Read Eleanor Roosevelt's Personal Letters
Read personal letters between Eleanor Roosevelt and Emmaline Dunne, the great-grandmother of one ROADSHOW guest, and a friend of the former First Lady.
May 8, 2023
During ANTIQUES ROADSHOW’s July 2022 visit to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, a guest named Sarah brought in a collection of Eleanor Roosevelt’s signed autobiographies and letters.
Sarah told Books and Manuscripts appraiser, Ian Ehling, that this collection belonged to her great-grandmother, Emmaline, who was friends with the first lady. Eleanor Roosevelt and Emmaline became friends when Emmaline wrote her a letter asking for advice on an essay she wrote for a contest about democracy. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote Emmaline back: “My dear Mrs. Dunne, I read your article with interest. I am afraid, however, that it will not be easy to get it published, not because you are not well-known, but because it is an article which I understand perfectly, but which I am not sure would mean a great deal to people who do not have a considerable amount of education”. Roosevelt offered to send the essay along to her literary agent for more feedback in hopes of getting it published. Dunne continued writing editorial articles and had three published in the Penn Township papers.
At the end of the first letter in Sarah's collection, Roosevelt writes, “If you’re ever in New York or in my neighborhood, call on me and we should get together.” Their correspondence and friendship continued from there and in 1949, the two met in Hyde Park. The articles published about them meeting are in Sarah’s collection. Also included in the collection are signed copies of Eleanor Roosevelt’s autobiographies, This I Remember and On My Own. This I Remember even has a handwritten presentation inscription by Roosevelt, which reads, “With good wishes”.
The collection spans ten years with the first letter Roosevelt wrote dated July 10, 1948 and her signing On My Own which was published in 1958. “The letter has some water staining on the side, and the books are not in the best condition,” Ehling pointed out. But based on the great content of the letters and Eleanor Roosevelt’s signatures, he gave the collection an insurance value of $1,500.
Ehling added that more of their correspondence can be found in the Library of Congress. During the winter of 2023, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW reached out to the Library of Congress to request copies of this correspondence. They kindly obliged and informed us that the original material is held at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Read the letters from the Library of Congress below!
Handwritten letter to Emmaline Dunne from Eleanor Roosevelt: Dunne — If you do come to NYC during the week do come out to the U.N. If you will let me know ahead I will get you a ticket.
