Ipswich to Ipswich: World War II-era Correspondence from Young People in Ipswich, England

A new display in the archives case highlights 1940s correspondence from the library’s Ipswich, England collection. Young people from the Borough of Ipswich Youth Centre in Ipswich, England sent letters about their wartime experiences to young people here in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The letters cover such topics as “Soccer” (English football), “Rationing in War-Time,” “The Forestry Camp,” and “The Weekend Cycling Trip to Croxton.”  Some were published here in the Ipswich Chronicle, and young people in Ipswich, Mass. were encouraged to write back to the English kids, as seen here on July 11, 1941. You can page through all of the letters here:

We know from one of the letters that at least a few Americans did write back. We hope the American side of the correspondence is in an archives somewhere in England. 

The Ipswich Room Archives holds thousands of books, manuscripts, maps, and photographs documenting our rich local history.  Please contact us if you have a research question, want to visit the archives, or have historical materials you would like to donate.