815802
Eleanor Roosevelt
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Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962. First Lady, 1933-1945. Typed Letter Signed, Eleanor Roosevelt, one page, octavo, on personal stationery, New York, New York, October 14, 1958.
Eleanor, the widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, writes to Karle A. Koons of O'Connor & Farber, FDR's former law firm that controlled his trust, asking for funds with which to buy a home in New York. She writes: “I think we have a house . . . [I]t is a good buy in a good block and in very good condition. We hope we can get it for between $50,000 and $60,000. / Would you be prepared, if every report is good, to have your people look into it and come and talk to me about the arrangements that the Trust can make? I would like to get this done as soon as possible because if we do decide, we would need the money right away."
Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt's younger brother Elliott. In 1905 she married FDR, her fifth cousin. They had six children.
FDR gained national attention as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1920. When he was stricken with polio in 1921, Eleanor helped to keep him in the public eye by becoming more politically active herself. She participated in the League of Women Voters, joined the Women’s Trade Union League, and worked for the Women’s Division of the New York State Democratic Committee. Her efforts paid off, and FDR was elected Governor of New York in 1928 and reelected in 1930. Two years later, in the depths of the Great Depression, FDR was elected President of the United States.
As First Lady, Eleanor advocated the rights and needs of the poor, minorities, and the disadvantaged. She traveled extensively. During the Depression, she visited relief projects and surveyed working and living conditions across the country. During World War II she visited England and the South Pacific to foster good will among the Allies and boost the morale of American servicemen. She often served as FDR’s eyes and ears. Her extensive work during World War II is detailed in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time.
In 1935, she began a syndicated column, ”My Day,” which she continued to write until shortly before she died. She also remained active in public life after FDR died in 1945. President Harry S. Truman appointed her to the United States Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, a position she held until 1953. She chaired the United Nations Human Rights Commission during the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the U.N. General Assembly adopted in 1948. She also corresponded frequently with Truman, who, like FDR, sometimes thought her pushy but still appreciated and respected her viewpoint. Her fascinating correspondence with Truman is compiled in Eleanor and Harry, published in 2002.
In 1953, Eleanor resigned from the United States Delegation to the United Nations and volunteered her services to the American Association for the United Nations. She was an American representative to the World Federation of the United Nations Associations and later chaired the Associations’ Board of Directors. President John F. Kennedy reappointed her to the United States Delegation to the United Nations in 1961 and also appointed her as a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps and chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.
Eleanor died in New York City in 1962. She is buried beside FDR on the Roosevelt estate at Hyde Park, New York.
This letter has one normal mailing fold, a paperclip stain that affects the printed letterhead but is far removed from the signature, and a received stamp on the back. Overall it is fine condition. Eleanor has signed in blue fountain pen.
Unframed. Please ask us about custom framing this piece.
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