NATIONAL PEN PAL DAY
NATIONAL PEN PAL DAY
June 1st is National Pen Pal Day on the National Day Calendar. Today, we are celebrating the art of written communication between two people who become life long friends. It's also the perfect day to let your pen pals know how much they mean to you by sending a special letter or gift.
#NationalPenPalDay
A pen pal is someone with whom you correspond by writing letters, sharing personal events and many times have never even met. Generations of letter writers have enjoyed having pen pals in their life. Some have been famous and others have created life-long friendships that began in childhood.
5 Pen Pal Benefits
Pen pals offer us a broader view of the world.
We improve our writing skills.
Writing letters give us a break from technology.
If your pen pal speaks another language, your correspondence expands each other's language.
Having a pen pal promotes delayed gratification. Once we write a letter, we have to wait to hear back from our pen pal.
The trend of pen pals started during the 1930s as a cultural education exchange tool. In 1936, the Student Letter Exchange began connecting students from around the world to learn more about each other and build cultural awareness without travel.
Friends Forever
Beginning in 1936, long before digital communication, two girls connected through letter writing and became more than pen pals. Sylvia, a 16-year old girl from the Bronx, sent a letter to a French girl named Claudia in Lyon, France. For over six decades, the two girls formed an irreplaceable friendship and corresponded through letter writing. For nearly 70 years, the girls shared life experiences about living through WWII, movies, recipes and poetry describing their every day lives.
Though both women have passed on, Judith W. Umlas, daughter of Sylvia, is keeping the memory and friendship of Sylvia and Claudia alive in a memoir she wrote called Soulmates & Strangers. The story takes the reader on an intimate journey of two soulmates who first connected as teens and remained kindred spirits for the rest of their lives. It's a heartfelt story of two girls who became women, while sharing personal struggles and successes with each other.
HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL PEN PAL DAY
While discovering a new pen pal these days might seem daunting, the personal connections made with a pen pal can mean life long friendship.
Check out Postcrossing or find a group on social media if you are looking for a pen pal.
Become a pen pal to someone you meet in your travels.
Share your memories of having a pen pal or your experiences on social media using the hashtag #NationalPenPalDay.
National Pen Pal Day Events
2026 National Pen Pal Day Celebrations
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June 1, 2026:
ArtsQuest celebrates National Pen Pal Day with the screening of the film 84 Charing Cross Road and with TALKBACK BY JUDITH UMLAS, author of Soulmates & Strangers. The event is FREE and open to the public.
7:00 pm
Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas
101 Founders Way
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania -
Anne Frank Connection:
Ten year old Juanita Wagner and her sister each picked a name from a list of pen pals in 1939. They chose sisters their own age who lived in Amsterdam. The girl's name were Anne and Margo Frank. Danville is one of two places in the world to view the pen pal letters written about the journey of Anne's family and the events in Europe leading to the Holocaust and World War II. You can view the Anne Frank Connection at:
Danville Station library
102 N MAIN ST
Danville, Iowa
Cost: Students $2, Adults $4
NATIONAL PEN PAL DAY HISTORY
National Pen Pal Day was created by American pen-palist, Rosie Tholl, who has traveled around the world to meet some of her pen pals. She was also the co-coordinator of the Illinois Pen Pal Picnic Reunion and is co-founder and co-coordinator for Pen Pals United.