The Surratt Courier

A Message from the Editor

To those of you who have been wondering what happened to The Surratt Courier, it was a temporary victim of COVID-19. Unfortunately, with so much closed down because of the virus, the Surratt Society no longer had access to the printing and mailing facilities we used in the past. The most logical, and economical, step was to make it available online. As the last issue Society members received was in March 2020, the Executive Committee decided to make The Surratt Courier issues available on the Surratt Society’s website, which you are now viewing. Ultimately, the Surratt Society's goal is to have a members’ website, where the most current Courier and its back issues will be posted. We will send our membership a letter explaining everything, when that website is available.
The decision was also made to publish the Courier bimonthly. When Laurie Verge became ill, she asked me to step in as editor. After I used up Laurie’s stockpile of articles, I resorted to my stockpile of Surratt Couriers that date back to December 1976. I refer to the past articles as oldies, but goodies. Most will be reprinted for the first time in decades. I hope you enjoy them. However, please let me know if new information has been found, since the reprinted article was first published. I will gladly print the correction and/or additional information. I will be the first to admit I do not have Laurie’s encyclopedic knowledge of the assassination.
In the meantime, we are looking for new material to use in future issues. It can be articles from our experts or even questions you would like answered. You can send them to surrattsociety@gmail.com for our consideration. I cannot guarantee that everything sent will be used, but I will do my best. The topics can range from the assassination and its cast of characters to social history of the times.
Again, thank you for your patience. Hopefully, we will eventually be able to publish monthly issues, but for now I hope you enjoy seeing the Courier again.

Louise Oertly, Editor and Surratt Society Vice President

About the Surratt Courier

The Surratt Courier is a bi-monthly newsletter published by the Surratt Society. The newsletter keeps members informed of events, issues, programs, and forthcoming books and other publications. It also includes articles related to the Lincoln assassination, the Civil War, and Victorian times, many of which, are contributed by scholars and authors who are Society members.

As noted in the presidents message, our publication of the newsletter was impacted by the pandemic. Thus, we have currently made the couriers from 2020 to date available online to the general public. Links to each newsletter are below. If an article sparks a question or comment we have provided a comment box at the bottom of the page. We will respond to messages as quickly as we can. Enjoy!

The Surratt Couriers have been compiled into a comprehensive index. To view our Surratt Courier Index, click here. Any inquiries about past articles contact the James O. Hall Research Center.