“Poignant, heartfelt, and brimming with childlike faith, these missives represent a portion of the population often overlooked by historians eager to capture the heart and soul of Depression America. . . . A priceless primary resource for both amateur historians and Depression scholars. . . . Teens will be caught by the personal history and by the hopes and dreams similar to their own.” — Booklist
“Cohen has assembled an excellent book that not only adds to our knowledge of how the Depression affected the lives of Americans, but also places the letters children wrote to the First Lady in an analytic framework that helps readers more fully understand the Depression and appreciate the magnitude of its grip upon the country.” — Presidential Studies Quarterly
“After sifting through thousands of letters written by children to Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s Robert Cohen has masterfully organized several hundred into a rare and insightful look at Depression America. . . . [O]f all the academic studies on the Depression, none can offer what the children can. . . . We stand to learn a great deal from their words, and Dear Mrs. Roosevelt is a powerful vehicle for anyone willing to listen.” — Journal of Children and Poverty
“By focusing on letters written by children, Cohen accents the effect of the Depression on some of society’s most vulnerable members, and the letters are sure to tug at the heartstrings of even the most stoic readers. . . . The letters offer more than an ongoing tale of pain and suffering; they also present an opportunity to teach students how historians use primary sources to construct a textured portrait of the past.” — History Teacher
“The clear, real voice of people experiencing directly the conditions of the Great Depression will serve as a strong motivation for students of the Depression to learn more. . . . Although the letters stem from Depression conditions, they express needs that are universal: food, shelter, clothing, and better social conditions. The universality of the feelings and needs expressed in these letters make a strong bridge to an earlier time.” — History of Education Quarterly
“Teachers who treat the period will be delighted to find this fresh material on the library shelf.” — Kliatt
“A fine display of children’s historical voice and an engaging interpretation of the 1930s. . . . A model history of childhood. . . . Especially valuable in helping the reader obtain a peek at young people’s unique way of looking at the world.” — NEWDEAL
“[Dear Mrs. Roosevelt] is a revealing look into how the youngest in America were shaped by the Depression, and how they sought assistance from the First Lady.” — Teaching History
“Like the young people who bared themselves to her, Eleanor Roosevelt was compassionate and complex, tender and disciplined, and disappointed in but committed to democracy. Cohen’s Dear Mrs. Roosevelt is an honest, splendid depiction of the hopes, fears, vulnerability, and aloofness that both Eleanor Roosevelt and the children who wrote her needed to survive the Depression. He allows the children to speak for themselves, stands with them as they find the words they want to say, and helps us appreciate their lives. This is a fine book.” — Allida Black, editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers
“This well-edited volume adds a new dimension to Eleanor Roosevelt scholarship, picturing her as a vulnerable human being unable to respond to numerous personal appeals from children for aid during the Great Depression. Filled with the touching voices of poverty-stricken juveniles, this book nevertheless testifies to the faith of Americans of an earlier era in their government and its leaders.” — Maurine H. Beasley, University of Maryland
