Lorena Hickok Papers, 1913-1962 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

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Collection Overview

Title: Lorena Hickok Papers, 1913-1962

Primary Creator: Lorena Hickok (1893-1968)

Extent: 7.34 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: Three series: the first and second arranged chronologically and the third alphabetically.

Date Acquired: 00/00/1958

Abstract

Known today primarily as a close friend and confidante of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lorena Hickok also was a skilled newspaper reporter and observer of the human condition. During the early New Deal period, she traveled the country by car as a roving investigator for Harry Hopkins and the Federal Emergency Recovery Administration, and sent Hopkins regular and candid reports on the effectiveness of local relief administrations and the physical and mental conditions of those receiving relief. Her correspondence with Eleanor Roosevelt also is included in this collection.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Papers of Lorena Hickok is an 18 box collection in three series. The largest is the Eleanor Roosevelt-Lorena Hickok correspondence. The second series, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration papers, holds copies of the reports which Miss Hickok submitted to Harry Hopkins. The third series, a correspondence and subject file, contains, besides bits and pieces of correspondence with over fifty people, considerable correspondence with Mary Norton, Congresswoman from New Jersey, Marion Harron, a member of the United States Tax Court, and Alicent Holt, a former high school teacher of Miss Hickok’s.

Collection Historical Note

Lorena Hickok was born on March 7, 1893, in East Troy, Wisconsin. Throughout her childhood, she traveled with her family through the upper Midwest as her father followed his itinerant buttermaking trade. Her mother died when Miss Hickok was thirteen. Three years afterward she went to Battle Creek, Michigan, to live with her mother’s cousin, Ella Ellie. There she attended High School, finishing three years.

After a brief attempt at college, Miss Hickok took her first job with a newspaper, collecting personals for the Battle Creek Evening News. After a second and a third attempt at college, she decided to pursue a career in journalism. In the summer of 1919 she was appointed Sunday editor of the Minneapolis Tribune. The paper’s managing editor, Thomas J. Dillon, gave her opportunities that were seldom given to a woman. He gave her a by-line and made her the paper’s chief reporter, and for the next six years she covered politics and football and prepared editorials.

In 1926, Miss Hickok left the Tribune and. After a period of travel and ill-health, she went to New York. She worked, first, for about a year, for the Mirror. Then, in 1928, she began work with the Associated Press, where she again found an editor, Martin A. White, who did not restrict her to the few areas of the profession traditionally allotted to women. Her specialty was political reporting, and she often shared campaign trains with dozens of her male colleagues.

In the summer of 1928, while she was covering the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in New York City, Miss Hickok was introduced to Eleanor Roosevelt by Mrs. Roosevelt’s secretary, Malvina Thompson. Mrs. Roosevelt was head of the Women’s Division of the Democratic National Committee during the 1928 campaign, and Miss Hickok would on what she called “dull days” at Democratic National Headquarters wander down to the Women’s Division and look for a story. The two women formed during this period a slight acquaintance.

Four years later, Miss Hickok was assigned by the Associated Press to cover the Presidential campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. She suggested that someone be assigned to cover Mrs. Roosevelt, but the A. P. resisted the idea until very late in the campaign when Roosevelt’s victory appeared certain. In October 1932, Miss Hickok was assigned exclusively to Mrs. Roosevelt. For the final month of the campaign, and then for the four month interregnum period, the two women went everywhere together. By inauguration day, 1933, they had become close friends.

Miss Hickok’s press coverage of Mrs. Roosevelt ended on inauguration day, and she returned to New York. She found that her friendship with Mrs. Roosevelt had compromised her ability to continue her work. As a consequence, she resigned from the Associated Press in late June 1933.

After a motoring trip with Mrs. Roosevelt through upstate New York, New England, Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula, Miss Hickok began work, probably August 1933, as a Chief Investigator for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Her major duties in this position were to travel around the country and to report on both the effectiveness of local relief administrations and the physical and mental condition of those receiving relief. She also accepted from President Roosevelt in the spring of 1935 a special investigating assignment in connection with the administration of the National Emergency Council. During this period, Miss Hickok made two other extended trips with Mrs. Roosevelt: the first, in March 1934, to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; the second, in July 1934, to San Francisco, Sacramento, Yosemite National Park, and Nevada.

