted to winning the war... February 27th, 1946... A friend of mine has suggested that it would be a good plan for me to make personal calls on millionaires and multi-millionaires throughout the country... Assuming that three men who would contribute $3,000 each could be interested in each of the forty-eight States, that would create a fund for the Longstreet monument, a bust of Longstreet in the Hall of Fame of the New York University, and a Longstreet Chair of History in some outstanding educational institution. These honors are long overdue to make amends for the cruel slander of Longstreet's honor as a soldier, that has been viciously circulated since 1872, following Pendleton's lying lecture over the South... June 4, 1946... Under separate cover I send you a picture and eleven pamphlets, SURE ROAD to WORLD PEACE. One of the pamphlets is inscribed to you. If you could sell the other ten for 25cts each, and send me the addresses of the purchasers, it would enable me to test a plan I have for selling pamphlets of a different subject, for the benefit of the Longstreet monument... in response to an inquiry made by the Better Business Bureau, she writes on July 17, 1947 ... Inasmuch as the work of the Longstreet memorial association has been in a State of suspension since the breaking out of World War II, the inquiries now being made regarding the reliability of the Association are puzzling. If the inquiries (as I suspect) were initiated by Joseph D. Smith, of Tuckerton, N.J., they are not worth of attention. Mr. Smith was named as Publicity Director for the Association for the State of New Jersey. Within the past weeks, acting without authority, he constructed himself a One Man Committee to build a monument to Gen. Longstreet on the Gettysburg field... After considerable work along this line Smith finally wrote to Mr. Coleman, Gettysburg Battle Park Commissioner, and later, to me. Mr. Coleman advised Mr. Smith that he would not be permitted to erect anything on the Longstreet Monument site that had not been approved by me... Smith's conduct has been most unusual and unworthy of a man of the highest integrity. Mr. Coleman concurs with me that Smith's methods for raising money are to be watched. If he is collecting funds for the Association, or pretending to act for the Association, he is without authority... Sept. 10, 1947... Everybody's mail is burdened with appeals for funds to rebuild Europe, of which our own guns made a shamble; --- to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and relieve the disabled of the war lands. Never before in the history of warfare have the victors been called upon to take care of the conquered... I am beginning to wonder who won the war. The heavy burden now and for a thousand years to come, will fall on the American tax payer. Former President Hoover has very truthfully called attention to the fact that there will be an end to the ability of our United States to support the world...</B></I>" Much more good content regarding all of her efforts. Also includes re-printed photos of a portrait of her, an engraving of Longstreet, a group photo taken at a Gettysburg reunion (including Longstreet), and a small snapshot of Mrs. Longstreet taken in 1949 and signed on the verso. Should be viewed as the content is quite extensive and in-depth.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Miscellaneous Collectibles, Smal (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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