Morrison House Presents Barb Winters, Local Author
Follow Barb Winters in a journey through time as she discusses how she pieced together 800 very old letters - correspondences from three families written between 1817 and 1940 - to compile a first-hand narrative of life in Alexandria before, during, and after the Civil War. About 8 years ago Winters volunteered to sort, read and organize six boxes of old letters, photos, diaries and other records that were dropped off at the Local History/Special Collections Department of the Alexandria Library. As she combed through the letters she found true stories of love and devotion, fleeting fame and lost fortune, survival during times of war, and much more. Winters became so involved with the lives of three local families that she spent several years painstakingly organizing the letters into a fascinating historical narrative in her book, Letters to Virginia: Correspondence from three generations of Alexandrians before, during, and after the Civil War.
Barb Winters spent 9 years as a Library Assistant for Local History at Barrett Library in Alexandria. She retired from the library in 2010. Winters’ first and only book, Letters to Virginia, has earned much praise and she was recently honored with the 2011 Alexandria History Award for her noteworthy contribution to the preservation of the historic, cultural, and artistic heritage of Alexandria. She currently resides in Alexandria and continues to promote her book throughout the region. Follow her blog at http://www.letterstovirginia.blogspot.com.
