Apr 14, 2015 - Sale 2380

Sale 2380 - Lot 226

Price Realized: $ 875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
(ROOSEVELT, FRANKLIN D.) Collection of letters recalling Franklin D. Roosevelt. 72 Letters Signed from various parties to Louis B. Cella of Elmhurst, IL; condition strong, most of them sleeved and housed in a custom binder with morocco spine labels. In slipcase. Vp, 1957-65

Additional Details

Louis B. Cella (1903-1971) solicited anecdotes from the surviving members of President Roosevelt's circle. The responses are a Who's Who of New Deal figures, some of them offering extensive personal reminiscences of their time with Roosevelt. Among the highlights, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins recalls Roosevelt's gradual acceptance of the need for a Social Security program; Nathan Straus of the United States Housing Authority recalls Roosevelt's "lasting and deep interest in the Negro people"; and Secretary of War Harry Woodring "knew of no man that equaled Roosevelt in the knowledge of history and geography." Vice President Henry Wallace recalls that his his first impression was of "an utterly charming, carefree and rather careless adventurer who loved to be the center of attention," but "when he got to Washington other sides of this most remarkable man came to the surface." Other correspondents include Carl Sandburg, George Meany, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Norman Thomas, Chester Bowles, Abe Fortas, Philip LaFollette, and John L. Lewis. Much to chew on for the Roosevelt collector.