Miss Hickok resigned from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in late November 1936. In January 1937, she accepted a position as director of promotion for the New York World’s Fair. In her first few months with the Fair, Miss Hickok established the pattern of living – that is, of commuting from her Manhattan apartment to her weekend and holiday retreat at Moriches, Long Island, the “Little House” on the estate of William S. Dana – which is much in evidence in her correspondence with Mrs. Roosevelt during these years.

She left the New York World’s fair in late January 1940, to take a post as assistant to the publicity director of the Democratic National Committee. Sometime shortly after the 1940 election, she transferred to the Women’s Division of the Democratic National Committee to become its executive director. She lived, during these years in Washington – as she occasionally had during her work with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration – at the White House. In March 1945, she resigned her post because of ill-health.

From March 1945 until sometime in mid-1947, Miss Hickok lived in partial retirement, dependent for income primarily on the proceeds from her writing and on the generosity of her friends. She helped Eleanor Roosevelt and Congresswoman Mary Norton with several writing projects and was entered for a time on the latter’s staff payroll. Sometime in mod-1947 she took a position with the women’s division of the Democratic State Committee of New York. She may have held this post through 1952.

Beginning with Ladies of Courage (1954), which she wrote with Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Hickok wrote several books, including The Story of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1956), The Story of Helen Keller (1958), The Story of Eleanor Roosevelt (1959), The Touch of Magic: The Story of Helen Keller’s Great Teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy (1961), Reluctant First Lady (1962), and The Road to the White House (1962).

Miss Hickok gave up her Moriches, Long Island cottage sometime in the mid-1950’s (maybe 1955) and moved to Hyde Park. She may have lived at Val-Kill cottage for several months in the fall of 1955, and perhaps longer. In late 1957 she was living in a cabin in the Lakewood Motor Court in East Park; by early 1960, she had moved to 19 Park Place in the village of Hyde Park, an address which she kept until her death on May 1, 1968.

Administrative Information

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: Material which might be used to embarrass, harass, or injure living persons has been closed.

Use Restrictions: Miss Hickok donated her copyrights in the papers to the United States Government. Copyrights in the writings of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt in the papers have been retained. Information concerning them should be sought from her literary executor, Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.

Acquisition Source: Lorena Hickok

Acquisition Method: The papers were presented to the Library by Lorena Hickok in 1958. They were kept closed until ten years after her death (until May 1, 1978) according to a provision in her deed of gift.

Related Materials: Selected files in the Personal and Official Files of the Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, and in the papers of Mary Dewson, Harry Hopkins, Eleanor Roosevelt and Aubrey Williams.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Eleanor Roosevelt-Lorena Hickok Correspondence],
[Series 2: Federal Emergency Relief Administration Papers],
[Series 3: Correspondence and Subject File],
[Sub-Series 4: Appendix to Series 1, ER-LH Correspondence],
[All]

Series 1: Eleanor Roosevelt-Lorena Hickok Correspondence

Correspondence, telegrams, transcripts of correspondence and of several of Mrs. Roosevelt’s speeches and articles, itineraries, clippings, greeting cards and invitations, and a small volume of miscellaneous material. Arranged chronologically, with itineraries, clippings, and miscellaneous and undated material gathered at the end of the series. The clippings included in this series are, with one or two exceptions, of Mrs. Roosevelt’s My Day column. Those which were included with a letter have been attached to that letter; those which were loose have been gathered in a folder at the end of the series. (10 Containers)

Box 1

1932
March-November 1933
December 1933
Correspondence, Eleanor Roosevelt to Lorena Hickok: first typescript copy, March-November 1933
Correspondence, Eleanor Roosevelt to Lorena Hickok: second typescript copy, March-November 1933
January 1934
February-March 1934
April 1934
May 1934
June 1934

Box 2

July-August 1934
September-October 1934
November-December 1934 and undated
January-February 1935
March-May 1935
June 1935
July 1935
August 1935
September 1935
October 1935
November 1935
December 1935 and undated

