{"value"=>"<p>Largely addressed to Johnson or Buel, the correspondence comprises offers to the magazine of firsthand accounts of events of the war, general reminiscences, histories, and original documents such as letters, diaries, and photographs. The series also includes letters from readers and contributors containing commentary, criticism, and correction of details in articles published in the magazine; hand-drawn diagrams and maps; and some copies and originals of outgoing letters from the editors. The majority of files contain only one or two items.</p> <p>Correspondence is often accompanied by a memorandum created by Century office staff giving details such as the correspondent's name, the date, and the content of the letter, and occasionally if the letter is written from a Union or Confederate soldier's perspective. These letters document the fervent interest in the events of the Civil War by participants and their family members. Certain articles published in the Century garnered many of the responses that are present in this series, particularly the pieces on prisoner of war camps such as “Cold Comfort at Camp Morton” and “A Yankee in Andersonville.” The correspondence also documents the extent to which the editors went to ensure accuracy in the details presented in the articles. For example the correspondence of Joseph W. Kirkley from the War Records Office who reviewed manuscripts for veracity, and verified names, dates, and other statistics.</p> <p>Correspondents include Charles Carleton Coffin, Joseph Warren Keifer, John Watts de Peyster, David Dixon Porter, James Barnet Fry, Daniel Harvey Hill and Junius Henri Browne.</p> <p>The files for A and many from Q to Z were not received by the library and may have been damaged in the fire of 1888. Many of these documents are fragile and may have fire, smoke, and/or water damage.</p>"}