Elliott Roosevelt
Interested in aviation, Roosevelt served as general manager of Gilpin Airlines and was the aviation editor for the Hearst newspapers. Despite involvement in the Air Mail Scandal, in which the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations were investigated for their distribution of air mail contracts, Roosevelt briefly held the vice presidency of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce. In 1940, he was commissioned in the United States Army Air Corps amidst accusations of nepotism. Leading up to the U.S. entry into World War II, he helped establish air bases abroad before training as a bombardier and carrying out clandestine reconnaissance flights over French West Africa. He spent several years commanding reconnaissance units before being promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
In 1943, he was involved in another scandal for recommending an experimental Hughes aircraft for reconnaissance use, the Hughes D-2, after having been extravagantly entertained by Hughes and his associates. During the year of our letter, a Senate subcommittee called upon both Hughes and Roosevelt to testify on financial irregularities surrounding the government-funded Hughes XF-11 prototype. His post-war life included business ventures in Cuba and Colorado, residency in Portugal, Washington, California, Arizona, and Miami Beach, where he served one term as mayor. His graphic expose, The Roosevelts of Hyde Park: An Untold Story, published in 1973, alienated him from much of his family.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Elliott was the acknowledged favorite son of Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) and, oddly, authored a series of mysteries in which his mother was the main character. At the time of our letter, the former first lady was acting as delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, where she served with distinction from 1945-1951, and again under President Kennedy. As chairwoman of the UN Commission on Human Rights she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, accepted by the General Assembly in 1948 and still regarded as the authoritative doctrine on the subject. Pach Brothers, founded in 1867, was, until its close in 1993, the nation’s oldest photography studio. Folded with several staple holes in the upper left corner. In very good condition.
