Pastor Blessing's Letter [28 issues, some under alternate or variant titles]

Denver: William L. Blessing, 1955. Newsletter. Twenty-eight mimeographed newsletters, generally staplebound packets of several pages, but the earliest one a single sheet from November 1948 titled "My personal opinion is that the hidden hand and powerful undercover forces now control America." Later issues sometimes have variant titles, listed below. On many issues the original recipient has penciled the date of receipt as well as "Native Fascist," "Anti-Semitic" or similar terminology on the first page; some issues rather toned (particularly the first, which also has minor edge chipping), one with the pages loose but present, otherwise generally very good condition, mostly 8.5x11 inches with a couple of 8.5x14 inch issues. After the 1948 leaflet, later issues are from February 1949, June, August (titled "Danger Danger Danger") and September 30, 1950; January, July, August 1951; February (titled "Strictly Personal"), March (misdated 1951 with the year corrected in pencil), April (titled "Blessing's Nehushtan Letter"), May (titled "Blessing's Save the Republic Letter"), July, Nov. 2, and December 1952; April (titled "Declaration of Spiritual War"), June (extensive penned notes), September (titled "The End of the World"), and October 1953 (titled "Blessing's Plan for America"); January, May 1, another May, September and October 1954, February 1955, and two undated issues. Also included is vol. 1 no. 1 of The Vision, "A Modern Pastoral Epistle" from Feb. 20, 1950, in similar format. All of these newsletters differ from his printed newsletter, "Showers of Blessing," in that they are mimeographed, often with title reproduced from Blessing's handwriting. The fundamentalist preacher, a former Klansman born in 1900, founded the "House of Prayer for All People" in Denver, Colorado. His newsletters mix fevered anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and anti-Communism with alleged prophecies from the Bible about current events and predictions of the approaching Armageddon foretold in scripture. Blessing often describes his travels to preach in other cities, where he sometimes describes "those that killed Jesus Christ" as protesting, but also laments the disunity of nationalist preachers. (In one issue he notes that he himself is unwilling to work with Gerald L.K. Smith, Gerald Winrod and other fundamentalists because of their tolerance of Catholicism). Blessing liked to create a sense of intimacy with his supporters, using subtitles like "Please read and then destroy this letter" to convey the impression to his donors that they were privileged to receive secrets that the Jews and other powers that be sought to keep hidden - and for which they should continue to make donations.