An evolving collection of projects centered on my own family history, archival research, and storytelling.
“Letters Across an Ocean”
Emanuel Lutheran Church. New Auburn, Minnesota
My grandparents, Martha and Leonard Schultz, were married in August of 1955, just four weeks after Martha immigrated to the United States.
Martha was born and raised on a vineyard in a small village called Willsbach in the Württemberg region of Germany; Leonard was a lonely farmer in rural Winthrop, Minnesota. They met through the International Correspondence Club, beginning a relationship through letters sent across an ocean as complete strangers.
Leonard died in 2011 at the age of 98. Martha followed in 2015 at 95. After her death, our family discovered dozens of handwritten pages she had left behind, detailing her life in Germany, including what it was like to live through World War II. We also uncovered a box of more than 400 handwritten letters exchanged between Martha and Leonard, preserved in storage for years.
In 2025, I began reading those letters and gathering the fragments of the memoir she never finished, I uncovered an untold story that completely reshaped what I thought I knew about my family’s history.
I am deeply moved by this discovery because it feels like history that is meant to be preserved and shared. While Martha rarely spoke these stories aloud, she felt compelled to write them down for future generations. She wanted her story to be known.
Right now, this work looks like:
- Reading a selection of letters aloud at literary open mics and storytelling events
- Slowly transcribing the letters I’ve already digitally scanned
- Organizing and caring for a growing family archive
- Filing FOIA requests to uncover Martha’s A-File (Alien File)
- Researching the historical context surrounding her life and immigration
- Piecing together timelines across letters, memories, and documents
My goal is to bring Martha’s story to life. What I’ve uncovered about her experiences feels especially relevant in 2026. Like many who survived World War II, it was too painful for her to speak about openly, but she was able to record much of her story in writing. It is a story of resistance, and at its heart, the story of an immigrant seeking safety, dignity, and a better future.
Stay tuned for more.