NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – With Valentine’s Day approaching, one of the city’s most heartfelt love stories is not coming from a movie but from history.
A collection of more than 200 handwritten letters now available through the Metro Nashville Archives tells the story of a relationship that survived war, distance and uncertainty.
Long before text messages, love in Nashville traveled by envelope.
A collection of more than 200 handwritten letters now available through the Metro Nashville Archives tells the story of a relationship that survived war, distance and uncertainty.(Metro Nashville Archives)
The letters were written by Ray Whittaker and Jane Dean, two students who met at Meharry Medical College. After losing touch, they reconnected during World War II when Whittaker was drafted into the Army in 1942 and stationed in Arizona. Dean stayed in Nashville working in a medical lab.
“They very quickly became much more flirtatious, much more affectionate in tone, and it just stayed that way the entire time,” Metro Nashville Archivist Kelley Sirko said.
Despite living across the country, the two rebuilt their relationship through handwritten letters after losing touch for a couple of years.
“It was really special, especially because they reconnected when he was in Arizona, and she was here in Nashville. He wrote to her,” Sirko said. “In subsequent letters, he would say how he never forgot about her.”
The tone of the letters quickly shifted from catching up to planning a future together. Whittaker hinted at marriage while Dean questioned whether the feelings came from love or loneliness during wartime separation.
By November 1942, the couple married.
“They ended up being married for nearly 50 years before he passed away,” Sirko said.
Their relationship continued through letters while separated during the war, written proof of commitment in uncertain times.
The collection was discovered inside a Nashville home and donated to the archives in 2016. Archivists say sharing it publicly allows people to connect with history on a more personal level.
“I hope they can get just a very intimate, in-the-moment look at daily life during wartime, everyday people in extraordinary times,” Sirko said.
The letters now serve as a reminder that even in the most difficult moments, people still found a way to express what mattered most.
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