For 10 years, Oregon Humanities’ Dear Stranger project has invited Oregonians to exchange letters with people they’ve never met. Since 2014, more than 1,000 people have sent letters to Dear Stranger and received letters from other writers in exchange.
Participants have hailed from every county in Oregon, as well as 35 other states and four countries.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the project, Oregon Humanities is partnering with libraries and museums across Oregon to host letter-writing stations, including one at Philomath Museum. The bright red drop box will remain in place through Oct. 31.
Oregon Humanities is a statewide organization that brings people together to talk, listen, and learn from one another.
“Dear Stranger is one of many ways that we connect people across distance and difference of experience and belief,” Ben Waterhouse, communications director for Oregon Humanities, said through a news release. “Reading a letter from someone you’d probably never meet gives you a window into the life and mind of another person. We hope participants will find they have more in common than they might have guessed.”
The organization says the aim of Dear Stranger is to create shared understanding among Oregonians with different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs. The premise is simple: Write a letter, get a letter, and make a new connection. Each round of the project asks writers to address a different question or theme. The prompt for the current round is “What is the Oregon you want to live in?”
Letters are swapped anonymously, and each person receives a letter from the person who received the one they wrote. What happens next is up to the writers. If they’d like to write a reply, they can do so via Oregon Humanities.
Letters should be addressed to Oregon Humanities, Attn: Dear Stranger, 610 SW Alder St., Suite 1111, Portland, Oregon, 97205. For this round, Oregon Humanities will exchange letters mailed by Oct. 31.
Find full instructions on the Oregon Humanities website. Questions about Dear Stranger should be directed to programs@oregonhumanities.org.