Box 3

January-February 1936
March-April 1936
May 1936
June 1936
July 1936
August 1936
September-October 1936
November 1936
December 1936, and undated

Box 4

January 1937
February 1937
March 1937
April 1937
May 1937
June 1937
July 1937
August 1937
September 1937
October 1937

Box 5

November 1937
December 1937, and undated
January 1938
February 1938
March 1938
April 1938
May 1938
June 1938
July 1938
August 1938
September 1938

Box 6

October 1938
November 1938
December 1938, and undated
January 1939
February 1939
March 1939
April 1939
May 1939
June 1939

Box 7

July 1939
August 1939
September 1939
October 1939
November 1939
December 1939, and undated
January 1940
February 1940
March 1940
April 1940
May-June 1940

Box 8

July-August 1940
September-October 1940
November 1940
December 1940, and undated
January-May 1941
June-July 1941
August-December 1941
January-July 1942
August-December 1942, and undated

Box 9

1943
1944
1945
1946 and 1947
1948-1955
1956-1962, and undated

Box 10

Mrs. Roosevelt's itineraries
Clippings
Not dated and miscellaneous

Series 2: Federal Emergency Relief Administration Papers

Reports, fragments of reports and correspondence, an “Introductory Chapter,” and miscellaneous correspondence and expense account material related to Miss Hickok’s work as Chief Investigator for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Arranged in two subseries, and thereunder chronologically, with miscellaneous and expenses account material gathered at the end of the series. ( 2 containers)

Box 11

Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, August-October 1933
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, November-December 1933
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, January-February 1934
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, March-April 1934
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, May-August 1934
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, September-December 1934
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, 1935
Lorena Hickok reports to Harry Hopkins, 1936

Box 12

Excerpts from Lorena Hickok's letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and her reports to Harry Hopkins: Pennsylvania, August 1933
Excerpts from Lorena Hickok's letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and her reports to Harry Hopkins: West Virginia, August 1933
Excerpts from Lorena Hickok's letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and her reports to Harry Hopkins: Maine, September 1933
Excerpts from Lorena Hickok's letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and her reports to Harry Hopkins: Up-State New York, September 1933
Excerpts from Lorena Hickok's letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and her reports to Harry Hopkins: North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and New York City, September-December 1933
Excerpts from Lorena Hickok's letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and her reports to Harry Hopkins: Alabama, Texas, California, West Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, South Dakota, New York City, 1934-1936
"Introductory Chapter" [to a selection of Lorena Hickok's investigative reports?]
Miscellaneous correspondence related to Lorena Hickok's reports
Expense account and related materials

Series 3: Correspondence and Subject File

Correspondence, telegrams, manuscripts, newspaper copy, invitations, clippings, and financial and other miscellaneous material. Arranged alphabetically by correspondent and subject, and thereunder chronologically. Many of the correspondence items were enclosures from Mrs. Roosevelt to Miss Hickok. If the item was enclosed with a letter of Mrs. Roosevelt’s, then the original of the enclosure was attached to its cover letter, and a copy was placed in this series. If the enclosure was loose, then it was simply filed in this series. (6 containers)

Box 13

A through M
Boettiger, John, 1936
Bunche, Ralph, 1962
C, 1938
Chaney, Mayris, 1939?
Cook, Nancy, 1937
Corr, Maureen, 1953-1957
Cutler, Mary, 1947-1948
Dana, Ella, 1934-1947
Davis, Alice, 1934
Dettner, F. C. (Prinz's veterinarian), 1943
Dewson, Mary, 1940-1961
Dickinson, Ella, 1935-1948
Dillon, Thomas and Clarissa, 1937-1942
Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 1938-1960
Edwards, India, 1945-1952
Ellie, Ella, 1913-1944
Elliott, Harriet, 1941-1942
Enright, Adelaide, 1936-1938
Falke, Grace, ca. 1937
Farley, James, 1939
Ferrarini, Marty, 1937-1940
Fitzgerald, Katheryn, 1950-1952
Flynn, Edward, 1940
Gellhorn, Martha, 1935-1938
Harriman, Averell, 1955
Harriman, Florence Jaffray, 1952
Harron, Marion J., 1942-1943
Harron, Marion J., January-August 1944

