Correspondence
The Correspondence series (2.5 linear feet) is comprised of handwritten and typed letters, greeting cards, postcards, and telegrams and is grouped into three subseries: J. Louis Engdahl's outgoing correspondence; Engdahl Family correspondence, comprised of letters written by his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, and other relatives in the Engdahl, Levitin, and Rodriguez families; and Others, listed alphabetically by name. Ralph Korngold, Frank Hayes, and Ruth Benedict are among the correspondents. Most of the Engdahl Family correspondence is comprised of Pauline Levitin Engdahl's letters to Louis.
Included in the Others subseries are two folders of "Sympathy Letters," written to Pauline Levitin Engdahl at the time of her husband's death. Notable among these are letters from William L. Patterson, chairman of the International Labor Defense. Some of the letters in these folders also discuss memorial and financial arrangements. Included with the sympathy letters are an undated, unsigned poem, "A Monument to Love," and an empty envelope addressed to Pauline Levitin Engdahl and dated 1927. The association of these items to the rest of the materials in this grouping is unclear.
Engdahl's letters to his wife, especially, and also to his daughter, comprise most of the Correspondence series. They recount in detail Engdahl's daily activities, his hopes and fears, and his affection and longing for his loved ones during his time apart from them (long and frequent periods of separation being an unfortunate consequence of his life's work). In earlier correspondence, dating from the 'teens, Louis and Pauline Engdahl both comment frequently on Victor Berger and his work. Later letters deal primarily with Louis's work for the ILD on behalf of the Scottsboro defendants. One can trace, too, the evolution of J. Louis Engdahl's relationship with Pauline Levitin (Engdahl), from good friends and allies in a common cause, to sweethearts, and finally spouses.