Finding Aid for the Fannie Mae Turner Collection
This collection mainly contains correspondence received by Fannie Mae from her family and friends. The correspondence begins when she is a teenager in the 1930s and continues throughout her life. She had lifelong correspondence with many family members, many which lived to be in their 90s. Other items in the collection include notecards and greeting cards that Fannie created. The cards were used by friends to write to Fannie Mae. Over the years Fannie Mae saved invitations to weddings, baby showers, anniversary parties, and class reunions. She kept birth announcements and funeral notices as well. A sampling of the numerous cards that was originally donated represent the types cards mailed to Fannie Mae and Buford. They include some cards given to Fannie Mae as a child in the 1920s as well as to her son, Jimmie, in the 1940s.
The letters not only provide important genealogical information about the family, but include information about the communities in Kansas and Missouri in which the families lived. The letters provide insight into the time in which the individuals lived. Fannie was born in 1918, a year where war and influenza, impacted the country. A 1918 Club was later started for anyone born in that year. Fannie’s correspondence from a friend includes information about that club in the area. The family corresponded through the Depression. Fannie received several “Prosperity Club” chain letters in 1935. This first chain letter encouraged recipients to copy send a dime, copy the letter and send it to five of their friends. The chain letters that year almost shut down post offices across the country. During World War II, Fannie received letters from family and friends serving in the military. One letter kept by Fannie was a letter from a family in her hometown notifying them that their son was missing and presumed dead. Later in life, Fannie received post cards from her family and friends as they traveled throughout the country and the world. As older generations passed away, younger generations of children and grandchildren continued sending letters to Fannie Mae.
Files
Reference
Jolene Clark, Archivist, Midwest Genealogy Center, Finding Aid for the Fannie Mae Turner Collection, Midwest Genealogy Center, Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, Missouri, 2020
Cite As
Jolene Clark, Archivist, Midwest Genealogy Center, “Finding Aid for the Fannie Mae Turner Collection,” Genealogy Gallery, accessed April 29, 2024, https://content.mymcpl.org/items/show/14323.
Title
Finding Aid for the Fannie Mae Turner Collection
Subject
Genealogy
Family history
Family history
Description
This collection mainly contains correspondence received by Fannie Mae from her family and friends. The correspondence begins when she is a teenager in the 1930s and continues throughout her life. She had lifelong correspondence with many family members, many which lived to be in their 90s. Other items in the collection include notecards and greeting cards that Fannie created. The cards were used by friends to write to Fannie Mae. Over the years Fannie Mae saved invitations to weddings, baby showers, anniversary parties, and class reunions. She kept birth announcements and funeral notices as well. A sampling of the numerous cards that was originally donated represent the types cards mailed to Fannie Mae and Buford. They include some cards given to Fannie Mae as a child in the 1920s as well as to her son, Jimmie, in the 1940s.
The letters not only provide important genealogical information about the family, but include information about the communities in Kansas and Missouri in which the families lived. The letters provide insight into the time in which the individuals lived. Fannie was born in 1918, a year where war and influenza, impacted the country. A 1918 Club was later started for anyone born in that year. Fannie’s correspondence from a friend includes information about that club in the area. The family corresponded through the Depression. Fannie received several “Prosperity Club” chain letters in 1935. This first chain letter encouraged recipients to copy send a dime, copy the letter and send it to five of their friends. The chain letters that year almost shut down post offices across the country. During World War II, Fannie received letters from family and friends serving in the military. One letter kept by Fannie was a letter from a family in her hometown notifying them that their son was missing and presumed dead. Later in life, Fannie received post cards from her family and friends as they traveled throughout the country and the world. As older generations passed away, younger generations of children and grandchildren continued sending letters to Fannie Mae.
The letters not only provide important genealogical information about the family, but include information about the communities in Kansas and Missouri in which the families lived. The letters provide insight into the time in which the individuals lived. Fannie was born in 1918, a year where war and influenza, impacted the country. A 1918 Club was later started for anyone born in that year. Fannie’s correspondence from a friend includes information about that club in the area. The family corresponded through the Depression. Fannie received several “Prosperity Club” chain letters in 1935. This first chain letter encouraged recipients to copy send a dime, copy the letter and send it to five of their friends. The chain letters that year almost shut down post offices across the country. During World War II, Fannie received letters from family and friends serving in the military. One letter kept by Fannie was a letter from a family in her hometown notifying them that their son was missing and presumed dead. Later in life, Fannie received post cards from her family and friends as they traveled throughout the country and the world. As older generations passed away, younger generations of children and grandchildren continued sending letters to Fannie Mae.
Creator
Jolene Clark, Archivist, Midwest Genealogy Center
Publisher
Midwest Genealogy Center, Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, Missouri
Date
2020
Rights
Format
Portable Document File Format; 559 KB; 5 pages.
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
fannie mae turner collection.pdf