Bell urges patience as telephone patent proceeds

In our world of electronic communication, one wonders what evidence of daily life will remain for future generations. Modern technology keeps us constantly connected, but will today’s emails and texts survive a century from now? For decades, letter writing was a common practice. Staying in touch meant sitting down with pen and paper, and receiving a letter—especially from afar—was exciting. Many people, including Alexander Graham Bell and his family, preserved their correspondence rather than discarding it. Because the Bells were prolific writers, their story can be told today through thousands of surviving letters.