First published 2010
Ellen Fitzpatrick opens an unprecedented window into American grief by analyzing thousands of condolence letters ordinary citizens sent to Jacqueline Kennedy after President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. The historian sifted through this previously unexplored collection to select 250 of the most revealing messages. These letters expose how Americans across the country processed the shock of losing their president. Factory workers, housewives, students, and retirees poured their hearts onto paper, creating an intimate record of national mourning. Fitzpatrick reveals how people struggled to find words for their sorrow while offering comfort to the widowed First Lady. The book captures Americans grappling with sudden loss and uncertainty about their country's future. These personal responses illuminate how ordinary people experienced what many considered the most traumatic public event of the twentieth century.
Genres: history, 20th-century, biography-memoir, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: grief, historical-fiction
Setting: America
Period: 1963
384 pages · Hardcover · Ecco