"From My Heart to My Sweetheart": The Wartime Love Letters of Romie & Rudolph Reid

February 14, 2018

By Haley E. Aaron, Manuscript Archivist, Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

War often divides families and separates loved ones. However, war can also bring couples together in unexpected ways. In July 1918, Birmingham native Romie Owen moved to Muscle Shoals, where she found a job working at the United States Nitrate Plant Number 2, one of the state’s largest war production facilities. Romie was working as a file clerk in the fall of 1918 when she met Rudolph Reid, a Mississippi native who worked in the office.

The couple spent almost all of their spare time together. Their dates were simple - eating at the mess hall, going to the movies, and spending times with friends - and their friendship soon blossomed into love. After Romie moved back to Birmingham in January 1919, Rudolph kept writing to her almost daily. After an extended courtship and engagement, they were married on February 8, 1920.

You can read all of Rudolph and Romie’s love letters in the Alabama Dept. of Archives and History's digital collection here.

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