Series consists of correspondence exchanged by John McCrae and members of his family, as well as copies on microfilm of some correspondence with Edward W.B. Morrison 1916-1919 and some correspondence about the death of John McCrae.
The majority of the letters were written by John McCrae to his mother, Janet McCrae, a well-read woman who shared her son's interest in literature. The mother and son clearly had a close and trusting relationship and McCrae's letters cover a wide variety of subjects. McCrae signed his letters 'Jack'. There are also some letters from McCrae to his brother, Tom, and sister, Geills, and to his father, interfiled among the ones to his mother, and the occasional one addressed to a correspondent not in his immediate family (for instance, some childhood ones to his cousin, John Gow).
The correspondence begins with the letters John McCrae wrote as a child, 1880-1884. The letters report events happening around him, with stories about a shooting, a suicide, a fire, a drowning, and a lunatic, reflecting the child's love of drama. The letters of 1886 include ones written while McCrae was in Britain, accompanying his father on a business trip, with illustrated descriptions of the armour he saw in the Tower of London.
The letters from 1888 to 1898 cover John McCrae's years at the University of Toronto, with accounts of his classes, professors, classmates, housing, meals, health (his recurrent bronchial problems), sports, attendance at church, sports, sketching, social life, reading, etc. There are many references to cultural events in Toronto during the period and accounts of social gatherings. The letters refer to his reading and pronounce opinions on the various writers. There are letters written while McCrae undertook practical work at the children's hospital at Mount Airy, Maryland, which include poignant stories about his cases there and recount conversational exchanges which amused him. Throughout the 1890s, his letters refer to his own writing and publishing. The 1898 letters record McCrae's graduation from the University of Toronto and his residency at the Toronto General Hospital.
The 1899 letters from Montreal reflect John McCrae's growing restlessness as he watches others prepare to leave for the South African War and record his joining the second contingent of Canadians, leaving on the troopship 'Laurentian' in 1900. The 1900 letters document his service with the artillery in South Africa; most are written from Victoria Road, where he spent over two months waiting to see action. One letter is written on 'commandeered' letterhead from a village store in Kenhardt and another on 'Seat of War, South Africa' letterhead. His letters discuss the behaviour and reputation of the Canadian troops, particularly the men from Guelph.
McCrae returned to Montreal in early 1901, and his letters for the next thirteen years document his medical and teaching career (including work in the United States), his social life in prominent circles, his membership in the Pen and Pencil Club and his writing and publishing career, and refer to his colleagues, including George Adami, Oskar Klotz, Stephen Leacock and Andrew Macphail. The letters from this period are sometimes rushed and it is evident that he had a very busy social life, as well as a demanding career, which often left him little time to write long letters. The letters he wrote on his trips to Europe during this period are, however, longer and offer good accounts of his activities on those trips; these include an account of a crossing of the Empress of Ireland in 1906.
The letters from 1914 to 1917 document John McCrae's service in the First World War. There are ninety letters written in 1914, ninety-seven written in 1915, seventy-seven in 1916 and sixty-seven in 1917. The letters from Flanders in 1915 provide graphic accounts of the battles of Ypres ('this Hades') and the experiences that led to his famous poem (for instance, a letter dated 1 May 1915 which comments on a 'whiff of hedgerow in bloom...the blackbirds perch in the trees above our heads...and twitter away'). The letters from 1917 describe the difficult conditions at the Canadian General Hospital, politics, his career, his patients, his animals (his horse Bonfire, who figures throughout his war correspondence, and his dog Bonneau), his reading, writing and publishing (with references to 'In Flanders Fields'), and thinking about what he will do when he returns home.
