Famille

474 — Very Good. An Eleanor Roosevelt-centered Archive of Photos: 1880s; 1903/4; mid-1950sCaribbean Islands Florida Western U. S. and other locations ca. 1880s; 1903/4; and mid-1950s General Description: 1 letter from Pare Lorentz Associates; 1 85 x 85mm B and W some sepia toning; 37 85 x 85mm B and W some sepia toning; 3 85 x 85mm B and W ; 85 x 85 photos with decorative borders mid 1950s ; 1 120 x 175 mm sepia photo; 1 90 x 130 sepia toned oval photo; 1 60 x 40 mm photo; 1 210 x 130 sepia toned and mounted photo; 38 295 x 95 panoramic photos. 86 Items in Total. This Roosevelt archive constitutes three moments in time for the Roosevelt family during the height of their importance in the US political and social landscape centred around First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. First we have a private glimpse at Eleanor’s parents. An oval portrait of Elliot Roosevelt 1860-1894 Eleanor’s father was taken in Abingdon VA. Likely this photo was taken in the last year of his life as he had moved to Abingdon after the death of his wife and son. A smaller portrait suffering crinkling depicts Anna Hall Roosevelt 1863-1892 Eleanor’s mother. According to her family Eleanor kept these photographs of her parents in her bedroom. Next we have the documentation of Eleanor’s absence as Sara Delano Roosevelt her soon-to-be-mother-in-law takes Franklin around the Caribbean in 1903 or 1904 “when she was trying to lure him away from Eleanor †as notable Roosevelt-documentarian Pare Lorentz put it in his letter to Hyde Park regarding these same photos. Pare’s letter regarding these photos dated February 22 1949 is now housed in the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. We’re looking at a set of 75 black and white square and panorama photos depicting a tour of locations identified in Saint Augustine Miami Havana Cuba Willemstad Curaçao Spanishtown Jamaica Nassau Bahamas and possibly showing construction of the Panama Canal. The letters between Pare and Hyde Park catalogue some of these same photos that were reproduced for the Library including “bathing suit group on beach †“pix sic of natives of scenery and one possible shot of FDR back †“outdoor eating shot - looks like SDR †“numerous naval vessels †“wonderful bathing suit pic but no indication of any Roosevelt in it - period piece †and “1 pix sic of SDR on hotel porch.†The two letters dated 2/22/1949 and 11/17/1949 to and from Pare Lorentz and Hyde Park that are currently housed in the FDR Library and Museum are followed up within this archive by a correspondence from the Pare Lorentz office signed by Jacqueline Bernard noting the receipt from Elliot Roosevelt son of FDR and Eleanor of 27 or 30 loose pictures and four albums for reproduction by the Roosevelt Library on December 13th 1949. Thanks to architectural clues we know largely where these photos were taken. As Pare notes these pictures are unlabelled making them rife with opportunity to discover new details about who was on this Caribbean trip and to piece together the journey that FDR and his mother made before his marriage to Eleanor and the reconciliation between mother- and daughter-in-law.The final moment we have within this archive is an intimate glimpse of Eleanor in the 1950s. It is nearly 10 years after her husband’s death and we see Eleanor out west with a mid-1950s date suggested by the Kodak stereoscope film type. These photos may have been taken during her Autumn trip in 1954 to Montana Idaho and Wyoming which she writes about in her news column My Day. These photos both significant as they are and significant to future understanding of the Roosevelt’s lives comes through the legacy of Eleanor and FDR’s third child Elliot and was deaccessioned through his heirs. Though some of them were reproduced for the FDR Presidential Library they remain unpublished. unknown