Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression [Paperback]

Robert (ed.) Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2007

Impoverished young Americans had no greater champion during the Depression than Eleanor Roosevelt. As First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt used her newspaper columns and radio broadcasts to crusade for expanded federal aid to poor children and teens. She was the most visible spokesperson for the National Youth Administration, the New Deal's central agency for aiding the needy young, and she was adamant in insisting that federal aid to young people be administered without discrimination so that it reached blacks as well as whites, girls as well as boys.

This activism made Mrs. Roosevelt a beloved figure among poor teens and children, who between 1933 and 1941 wrote her thousands of letters describing their problems and requesting her help. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt presents nearly 200 of these extraordinary documents to open a window into the lives of the Depression's youngest victims. In their own words, the letter writers confide what it was like to be needy and young during the worst economic crisis in American history.

Revealing both the strengths and the limitations of New Deal liberalism, this book depicts an administration concerned and caring enough to elicit such moving appeals for help yet unable to respond in the very personal ways the letter writers hoped.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

From the voluminous correspondence addressed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Cohen has culled nearly 200 letters penned by children. Poignant, heartfelt, and brimming with childlike faith, these missives represent a portion of the population often overlooked by historians eager to capture the heart and soul of Depression America. Viewed as a champion of the poor, the oppressed, and the helpless, Eleanor Roosevelt was beloved by legions of poverty-stricken children and teenagers, who reached out to her in record-setting numbers. Nearly every letter contains a plea for economic or material assistance, reflecting the physical and psychological burdens and fears visited upon the vast majority of American youth during their formative years in the 1930s. Perhaps even more bittersweet than the letters themselves, is the fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was unable to personally answer or address the individual problems described in such vivid and heartbreaking detail. A priceless primary resource for both amateur historians and Depression scholars. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

An honest, splendid depiction of the hopes, fears, vulnerability, and aloofness that both Eleanor Roosevelt and the children who wrote her needed to survive the Depression. (Allida Black, editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers)

Poignant, heartfelt, and brimming with childlike faith, these missives represent a portion of the population often overlooked by historians. (Booklist)

A must-read for anyone concerned about poverty and its impact on the young. (David N. Dinkins, former mayor of New York City)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (January 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807854131
• ISBN-13: 978-0807854136
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Roosevelt, Eleanor

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful way to learn about our grandparent's generation., August 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression (Paperback)

This book contains absolutely touching letters written by the youth of America during a time when the country was struggling feed, clothe, and employ a large part of the population. Robert Cohen must have spent millions of hours researching the letters that were kept by Mrs. Roosevelt's staff.
Chapters focus on the following subjects: Ill-Clothed, Ill-Housed, Ill-Fed; Education; Social Life; and Minorities. Mr. Cohen draws conclusions based on the letters he researched, then includes letters written to Mrs. Roosevelt from the children. The letters are, for the most part, heartbreaking - I wouldn't recommend reading more than 4 a day, otherwise you might be overwhelmed.
This book gave me a greater understanding of what my grandparents lived through. I also that some things in life never change - our desire for art and culture, education, and societal acceptance.
A must-read for anyone with an interest in history, or for someone who is interested in hearing firsthand accounts of what life was like for a large part of the American population in the late 1920's and early 1930's.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting book of letters to Mrs. Roosevelt, May 3, 2006

By 

J. Brandt (texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression (Paperback)

Robert Cohen has taken letters from children (and young adults) who wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt asking for help during the Great Depression. Mrs. Roosevelt had become a beacon of hope for millions of Americans who had lost everything in the Depression and the letters are, at times, difficult to read due to the needs of the people writing directly to her hoping she would sent them money, clothes or other items to help their families.
Cohen takes each group of letters and introduces them with a short chapter explaining in more detail the issues addressed in the letters.
The fact that so many people wrote to Mrs. Roosevelt (more than 300,000 letters) and the fact that her staff was overwhelmed and unable to do much more than send form letters in return or refer some of the people to social agencies speaks volumes of the fact that the New Deal just could not possibly help everyone.