A tender love story that began more than 80 years ago is finding new life online.
The Nashville Public Library has digitized a trove of more than 200 World War II-era love letters between William Raymond Whittaker and Jane Dean, offering the public a rare and deeply personal glimpse into Black life and love during wartime.
The letters, discovered near a fireplace in Jane’s former Nashville home, trace the couple’s long-distance courtship, doubts, devotion, and eventual marriage — all set against the backdrop of segregation, military service, and societal upheaval.
“You can’t help but smile when you read through these letters,” said Kelley Sirko, a metropolitan archivist with the library. “This was just such an intimate look at two regular people during a really complicated time in our history.”
Ray, as he was known, was originally from New Rochelle, New York, and moved to Tennessee to attend the historically Black Meharry Medical College. That’s where he met Jane, who was also a student. After drifting apart, they reconnected in 1942 when Ray, now a soldier stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, reached out by letter.
Jane’s response, dated July 30, 1942, began with cautious warmth:
“It sure was a pleasant and sad surprise to hear from you… pleasant because you will always hold a place in my heart… sad because you are in the armed forces.”
She ends with a hopeful, “Write, wire or call me real soon — Lovingly, Jane.”
Their correspondence picked up from there, mixing flirtation with reflections on war, race, and uncertainty. At one point, Jane jokingly lists mutual friends who had married, some already with children — a gentle nudge, perhaps. Ray responds weeks later with a teasing promise:
“I might even ask you to marry me. One never knows.”
But Jane wasn’t immediately convinced. “What makes you think you still love me?” she asks in one letter, probing whether his feelings were born of distance and loneliness.
Ray’s reply, dated Sept. 24, is heartfelt: “I didn’t find the companionship and love that I so dearly wanted… All I ran into was trouble and more trouble.”
By November, Jane was calling him “my darling husband.” The pair married on Nov. 7, 1942, in Birmingham. Their letters post-wedding are filled with longing as they remain separated by military duty. “It’s a wonderful thing to have such a sweet and lovely husband,” Jane writes. “Maybe this old war will soon be over and we can be together for always.”
The couple eventually reunited after Ray’s discharge, living briefly outside New York before settling permanently in Nashville. According to archivists, they had no children. Ray passed away in 1989.
The letter collection, which includes photographs and a patch from Ray’s Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, goes beyond romance. It documents the lived experience of an African American couple navigating love, career, racism, and war in real time. One envelope is stamped with the wartime slogan “Idle Gossip Sinks Ships.” In another letter, Jane warns Ray to be cautious while stationed in Alabama.
Archivists say they’ve been unable to locate any surviving relatives, but that hasn’t stopped the public from connecting with the story.
“This collection lets people see what it was like to fall in love while the world was in chaos,” said Sirko. “And it shows how powerful — and human — love letters can be.”
The letters are now available to view digitally through the Nashville Public Library’s Metro Archives.
