Ethical Standards of 1940s. Due Diligence for writing Recommendation Letters: A Deputy Commissioner’s refusal in 1943

I came across this 1943 letter from a Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kumaon Division which shows the high ethical standards of that time. The DC refuses the request from a friend to provide recommendation for his son on the grounds that the DC has never met his son and does not know the son personally enough to evaluate and provide a recommendation. Contrast this with today when anyone is willing to write a recommendation for anyone whether known personally or not.

I found this letter while sifting and organizing the treasure of old letters that have been handed down to me by my late parents. Mr. Shah Abdul Shakur Faridi is my mother’s maternal grandfather. He belonged to the Hussami-Faridi silsala. He is buried in Mankipur near Farid Manzil and I understand there is a yearly urs at his tomb.

Family Letters Archival Project. 

This post provides a glimpse of the social history of the 1940s. This letter is a part of the compilation of Social History from my family’s letters exchanged from the early 20th century till the advent of WhatsApp and internet calls that killed the social exchange through letter writing. This project is inspired by my experience of visiting the Harry Ransom Center during my studies at UT Austin and also Kar e Jehan Daraz Hai by Qurratul Ain Hyder and Shajra Compilation as described in the following posts: 

• Social History Archival Project of Family Documents and Letters: Heritage Detectives
• Lesser known dimensions of US Universities – Archives of history and literature
• Family Tree Shajra of Sadat e Nehtaur: A Case Study of Compilation of Social History

See Also: 

Posts that describe my role models and their guidance: