“Two Sisters Write to Two Sisters” – Nampa, Idaho (1931)

Misses Katherine and M. Augusta Williams lived in Cincinnati, the busy port and center of industry on the Ohio River in southwest Ohio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati

Katherine and Augusta were sisters, and there were at least two additional girls in the family.

In July of 1931, the Williams sisters in Ohio received a postcard from E.A.S. who identifies the senders as “two sisters to two sisters”.

The postcard was mailed from Nampa, a city of Canyon County in south-central Idaho.

The town grew up around short-line railroads in the 1880’s – the city’s street grid is still aligned with the railroad lines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nampa,_Idaho

Interestingly, the postcard is stamped with a one and one-half cents stamp featuring the profile of former President Warren Harding who died in office in 1923.           +           +           +           +           +           +

The face of the postcard is a drawing of the “Public Library, Boise Idaho”.

Boise, Idaho’s capital city is located in the Boise River Valley – about 20 miles east of Nampa.   

As the postcard title intimates, Boise was built along the Oregon Trail on which thousands of pioneers trekked to the west coast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho

This handsome structure resembles many other library buildings – and research confirms that it was erected with funds bequeathed by Andrew Carnegie in 1905.

Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who built an industrial empire in western Pennsylvania, was once one of the richest men in the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie

Once known for his business ruthlessness, Carnegie devoted time to an examination of the right uses of wealth in society.

Carnegie’s “Wealth” or “The Gospel of Wealth” is considered a seminal work in modern philanthropy.

https://www.carnegie.org/about/our-history/gospelofwealth

Declaring it a “disgrace” to die wealthy, Carnegie endowed thousands of libraries in the United States, his native Scotland, and throughout the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library

The Carnegie Library in Boise is now an artist cooperative.

The postcard was published by Wesley Andrews Inc. of Baker, Oregon.

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On the reverse, the Williams sisters are addressed as “Dear Girls”.

The writers are having a “very pleasant visit with Margaret”.

They are accommodated on a ranch – “sage brush and vast distances.”

The travelers have enjoyed the cool air, and hope that the sisters in Ohio have “kept well this summer.”

In a postscript, we learn that “we had a lovely time at the Golden Wedding Anniversary” which might have been the impetus for the visit.

One hopes that all the sisters were reunited at the end of the summer.

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