Box 14

Harron, Marion J., September-December 1944
Harron, Marion J., January-May 1945
Harron, Marion J., June-August 1945
Harron, Marion J. - Miscellaneous
Haycraft, Howard, 1933-1942
Helm, Edith, 1936-1946
Hickok, Lorena: autobiographical manuscript (forward and chapters 1, 2, 7 and 13 only), ca. 1949
Hickok, Lorena: interview with, by John P. Broderick
Hickok, Lorena: Associated Press stories about Mrs. Roosevelt, ca. September 1932-March 1933
Hickok, Lorena: manuscript, an autobiography of the White House
Hickok, Lorena: manuscripts about Mrs. Roosevelt, 1945, 1946
Hickok, Lorena: manuscript on Drew Pearson

Box 15

Hickok, Lorena: personal and miscellaneous
Hickok, Lorena: invitations to inaugural events, and related material
Hickok, Lorena: miscellaneous financial material, 1933-1951
Holt, Alicent, 1936-1950
Hopkins, Harry, 1937
Joseph, Nannine, 1951-1962
Keller, Helen, 1957
Lash, Joseph - not dated
Lindley, Betty, 1942
Lovelace, Maud, 1949-1950
Lund, Muriel, 1948-1953

Box 16

Michelson, Charles, 1939-1940
Miller, Earl, 1933-1939
N through W
The New York World's fair, 1937-1940
Nice, Mary Louise, 1948-1950
Norton, Mary T., 1941-1945
Norton, Mary T., 1946-1948
Norton, Mary T., 1949-1952
Norton, Mary T., 1953-1959
Norton, Mary T.: Miscellaneous and unidentified

Box 17

Norton, Mary T.: manuscript, Madam Congressman, The Memoirs of Mary T. Norton of New Jersey
Perkins, Frances, 1940
Perry, Franc, 1939-1960
Price, Virginia, 1945-1948
Rischel, Virginia, 1945
Roosevelt, Anna, 1935-1939
Roosevelt, Belle, 1943-1948
Ross, Ann, 1940-1943
St. Johns, Adela Rogers, 1937
Seagraves, Anna Eleanor (Sisty), ca. 1935, 1962
Simons, H. Austin, 1917-1918
Sproul, Kathleen, 1948-1950
Stewart, Gertrude, 1945-1949
Thompson, Malvina, 1933-1953, and undated
Tillett, Gladys, 1940-1953
Truman, Mrs. Harry, 1945
Unemployment, 1962
van Loon, Gerard Willem, 1938, 1960
van Loon, Hendrick Willem, 1936-1940, and undated
Whalen, Grover, 1936-1937
White, Matt, 1938
The White House, 1933-1947

Box 18

Miscellaneous and unidentified
Clippings

Sub-Series 4: Appendix to Series 1, ER-LH Correspondence

Appendix

The Eleanor Roosevelt-Lorena Hickok Correspondence: Its incidence, by correspondent and by year

ER to LH LH to ER

1932 1 1

1933 39* 3**

1934 236 20**

1935 231 17**

1936 310 46

1937 283 227

1938 289 195

1939 292 241

1940 213 137

1941 92 50

1942 46 26

1943 44 20

1944 30 20

1945 48 19

1946 20 1

1947 18 1

1948 12 --

1949 1 --

1950-1962 102 --

Total 2,336 1,024

*This is the number of holograph letters present for the year 1933. A typescript copy of what is apparently nearly the entire body of correspondence from Eleanor Roosevelt to Lorena Hickok, and which contains copies of 129 letters, is also present, and has been placed in the folder immediately following the combined 1933 holograph correspondence. The letters, as they appear in the typescript, have been edited. Not all letters present in holograph are included in the typescript.

**Fragments of and excerpts from a few of Lorena Hickok’s letters to Mrs. Roosevelt from the period 1933 through 1936 are present in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration series of this collection.