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

by Robert Cohen (Editor), Eleanor Roosevelt (Editor)

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 needy youths, 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Robert Cohen is a professor of history and social studies in NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. He is an affiliated member of NYU’s History Department. His historical scholarship focuses on politics, higher education, and social protest in twentieth century America. His social studies work links middle and high school teachers with the recent advances in historical scholarship and develops curriculum aimed at teaching their students to explore history as a critical discipline – and one that is characterized by intense and exciting debate.

Source:NYU.

Reviews

[Kirby]

The letters themselves are heartbreaking, powerful and thought-provoking but the connective narrative gets a bit heavy-handed. The most stunning moment of the book, for me, was reading a letter from a Native American boy who complained about being teased. In one of her few direct answers (she mostly had to send form letters -- she got hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail!), Mrs. Roosevelt tells the boy that he's too sensitive and that she's certain the other boys couldn't be teasing him because he's "Indian. They have always been greatly admired and certainly you can claim to be a true American." She tells him to accept the teasing in the spirit in which it is being done. Ouch.

[Andrea]

This books chapters that introduced and concluded the book were the most interesting parts. The main part of the book were letters that Mrs. Roosevelt rec'd - while very revealing about the anguish many families and young people were experiencing, they were repetitive. This book does give an excellent portrayal of the heart break of the depression.

[Ann Feutz]

I think this book captures the heartbreak and desperation of youths living during the Great Depression. I also think that while there is some redundancy and repetition in the letters, it certainly speaks to the universality of the human condition. I really liked seeing the responses that Eleanor sent to a few of those children, but was saddened that there were so few of them (2, I think.)

[Judy Tate]

I am giving it 4 stars for historical accuracy. If you are looking for something uplifting about Mrs. Roosevelt, don't bother to read this. It left me sad and angry. I know Mrs. Roosevelt did what she could, but there is never enough and it is disheartening to be reminded so poignantly.

[Ant]

These letter are heartbreaking.

[Claire Hilaire]

Wonderful and moving non-fiction. Very well edited and arranged. This is a great peek into the real children and real suffering that took place during the great depression.

[Petra]

This is my grad school professor! Great book. Timeless letters.

[Andie]

Very heartbreaking. The narrative before each type of letter was very informative. The compiler wanted to make sure that the reader did not interject a 21st century mind set into Depression Era letters by teens, young adults, and children. Having acknowledged that, the editor also reminds us that children and youth have forever wanted the same things - love, acceptance and to feel safe. That has not changed, nor will it ever. Very thought-provoking.

[Dianne]

The letters are heartbreaking.

[Anna Grant]

Heartbreaking collection of handwritten letters by impoverished youth during the Great Depression sent to Eleanor Roosevelt.

[Dylan]

It's hard to comprehend now how desperate a large number of Americans were in the 30s. Roosevelt blamed "unscrupulous money lenders" and a "generation of self-seekers" for the Great Depression. The same charge could be levelled at this century's disastrous crisis; kicked off by the latest brigade of dishonourable casino bankers and Blackberry charged robber barons. These heartbreaking letters to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt are cries of help from a weakened youth, desperate for the very basic of human needs - food, shelter, clothing and warmth. Eleanor appealed to so many because of her very public call to action to support the young of America, and her obvious care and generosity was a beacon of hope for so many. This is a volume of touching, fragile humanity, but hope too. There's little self pity - many of the requests for material help were balanced by a promise to repay when circumstances improved - and an enduring belief that their current conditions were only temporary. The vitality and optimism of the American spirit shines through. It's tough too; tales of personal family hardship and what can happen when men can't work ("I hate my Daddy, a hate you can hardly know"). An essential book for anyone interested in the truth and tears behind the dream of the American century.

[Lyric]

Heartbreaking letters written by children living through the Great Depression addressed to Elenore Roosevelt. Many of the letters in the book went unanswered, as there were just too many people living in poverty.