Things Usually Turn Out Alright | National Humanities Center

Humanities Moments

Things Usually Turn Out Alright

July 17, 2020

Mackintosh, Esther (President of the Federation of State Humanities Councils)

Families; Correspondence; Storytelling; Students Great Depression

Esther Mackintosh explains how a single letter from her father offered solace during an especially trying period of her life.

As a graduate student facing an uncertain future, Mackintosh took refuge in her father’s written words, which described his own challenges as a newly married farmer during the Great Depression. His letter concluded with a question posed to his daughter: “Would it help you to know that things usually turn out alright?” Thanks to her father’s words, Mackintosh, herself a scholar of stories, could contextualize her own unfolding narrative in light of her family history.


Subjects

History / Families / Correspondence / Storytelling / Students Great Depression /

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