Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt Collection, 1911-1970

Brandeis University Libraries

c. 2001 By Brandeis University Libraries, all rights reserved

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Access:

Access to the collection is in accordance with the policies of Brandeis University Libraries, Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department.

Copyright:

Requests to publish material from the collection should be directed to the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department.

Processed by:

Irina Astashkevich.

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Biography

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States, was born on January 30, 1882 in Hyde Park, N.Y. to James and Sara Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt was educated privately at home until age 14, when he was enrolled in Groton Preparatory School in Groton, Massachusetts. In 1900 Roosevelt entered Harvard University, and later attended Columbia University Law School. On March 17, 1905 Roosevelt got married to his distant cousin Eleanor Roosevelt. After working briefly as a clerk in a law firm, Roosevelt has decided to launch a career in politics as a Democrat. In 1910 Roosevelt won a seat in the state senate of New York. For his active support of President Wilson, Roosevelt was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy in March 1913. While in office, Roosevelt had a reputation of an effective administrator. In 1920 Roosevelt became vice president of a bonding company, Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland.

In August 1921 Roosevelt was stricken with poliomyelitis and for some time he was almost completely paralyzed. During this time, Eleanor Roosevelt became an effective public speaker and helped to prevent her husband's political career from ending. By 1924 Roosevelt has returned to political arena and in 1928 has become Governor of New York State, reelected in 1930. In 1932 Governor Roosevelt won the Democratic Presidential Nomination. The centerpiece of Roosevelt's presidential campaign was the New Deal program to overcome the deepening economic crisis. Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4, 1933.

During his first term Roosevelt greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms of the New Deal. The New Deal included a broad array of measures intended to achieve economic recovery, to provide relief to the millions of poor and unemployed, and to reform aspects of the economy that had caused the collapse. By the year 1934 limited degree of recovery was achieved, and by the middle of 1938 the crisis had passed. Roosevelt ran for reelection in 1936 with the firm support of farmers, laborers, and the poor, and won over Republican candidate Alfred M. Landon. During his second term Roosevelt was primarily occupied with the internal affairs, however by 1939 foreign policy was overshadowing domestic policy. In 1940 Roosevelt was elected for the third term, winning Presidential election over Republican Candidate Wendell Willkie, and breaking two term tradition honored since the presidency of George Washington.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor Naval Base, and the United States became involved in the World War II. Until his death Roosevelt maintained strong relationship with allies through economic aid (Lend Lease) and active involvement in world politics and military actions in successful effort to rid the world of German National Socialism and Japanese militarism. Despite declining health Roosevelt ran for a fourth term against Republican Thomas Dewey, and won the election, becoming the only President elected to the office four times. On April 12, 1945 President Roosevelt died in his cottage in Warm Springs, Georgia.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, United Nations diplomat, humanitarian, and American first lady, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City to Elliott and Anna Hall Roosevelt. Eleanor was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt (President, 1901-09). After attending school in England, she returned to the United States and was married to her distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt on March 17, 1905. In the next 11 years Eleanor Roosevelt gave birth to six children, one of whom died in infancy. After her husband was elected to New York Senate in 1911, Eleanor began to assume new role of political hostess. As the wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I, she pitched into war work with the Red Cross. After 1921, she provided help and inspiration for her husband in his struggle with the crippling effects of poliomyelitis, becoming an effective public speaker and being involved in such institutions as Women's Trade Union League, state Democratic Party Women's Division, League of Women Voters, etc. By 1933, when her husband became the President, Eleanor Roosevelt was already a political figure of her own right.

During her 12 years as first lady (1933-45) Eleanor Roosevelt instituted regular White House press conferences for women correspondents for the first time. For many years, beginning in 1936, she wrote a daily syndicated newspaper column, My Day. A widely sought-after speaker at political meetings and at various institutions, she showed particular interest in such humanitarian concerns of the New Deal as the National Youth Administration, child welfare, slum-clearance projects, and equal rights. In 1941 she made her one venture into holding public office herself, as co-director of the Office of Civilian Defense. During World War II she traveled in Great Britain and the South Pacific as well as to U.S. military bases.

When her husband died on April 12, 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt assumed that the "story was over", however, she went on to 17 more years of notable public service. President Harry S. Truman appointed Mrs. Roosevelt a delegate to the United Nations (1945, 1949-52; 1961 - appointed by President Kennedy), where, as chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights (1946-51), she played a major role in the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Mrs. Roosevelt circled the globe several times, visiting scores of countries and meeting with most of the leaders of the world. Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962, in New York City, and was buried at Hyde Park next to her husband. Her many books include This Is My Story (1937), This I Remember (1949), and On My Own (1958).

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Scope and Content

One of the most significant components of this collection is the correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt with Henry S. Hooker, a lifelong friend who was a New York political figure, and couple of close acquaintances, Louise Lazell and Robert S. Benjamin, there is also a small number of letters with other people. These letters might not be of enormous historical importance, but they contribute significantly to the images of Eleanor Roosevelt's personal biography as well as her public life.

Another centerpiece of the collection is correspondence of Franklin Delano Roosevelt with his friend and classmate Sidney Gunn (Harvard University, Class 1904), once Professor at the US Naval Academy, and later at Boston University. These letters cover over twenty years of warm friendship between two people, once fellow students, whose careers went in very different directions.

The rest of the collection consists of various miscellaneous materials about Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt, collected by the gifter, Mr. Benjamin Arac. These materials include some officially published legal acts, assorted periodic publications, news clippings, booklets and pamphlets, as well as FDR memorabilia.

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Cataloging Entries

The following catalog entries provide controlled subject access to the collection. All these entries are searchable in the Brandeis University libraries' on-line catalog LOUIS to find materials of related interest.

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Series Description

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Container List