How the National Archives Helped Me Rediscover My Childhood Correspondence with President Ford

In July 2010, I was the History Content Scholar for a teacher workshop run by the Bill of Rights Institute in Arlington, Virginia.  I accompanied the teachers for a program at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  In addition to viewing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in the Rotunda, we participated in a hands-on activity helping a fictitious White House staffer, “Bob Tuse,” demonstrate “the Constitution in action” with documents from the Archives collections.  The Archives’ Education Specialist showed us a letter from three teenage women in Montana begging President Eisenhower not to let the military cut Elvis Presley’s sideburns.  The “Elvis Letter” reminded me that when I was ten years old, in 1976, I wrote a letter to President Ford, and received back a very nice reply.  When I got home to Pennsylvania, I rummaged through some old papers, found the original signed letter I received from President Ford, framed it, and proudly hung it on my wall.  Then I began to wonder: What had I written in my letter to President Ford thirty-six years ago?  I could not remember.  Did my letter to President Ford still exist?  Could it be found somewhere in the National Archives?  Could I get a hold of it?  Immediately I visited the website of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan and found the email address of an archivist.  I sent a message explaining that in March 1976, I sent a letter to President Ford, and received a letter in return.  Did the Ford Library have a copy of my original letter to the President?  Within hours I received a reply from archivist William McNitt, stating that he had located my letter to Ford, and that he would be happy to mail me a copy of it.  When the letter arrived, I read with great excitement what I had written to the President thirty-six years earlier, and saw what my handwriting looked like at age ten.  I framed the copy of my letter to Ford, and it now hangs next to Ford’s original letter to me.  I am proud that my correspondence is part of the Ford Papers, and am grateful to the National Archives for locating the letter for me.

by Stuart Leibiger

National Archives Note: Learn more about the Constitution-in-Action Lab in the Boeing Learning Center at the National Archives, Washington, DC

Bonnie Medford Found It in the National Archives!

When we began to research my husband’s maternal grandmother, Emma Jelf, the only information we had for her was the fact that she grew up in an orphanage and a Civil War story Emma told about her father, Isaac Jelf.  Due to the fact that Emma was an orphan, we thought that it was important to trace and document her family.  During the next three years, while researching other lines, we continued to search for additional information about Emma, but got nowhere.

While attending a workshop on how to search Military Records at the National Archives in Laguna Niguel, California, the presenter helped me locate a Civil War pension file, for Isaac.  This was just before the rates for pension files increased, and I call this my “$10 Gold Mine”.  The file was twenty-four pages of family information and documentation, some of it in Isaac’s own words.  In addition to his military records and details of his illness, the file contained the date and place of marriage for Isaac and Martha Elizabeth Philips.  A statement was given by Martha’s mother, Margery Philips, confirming their marriage.  Martha’s father, William Philips was mentioned. There was a statement from Isaac documenting the names and birth dates of his four children.  Isaac’s date of death was included, as well as Martha’s.  They died less than three weeks apart.  We requested a copy of their marriage record from the county clerk, which gave the names of their parents.  We now knew that Isaac’s parents were William Jelf and Isabella VanWye. 

Several pages documented the placement of Emma and her older sisters Margery Isabella and Ella and younger brother Clyde in the Soldiers’ and Sailors‘  Children’s Home in Normal, McLean County, Illinois.  We were able to obtain a copy of the admission record to the children’s home, which gave us additional information, including the date they were admitted and when they left the home.

Using the information found in the Civil War file we were able to trace Emma’s family back six generations to the early 1700’s.  We may have eventually traced the family without the file, but it gave us a solid foundation to build on.

by Bonnie Medford