‘Lifelines: Letters from Home, Letters from the Front’

WATERBURY — The Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center will present the 2007 Frederick G. Mason Lecture on Thursday, November 1, at 4 pm. This year’s program, entitled “Lifelines: Letters from Home, Letters from the Front,” will feature Andrew Carroll, founder of the Legacy Project, a non-profit organization that collects and preserves wartime letters. The focus of the program will be on the letters and stories that come from World War II. The audience is invited to bring letters and diaries to share. Shakesperience actor Tony Murvin will be available to read selected excerpts.

 “Letters are contemporaneous events,” Mr Carroll explained. “With memory we forget details. Letters put us right there in the moment.”

Letters help to show how much people sacrifice during time of war, he added. “This project shows how magical letters can be,” he said. “They are not just history, but human nature. One letter, written by a young sailor to his sister while he was trapped in the engine room of a ship during Pearl Harbor, literally brought Pearl Harbor to life for young students.”

The Legacy Project has collected 80,000 letters and emails and the mission continues. “It’s heartbreaking to me that these things are getting lost throughout our country,” he said.

This endowed lecture series honors the memory of Frederick G. Mason, a Secretary the Museum Council for 35 years. It is held each year and focuses on some aspect of local history.

The program is free, and the public is welcome to attend and share letters and diaries. The exhibit, “Bomb, Bond Rallies and Blackouts,” a look at the role of the greater Waterbury region during World War II, will be on exhibit that day and through November 18. For more information about the exhibit, the Frederick G. Mason lecture, or other museum programs and exhibits, call 203-753-0381 extension 10 or visit MattatuckMuseum.org.

The museum is at 144 West Main Street, with convenient parking behind the building on Park Place.