Dear group,
I am writing you tonight to request assistance in our new endeavor to help preserve and catalogue documents, images, grave sites and soldiers of Ohioans that served in the American Civil War. The Ohio in the Civil War Archive and Network, which I will describe in the following lines, has been a year in the making. The idea was to create a user based and built community, or social network, with a soul mission of building an ever growing compilation of historical material. With new web based technologies and scripting it is now possible to collaborate with, not only professional researchers, but amateurs and to uncover documents that would never be brought to the surface.
The network, which is completely database driven, is somewhat similar to the social network’s like facebook and myspace, but meant to contain the integrity of ancestry.com. Anyone can register. Anyone can contribute.
At this point in the networks infancy we have very few contributors. However, the ones that we do have are very dedicated. So this leads me to the reason why I contacted you.
1) Would you be willing to help us get the word out about this new network by placing a link on your site? You can also create a reciprocal link if desired and add your site link to our index. If you choose this option simply click on “Exchange Links” in the left side menu and follow the instructions from here.
2) Your knowledge and connections would be a great benefit to helping us get the project off the ground. I would personally be grateful for any contributions you could make to the archive. Likewise, if you know of any regimental historians or Civil War enthusiasts forwarding this email would be another great way to help.
I try not to make it a habit to write lengthy emails and I am grateful for your time. I feel strongly in this project and believe that the endeavor will be successful with everyone’s help.
Thank you so much for all of your assistance,
Brett,
Ohio In The Civil War Network Archive
http://www.historicalpreservation.org/civilwar/ohio/