The Handwriting on the Wall

I am a letter writer. I find it relaxing and a better way to air my thoughts (and grievances) than in emails. Yes, emails are good ways to communicate, but there is nothing like the act of actually writing things to help sort your thoughts.

For a long time, I could not even read my own handwriting. I would puzzle over something I wrote on the calendar or a shopping list and had no clue. I promised myself that someday I would improve my handwriting. That someday came for my friend Claudia before it came for me. She bought some books and would practice her handwriting while watching TV at night. Her handwriting was already good but it did improve. Someday came for me during the pandemic. I printed out some handwriting exercise sheets. Claudia also recommended getting a pen I would enjoy using, maybe a fountain pen (this was the beginning of another obsession of mine – stationary items, but that is another story).

A recent issue of The Atlantic included an article about cursive writing. It has not been taught in schools for quite a long time now. You may say ‘so what?’. The article goes on to point out that while there are still a good portion of the population alive who write in cursive, the fact remains that in past times anyone who could write, did so in cursive. History (at least western history) was recorded in cursive writing.

Many of my jobs in art, collections, and archives work depended on my deciphering other peoples’ handwriting. Off and on I volunteer with the Library of Congress with their By the People project. This involves (from the comfort of your own computer at home) transcribing historic documents which are all in cursive. I have had the pleasure of transcribing handwritten documents including: an invoice for books that Teddy Roosevelt purchased over a two year period, Gen. Sherman’s open house invitation, Gen. Sherman’s daughter’s wedding invitation, an invoice for a watch that Walt Whitman was making payments on, family correspondences from President Garfield, and so on.

At this point, I would say that knowing cursive is almost like knowing another language. I have decided that my grandson will learn to at least read cursive, if for no other reason than because