| Description | Consists of official correspondence and more personal letters between Eleanor Roosevelt, US President Franklin D Roosevelt, Marguerite (Missy) LeHand, and Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst. Also includes an exchange of letters between the Elmhirsts and their son William Elmhirst, written from the White House during a visit to Washington DC in 1941. Letters include discussions of meetings and social engagements with the Roosevelts and other cabinet and Supreme Court members between 1935 and 1944. Records include later typed transcriptions of Leonard Elmhirst's diary entries during visits to America, discussing meetings with officials and 'insider' tours of government offices. Includes an eyewitness account of Roosevelt's meeting with John Lewis of the United Mine Workers and West Virginia coal mine owners, at the White House, 6 Sep 1933, at which Leonard was invited to serve as secretary. Other diary entries discuss Michael Straight and his progress under State Department economic advisor Herbert Feis between 1938 and 1940. There is also mention of bilateral relations between Britain and America before American entry into the War. Leonard's letters to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Miss M A LeHand, discuss PEP reports and introduce Israel Sieff. The text of an Oct 1933 BBC radio address by Leonard Elmhirst is titled 'Impressions of President Roosevelt and of the New Deal.' There are transcriptions of conversations between Leonard and Roosevelt (14 Oct 1940); also, a typed diary account of a lunch with Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky (27 Sep 1939). At least eight lengthy diary accounts between Nov 1940 and Jan 1941 record Leonard's impressions of his meetings with the Roosevelts at Hyde Park, New York, and in Washington. The folder includes 9 signed typed letters by Eleanor Roosevelt and 2 signed by Franklin Roosevelt. There is also a mounted pencil sketch by President Roosevelt drawn for Secretary of Agriculture Henry A Wallace in Sep 1933, about trade imbalances and world economic peace. Of special interest is a diary account of a day spent at Hyde Park with Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and their family, on the eve of the presidential election, 4 Nov 1940. |