Some Useful Addresses and Information on Writing Letters


This page is being maintained by Edward and Eunice Ordman, edward@ordman.net
The purpose is to keep handy addresses and contact information for legislators,
letters to the editor, and others that may be useful for residents in the
Western Tennessee area.
(updates, but no tall addresses and links checked, August 2019 - let me know of defects or changes.)

Please contact us with suggestions, additions, etc.
Do we also need a page or more discussing issues,
or a page listing current subjects on which letters are actively needed?

Notes on writing effective letters to the editor are at the end  (thanks to Eva Hernandez, Field Organizer, MoveOn.org )


Here are some appropriate addresses:

Short hand-written notes to legislators are often the most effective. 
Mail to the local office usually gets there faster and is read before mail to the Washington DC office.
Phone calls are also very appropriate. 
For congressmen and senators, giving your address so they realize you can vote for or against them is very helpful.


US SENATORS FROM TENNESSEE  

Senator  Marsha Blackburn         (update Aug 2019)                     
100 Peabody Place #1125      
Memphis, TN 38103           
901-527-9199 fax 527-9395
DC Office  phone 202-224-3344 
         
Senator Lamar Alexander
167 N. Main St #1068
Memphis, TN 38103
901-544-4224 fax 544-4227
DC Office  Phone 202-224-4944 fax 228-3398   

You can also send messages (possibly will get less attention) via the web - go to http://www.senate.gov/
and select your senator, then find the "contact" form.


US CONGRESS - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, from Memphis / Shelby County   

Rep. Steve Cohen (9th District)      
167 N. Main #369       
Memphis, TN 38103       
901-544-4131 fax 544-4329  

Rep.  David Kustoff)    
5900 Poplar Ave.
Suite 202
Memphis, TN 38119
Phone: (901) 682-4422
Fax: (901) 682-8973

Rep. Dr. Mark Green (7th District)
  305 Public Square
Suite 212
Franklin, TN 37064
Phone: (629) 223-605
DC Office: Phone: (202) 225-281

You can also send messages (possibly will get less attention) via the web - go to http://www.house.gov
and select your representative, then find the "contact" form.

Are you from elsewhere? Find Senate info at http://www.senate.gov ,
House info if you know your Representative's name at http://www.house.gov
In Tennessee you can find your local legislators  by entering your address at  http://capitol.tn.gov (recent change!)
and your congressional district at    https://tnmap.state.tn.us/voterlookup/
These can, believe it or not, have errors.  The state directory on some pages gives as e-mail address
for  state Sen. Jim Kyle the wrong address sen.james.kyle@capitol.tn.gov.  Correct is sen.jim.kyle@capitol.tn.gov

Memphis City Council Information, click here.

Shelby County Council  (TN)  Members and email addresses, http://www.shelbycountytn.gov/index.aspx?NID=1209

State Legislators
You can find the names and contact information for  your representatives in the state legislature at
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/legislators/

If you know other good sources of contact information,   please email me and tell me .


Tennesseans for Fair Taxation
, home page at http://www.fairtaxation.org/home/index.php
has an excellent section on contact information. Pull down  "Take Action" under the masthead
to find good contact information for legislators (even a tab to e-mail all 132 state legislators)
as well as e-mail addresses for newspapers all around Tennessee




The President:
Dional Trump, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20500-2006
(mail is long delayed by being tested for poison.  Phone, e-mail, or fax instead:)
phone 202-456-1414    fax 202-456-2461    E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
or use the web form at  http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Secretary of Defense
  (name changes...) 1000 Defense Pentagon,
Washington DC 20301-1400        Phone 703-428-0711
submit comments via web:  http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/questions.aspx

Department of Justice - William Barr, Attorney General.  Email to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
website  http://justice.gov

What other addresses do we need here?



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR  
Be short and to the point. The best chance of being printed is if you refer by
name and date to an article appearing within the last two or three days, and
keep your letter to about 200 words.   Often the paper won't want to print more than one letter
per person per month, so if you've written recently, let other people know if you see
an article that needs to be written about.  See more detailed suggestions below.
Many of these publications have on-line message boards, but I don't know how widely read they are.

COMMERCIAL APPEAL:  http://www.commercialappeal.com/
495 Union Ave. Memphis, TN, 38103   901-529-2345
e-mail letters to editor: letters@commercialappeal.com

TRI-STATE DEFENDER: http://www.tri-statedefenderonline.com/
e-mail letters to the editor: editorial@tri-statedefender.com

THE MEMPHIS FLYER: http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Home
e-mail letters to the editor: letters@memphisflyer.com

MEMPHIS DAILY NEWS:  http://www.memphisdailynews.com/
contact info:  http://www.memphisdailynews.com/About.aspx#contact

MEMPHIS MAGAZINE: http://www.memphismagazine.com/
e-mail letters to editor:  tibbs@memphismagazine.com

THE HEBREW WATCHMAN:   I don't think you can read this on-line,
but it gets much of its national and international news from http://jta.org/
letters to editor: hebwat@bellsouth.net

THE DAILY MEMPHIAN.  https://dailymemphian.com/
(does this do letters to the editor?) It does do guest columnists.

A good source for news from other countries and finding web sites of other newspapers
(if you want to write to the paper in your old home town, for example) is
http://www.world-newspapers.com/

Please suggest other contacts. Does someone know how to reach radio and TV stations? e-mail me  edward@ordman.net



Are you looking for ideas on what to write about, or thoughts you might use in a letter? 
Use your own words, and don't represent yourself as speaking for an organization (like Move On)
without consulting with someone, although it is OK to identify yourself as a member of an organization
and say you are expressing your personal views.  But you can get some ideas by browsing
      http://moveon.org/
and I have found
      http://pol.moveon.org/2009/agenda/results/?rc=homepage
particularly helpful.

POWER UP AMERICA
- alternative energy initiative - find Move On  info on this at
     http://www.moveon.org/powerupamerica/organizing/index.html  




Tips for Writing Successful

Letters to the Editor

Why Letters to the Editor Matter:

Tips on Writing Good Letters and Getting them Published: