History in the Details: A Historian Reflects on the Value of Letters

Abstract

The humble letter proved a communication lifeline for Avondale alumna and missionary Margaret Watts between 1956 and 1966. She wrote letters almost every week to family and friends. For four years, the letters came from Redcliffe Mission Station on the island of Aobe in the New Hebrides, and for the last six years they came from Inus Mission Station on the island of Bougainville in the Territory of New Guinea. Dearest Folks: Letters Home From a Missionary Wife and Mother publishes almost 100 of these surviving letters, mostly from mid-1964 onwards.