BY KYLA MERWIN

The Community Library recently unveiled a captivating new foyer exhibit, “The Art of Correspondence,” showcasing handwritten letters, notes, and postcards, as well as books on etiquette dating back to 1885.

The exhibit celebrates the timeless power of the written word to carry declarations of love, offerings of comfort, news of triumph, and the ordinary details of daily life. Selected from the archives of the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History, these historic missives are suspended in mid-air, appearing to float through time and space.

Handwritten letters have connected humanity for centuries. Through this collection, visitors encounter voices preserved not only by their words, but by the physical traces of the hands that wrote them. The unique slant of the script, a rushed postscript, or a smudge of ink carries the distinct essence of the writer long after the moment has passed.

"Here at The Community Library, we have witnessed many hundreds of local readers be enthralled by the new novel “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans, and the novel has prompted us to think more about the art and tradition of writing letters,” said The Library’s Executive Director Jenny Emery Davidson.

“Each of the letters in the exhibit from the Library's archive offer quietly meaningful insights into the lives of the individual correspondents, and perhaps they'll prompt each of us to think about letters we have received, or written, or might yet write—even in this age of texts and emails and snapchat. What if we took a pen in hand and wrote a letter?"

Featured Highlights from the Archive:

• George Blackmon’s Letter and Mining Map to a Prospective Buyer, April 14, 1923: The exhibit also features a 1923 letter and hand-drawn map from George Blackmon—the first Black settler in the Wood River Valley—detailing his Washington Basin miningclaims.

A Voice from the Blitz, November 11, 1940: Written on Armistice Day from Southampton, England, a husband and father writes to friends across the Atlantic. He moves deftly between the hardships of war—describing U-boats sinking Allied ships and families hunkering in bomb shelters while "the ground shook"—and the normalcy of teaching ABCs. He ends with a resilient voice of optimism and a postscript noting that last letter he received from his friends did not appear to have been censored, revealing the dynamics of communication in wartime.

• Letter from Isabel (Belle) Pound to her “Dear Mama,” May 22, 1885: A 25-year-old Isabel (Belle) Pound writes to her mother while pregnant with her son, Ezra, who would become an influential American poet. Traveling across the Camas Prairie, Isabel describes the stunning landscapes, unsettled weather, and the making of tournures (bustles). She also shares a charming affection for her yellow kitten, adding, though, that it doesn’t quite "fill the aching void." She adds a quiet note of heartbreak, “I want a yellow dog.”

Visitors will also find a 1930s postcard from Jim Knipe, manager of Sun Valley’s Challenger Inn, and a 1990s note from Clara Spiegel, one of the Library’s seventeen founding women, written to Angela and Jack Hemingway.

To deepen the experience, transcripts of the letters are available for visitors to take home. Additionally, the library's adult and youth librarians have curated a special collection of books featuring the published letters of noteworthy figures, including Edward Abbey, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, Agatha Christie, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Ultimately, "The Art of Correspondence" demonstrates how human beings use letters to be seen, remembered, and understood. In a modern landscape dominated by emails, text messages, and digital posts, the exhibit poses a poignant question: What does it mean to connect today?

"For children today, the letters might be curious novelties—like a manual typewriter or a rotary phone,” said Davidson. “For others, they might be nostalgic. I hope that for everyone, the letters invite us to think about how we connect with the people with whom we share affection.”

“The Art of Correspondence” will be available for viewing through December 2026.