Chapman University Center for American War Letters Foundations Grant Proposal

FAIN: PW-228297-15

Chapman University (Orange, CA 92866-1011)
Doug R. Dechow (Project Director: July 2014 to July 2017)

A pilot project to digitize a group of 2,000 letters written by American military servicemen and women as a prelude to digitizing the complete collection of 90,000 war letters. The project would also entail preliminary arrangement and description of the collection.

Chapman University acquired author/historian Andrew Carroll’s unique collection of more than 90,000 war letters. Beginning with the American Revolutionary War and continuing through present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, these letters are a vital record of the collective memory of the American people, as witnessed by servicemen/women, and their loved ones. Through the Center for American War Letters (CAWL) this project will enable Chapman to develop a digital archiving plan to provide educators, veterans, historians and scholars access to these primary source materials as to provide a deeper insight into the national experience portrayed in the letters.