Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters to Eleanor Roosevelt Through Depression and War

By: Knepper, Cathy D.

Book Overview

This remarkable collection of letters offers an intimate view of our nation's most challenging era, and a refreshingly personal portrait of a woman in the White House dedicated to aiding the less fortunate. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt is history from the grassroots and a testament to Eleanor Roosevelt's influence on the American consciousness and her effectiveness in catalyzing social change. Often addressed as "Mrs. President," Eleanor Roosevelt daily received hundreds of letters during her fourteen years as First Lady, and often responded by using the instruments of government to aid her correspondents. Historian Cathy Knepper has selected nearly two hundred of these letters, with many of Mrs. Roosevelt's replies, to tell the story of the Greatest Generation in its own words. The letters come from those impoverished during the Depression, the elderly in search of a pension program, blacks suffering the effects of racism, toilers in the New Deal, and mothers of soldiers during World WarII. They transport readers to Oklahoma families forced to abandon their farms, mothers dealing with the blight of urban poverty, soldiers in Europe worried about their families at home, and servicemen in the Pacific desperate for a break from long years of war.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786713976
• ISBN13: 9780786713974
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.5" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Poignant letters to a great human rights activist

The letters are published with all the misspellings and grammatical mistakes intact, which make them all the more sincere and poignant. They give a very human understanding of the cataclysmic events in the world and specifically the U.S. during the years of the Great Depression and World War II. They also, of course, give powerful testimony to the almost worshipful admiration that ordinary people had for the extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt.

An intruiging look into history, from real people

A country with problems - from the Great Depression to war - is reflected by these letters to Eleanor Roosevelt. The First Lady became a sounding board for the country's ills at that time, while Americans, and others, vented their sometimes heartbreaking concerns. Eleanor Roosevelt listened with open ears and answered with compassion and caring, understanding the pulse of the common American citizen, as has no First Lady since. At a time when Americans were in need, Mrs. Roosevelt used her influence to effect change. Dr. Knepper paints a captivating picture of that history. Her next book should be a follow-up on some of the folks whose letters are included in this rich collection - how did they fare?

an important reminder

In these days of conflicting priorities and overwhelming crises, Dr. Knepper's book reminds us that people have overcome much more difficult odds than we face at present. The letters she has chosen to reprint depict poignant and harrowing situations. It reminds us that all Americans have been pioneers. In a charming touch, each letter is faithfully copied which makes you "hear" the accent in which it was written. This book begs to be performed with a series of actors reading the letters on a stage. Fans of Ken Burns would love this book. Of course, it also portraits Eleanor Roosevelt in the way she shone best: through her actions. When faced with so many letters carrying pleas for help, she had to say no to so many of them that you almost feel her compulsion to act when she could do so. The greatest impact this book had on me was in reminding me that any action toward the good of others counts, even when there are so many issues to address. I plan to reread this book often.

A touching picture of the depression and war years

This remarkable collection of letters spans the FDR presidency and gives remarkable insight into Eleanor Roosevelt's personal experiences as first lady and her interactions with government agencies. The letters were well chosen to illustrate the hard times during the depression and war years and the desperate condition of many Americans. Each section is introduced by well written overview of the circumstances that confronted Mrs. Roosevelt as well as the letter writers. A very interesting and touching picture of this era.