Letters Sent
setName: label: See more items in
content: Records of the Education Division of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1871
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAAHC.FB.M803, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The 8 volumes of letters sent contain copies of the letters dispatched by Reverend Alvord or by a subordinate acting for him. There are a few copies with General Howard's signature. The letters are either fair or press copies, illustrating two distinctive record keeping practices of the mid–19th century. The press copies were obtained by wetting a piece of thin paper and pressing it on the original letter through the use of a press–copying machine, which caused the ink to be transferred to the moistened paper. Because of the relative crudeness of this method, many of the press copies are difficult to read and some are virtually illegible. The fair copies are handwritten duplicates of the press copies and are clear and easy to read. Because fair copies were not made of all the letters, the press copies also have been reproduced in this microfilm publication. 

The fair–copy letters are in volumes 1 (8) and 2 (10), January 1, 1866–January 1, 1868. Also included are lengthy narrative reports submitted to the Commissioner by Reverend Alvord. The letters and the reports are arranged in chronological order but the reports, which are only in the fair–copy volumes, were prepared at 6–month intervals. The first document in volume 1 is a report on freedmen's schools, dated January 1, 1866, submitted by Reverend Alvord at the conclusion of a 3–month inspection trip in late 1865. The next document is dated July 1, 1866. A name index to volume 1 is bound at the beginning of the volume. 

Each letter in the fair–copy volumes is duplicated in the press–copy books. Beginning October 10, 1866, this duplication is indicated in the fair–copy volumes by a designation such as "P L B 'A' 162," which appears in the lower left corner of the copies. "P L B" means, "press letter book" and " 'A' 162" indicates the duplicate is on page 162 of volume A. 

The press–copy letters are in volumes A – F (11 – 16), July 18, 1866–March 3, 1871. The copies are arranged in chronological order. At the beginning of each volume is a name index.