PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WRITES TO LABOR SECRETARY FRANCES PERKINS ABOUT A CABINET MEETING: “WITH THE APPROACH OF WARM WEATHER ALL OF US WILL BE WANTING TO TAKE OFF OCCASIONAL WEEK ENDS. FOR THIS REASON I BELIEVE THAT IT WILL BE MORE CONVENIENT TO HAVE OUR CABINET MEETING SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON AT 2:00 O'CLOCK P. M. INSTEAD OF FRIDAY”

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (1882-1945).  Roosevelt was the Thirty-Second President. 

FRANCES PERKINS (1880-1965).  Perkins was a labor activist and the first woman to serve in a Cabinet, acting as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945.

TLS 1pg. April 13, 1936. The White House.  A typed letter signed “Franklin D. Roosevelt” as President to Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins: “It has occurred to me that with the approach of warm weather all of us will be wanting to take off occasional week ends. For this reason I believe that it will be more convenient to have our cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 2:00 o'clock P. M. instead of Friday during the next few months. With this in mind we will start this arrangement this week and have a cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon.”.  The letter is framed with a small engraving of Roosevelt.  There is a central mailing fold and light toning to the letter.  A fine letter from Roosevelt to a history-making Cabinet member.

ONE YEAR AFTER HIS FAILED “COURT-PACKING SCHEME”, FDR REPLIES TO FORMER FEDERAL JUDGE WILLIAM HUNT’S RECOMMENDATION FOR A NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (1882-1945).  Roosevelt was the Thirty-Second President.

WILLIAM HENRY HUNT (1857-1949).  Hunt was a prominent lawyer and judge. Throughout his career as a Federal judge, Hunt served at various times in the United States District Court in Montana, the United States Court of Customs Appeals, the United States Commerce Court, and the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (San Francisco). He later left judiciary work for private law practice.

TLS. 1pg. October 21, 1938. Hyde Park, NY. A typed letter signed “Franklin D. Roosevelt” as President. It is on seafoam green “The White House” stationery and is addressed to Hunt in San Francisco after the end of his Federal career. It concerns Hunt’s recommendation of Californian lawyer Maurice E. Harrison for a Supreme Court position, though Harrison never received the nomination. This letter was written one year after Roosevelt attempted unsuccessfully to expand the number of justices in the Supreme Court in what would become known as his infamous “Court-Packing Scheme”: “My dear Mr. Hunt: Thank you for your courteous letter of October 11^th, with reference to Mr. Maurice E. Harrison, of San Francisco, whom you endorse for appointment to the United States Supreme Court. I am glad to know of your high opinion of Mr. Harrison’s qualifications, and do want to assure you that your statements on his behalf will; have every consideration when the question of filling the existing vacancy on the Court is taken up. With all good wishes, Very sincerely yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt”. The letter is in fine condition with one fold line.

PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT DECLINES TO WRITE A BOOK FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: “I NEVER CAN WRITE UNLESS I FEEL IT BORNE IN ON ME TO DO SO, AND OF COURSE TO THINK OF WRITING EVEN A SENTENCE FOR SUCH A BOOK AT PRESENT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919).  Roosevelt was the Twenty-Sixth President. 

ROGER LIVINGSTON SCAIFE (1875-1951).  Scaife, an author, was the head of publicity at Houghton Mifflin and later at Harvard University Press.

TLS. 1pg. March 13, 1907. Washington.  A typed letter signed “Theodore Roosevelt” as President. The letter is on “The White House” letterhead and is addressed to Roger. L. Scaife at Houghton Mifflin: “I have your letter of the 11^th.  I greatly like Dean Briggs’ book.  It would, however, be out of the question for me even to think of writing such a book now.  I never can write unless I feel it borne in on me to do so, and of course to think of writing even a sentence for such a book at present would be impossible.”  LeBaron Russell Briggs, a Dean at Harvard University, taught a young Franklin D. Roosevelt.  At the time of this writing, Briggs was the second President of Radcliffe College.  In 1904, as TR alluded to, Briggs authored The Transition from School to College.  The letter has even toning to the letter and lightness around the edges from a previous framing.  The Roosevelt autograph is dark and the President added two words in his handwriting.  There is a horizontal mailing fold.

A SMALL ARCHIVE OF MATERIALS FROM PRESIDENTIAL SISTER-IN-LAW EMILY TYLER CAROW, INCLUDING A THEODORE ROOSEVELT SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919).  Roosevelt was the Twenty-Sixth President. 

EMILY TYLER CAROW (1865-1939). Carow was the younger sister of First Lady Edith Kermit Roosevelt and thus the sister-in-law of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Archive. 3 pieces. An archive relating to Emily Tyler Carow and her relationship to her Presidential sister and brother-in-law. All three pieces are in very good condition.

1. PS. N.d. N.p. A photograph signed “Theodore Roosevelt” on thick paper stock. Roosevelt is pictured wearing a monocle in this somewhat dark, black-and-white image but the dark signature has great contrast.

2. ALS. 4pgs. December 21, [1903]. The White House, Washington. An autograph letter signed “Emily Tyler Carow”. Writing to a friend, Carow describes sightseeing in Rome and Christmas at the White House. “Dear Miss Tuttle, This is just to wish you a particularly happy Christmas and that 1904 will bring about all your most cherished desires. The little Roman paper weight if it were animate could tell you many tales of love hate and ambition for I picked up the various bits of marbles from all sorts of historical spots the palaces of the Caesars, the Stadium, the Baths of Caracalla, the Villa of Hadrian below Tivoli, the shores of Porto d’Anzio, the ancient atrium where Nero had his villa, & where his baby daughter lived and if I remember rightly died. These last bits of marble were so washed and worn by the sea, that it was not easy to distinguish them from their plebian companion pebbles, and it was only after they had been cut and polished that I could feel quite sure. My two oldest nephews have come home from school for Christmas and the White House is very gay with children’s voices. May you enjoy as happy a Christmas as I expect to with your sister Edith and her children is the wish of Emily Tyler Carow”. There is toning on the second page.

3. A black-and-white photograph of Theodore Roosevelt, two women (most likely Edith and Emily), and a young man (probably one of his sons) outside in front of a palm tree.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT, AS PRESIDENT, SIGNS A DRAMATIC PHOTOGRAPH OF HIM ATOP A JUMPING HORSE

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919).  Roosevelt was the Twenty-Sixth President. 

PS. 9” x 7 ½”. May 2, 1902. No place.  A wonderful black and white photograph signed “with regards of Theodore Roosevelt May 2^nd, 1902” as President.  It is inscribed in the upper right corner.  The theatrical image shows the behatted President atop a jumping horse that is leaping a fence.  The 9” x 7 ½” photograph is matted to an overall size of 13 ½” x 12”.  The signature is light, in part because the surface of the photograph is not conducive to absorbing ink.  Some handwritten letters and numbers are darker than others.  It is difficult to imagine a better TR image.

SECRETARY OF WAR TAFT APPOINTS A WEST POINT CADET

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT (1857-1930).  Taft was the Twenty-Seventh President, serving from 1909 to 1913, and Supreme Court Chief Justice, from 1921 to 1930. 

DS. 1pg. 8” x 10”. March 11, 1908. Washington.  A West Point appointment signed “Wm. H. Taft” as Secretary of War.  Taft appointed Pearl Lee Thomas a cadet.  The vellum document has a couple of folds and wrinkling, but is in very good condition with a relatively dark autograph.