The Cowan family has kept letters written to one another for more than 200 years, creating one of the largest private family collections of its kind. An article, on the front page of today's New York Times, tells the story of one well-educated, middle class family's "dialogue of history," with letters which not only include intriguing family details, but also long discussions of the issues that defined our nation -- the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, the rise of feminism and the settling of Chicago. The family, from Boulder, Colorado, is currently involved in discussions with an unnamed historical society in the Eastern U.S. to donate the letters.