One of the things I most enjoy doing is going to estate sales. Call it the excitement of the huntthe prospects of finding a book by an author I had not known before, an artifact from some exotic culture, or even some dishes with a pattern I remembered from childhood. There is always the mystique of trying to reconstruct the life of someone who has diedseeing the things they valued spread out, to be snatched up by anyone willing to pay the asking price, much as my things will be dispersed when I am gone.There is always the prospect of finding something totally unexpected. Thus, it was some months ago when I came across a box of envelopes all marked First Day of Issue. The United States Postal Service designates a city on the first day a given stamp is issued, and all letters mailed from that city on that day can be cancelled with that marking. Frequently, dealers get bundles of such cancelled envelopes and sell them to collectors for a good price.Here was a boxful of these envelopes. I offered the sellers a price for the whole box. It was near the end of the sale. The sellers wanted to get rid of as much as possible, and they accepted my offer.I should add that I am not a stamp collector. I do have friends who collect stamps and thought this would make a nice gift for one of them.When I got home, I arranged the collection chronologically. They spanned a period of twelve years, from 1959 to 1971. They were all addressed to the same person in Birmingham, Alabama, a Samuel . They were all written by the same person, a Dwayne , who was born and raised in Birmingham. My curiosity was piqued.Who was this son of Birmingham who absented himself from his native town during one of the most turbulent periods of its history? What was the relationship of the two men that warranted such a long and voluminous correspondencefor me, a one-way correspondence, since I had no way of retrieving the letters Samuel sent to Dwayne.Why the long period of exile during that particular period of time? Why the widespread traveling? How did Dwayne manage to support himself? What did he do to occupy his time? My mind was filled with questions. When I started reading the letters, the answers I received were far more intriguing than I could have imagined.It is with this in mind that I offer this correspondence to the reading public. It reflects the psychological history not only of an unusual personality but also of an important era of American history.I have let the letters stand as they were written, preserving the style, grammar, and orthography of the author. I know little enough of the details of his childhood. He was obviously well read, even if he was not formally educated to any advanced degree. He was clearly an astute observer of the events of his time.It is my hope that the reader will find the letters edifying and entertaininguseful and pleasingand that my effort to bring them to public view will be deemed worthwhile.
