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Letter, J. Robert Oppenheimer to Eleanor Roosevelt and draft response

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In May 1950, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote to scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, leader of the wartime project to build an atomic bomb, to ask his opinion about recent media reports of mysterious "flying disks." Oppenheimer, who was not director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, cast doubt on the accounts. The reports "all start with the assurance that there were such things," he notes, "This, of course, I do not believe."

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Letter, Jacqueline Kennedy to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Original Exhibition Caption: On May 27, 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt published a glowing essay about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the Boston Globe. After reading an advance copy of the essay, Mrs. Kennedy wrote this thank you letter to ER.

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Letter, Jawaharlal Nehru to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Original Exhibition Caption: In October 1949, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park and toured the Roosevelt Museum with her. In this letter of thanks, he invites her to visit India where, he assures her, "the people of my country would welcome you with all their heart." Mrs. Roosevelt took up Nehru's invitation and visited India in 1950 (and again in 1952). In 1953, she published India and the Awakening East, a book describing her experiences there.

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Letter, John F. Kennedy to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Original Exhibition Caption: John F. Kennedy carefully courted Eleanor Roosevelt to secure her political support when he ran for President in 1960. Shortly after taking office, he sent this letter asking her to serve on the advisory council for a new government organization he was creating-the Peace Corps. ER noted: "Thank for opportunity" at the bottom of the letter. She accepted the President's invitation.

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Letter, Joseph Pilates to ER's secretary Malvina Schneider

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Original Exhibition Caption: Physical trainer, inventor, and author Joseph Pilates created the Pilates method of physical fitness. In April 1935, he forwarded this letter to Eleanor Roosevelt via her secretary to solicit ER's opinions on his new book, Your Health. This was the first book in which Pilates described his fitness system. In his letter, Pilates notes that the book includes a chapter dealing with chairs and beds he had developed that "naturally restore to normal conditions in the shortest possible time unfortunate victims suffering from various forms of paralysis." Roosevelt Library records do not indicate whether Mrs. Roosevelt responded to Pilates' letter.

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Letter, Lyndon Johnson to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Letter, Margaret Mead to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Original Exhibition Caption: In October 1956, Hungarians staged an uprising to overthrow the puppet government imposed on their nation by the Soviet Union after World War II. The USSR crushed the revolt and over 200,000 Hungarians sought refuge abroad. Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead served as President of The World Federation for Mental Health, which established a fund to assist the refugees. In this letter, she thanks Eleanor Roosevelt for her contribution to the fund.

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Letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Original Exhibition Caption: Eleanor Roosevelt's involvement with the Civil Rights Movement began in the early 1930s and continued until her death in 1962. Her work with labor leader and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph on anti-discrimination initiatives spanned three decades. Given her prominence and her long association with Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the other organizers of a January 1960 Carnegie Hall tribute to Randolph were eager to enlist her participation in the event. ER accepted King's invitation to attend.

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Letter, Mary McLeod Bethune to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Letter, Mary McLeod Bethune to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Letter, Mary McLeod Bethune to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Original Exhibition Caption: Educator, government administrator, and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune was the highest-ranking African American in the Roosevelt administration. She served as Director of Negro Affairs at the National Youth Administration (NYA) from 1935 until Congress ended funding for the agency in 1943. Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt became political associates and close friends during the 1930s. In this somber letter, she reflects on the NYA's legacy and mourns its end. The NYA was a New Deal agency that assisted young people aged 16 to 24 with education and job training, including trade school and work-study programs. ER's handwritten note indicates she hoped to secure a new position for Bethune: "Write her a letter Tell her I'll see her the first time I'm back (ask FDR if he found anything for her)."

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Letter, Pauli Murray to Eleanor Roosevelt

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Letter, J. Robert Oppenheimer to Eleanor Roosevelt and draft response

Letter, Jacqueline Kennedy to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Jawaharlal Nehru to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, John F. Kennedy to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Joseph Pilates to ER's secretary Malvina Schneider

Letter, Lyndon Johnson to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Margaret Mead to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Mary McLeod Bethune to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Mary McLeod Bethune to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Mary McLeod Bethune to Eleanor Roosevelt

Letter, Pauli Murray to Eleanor Roosevelt