Description:

Frankfurter Felix 1882 - 1965

Watermarked onion skin office copy of TLS allocated to “Mr. Justice Frankfurter” with 30+ words handwritten in black fountain pen by Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter (1882-1962), and initialed “F.F” at bottom left. In very fine to extra fine condition, with isolated foxing at bottom and with two minor pencil inscriptions at top corners, 8” x 10”.

Philanthropist Basil O’Connor (1892-1972) wrote this original letter to 33rd U.S. President Harry Truman (1884-1972) on October 1, 1945 on “O’Connor & Farber, 120 Broadway, New York” letterhead. Subtitled “Roosevelt National Memorial Committee”, the letter tendered O’Connor’s resignation as temporary chairman and member of the Roosevelt National Memorial Committee, citing an increase in responsibilities with various charitable organizations like the American Red Cross and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Copies of this letter were issued to various parties, including our signee Felix Frankfurter. In the left margin, Felix Frankfurter addresses O’Connor as “Dear Doc”, asks for clarification on one point, and then concludes: “I read your Warm Springs speech … I was truly moved by it … ”

Felix Frankfurter served on the Supreme Court for twenty-three years, was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, and was also an advisor of 32 nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was probably through Roosevelt that Frankfurter knew O’Connor, an affluent investment lawyer with an interest in philanthropy. In 1927, O’Connor and Roosevelt helped found the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, a rehabilitation clinic that provided water therapy for polio victims.

After FDR’s death in April 1945, O’Connor served as co-chairman of the Roosevelt National Memorial Committee. Appointed in early May 1945 at the bequest of Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the committee considered proposals submitted for the dead president’s memorial monument. The Committee’s first official meeting convened in September 5, 1945 as mentioned in O’Connor’s resignation letter, and attempted to tackle fundamental issues like officer appointments and the committee’s non-profit status. One month after O’Connor’s resignation, Harry Truman assumed the presidency of the committee and Eleanor Roosevelt became honorary chairwoman. Mostly through a lack of concerted fundraising efforts, the eventual monument to FDR was not completed until the late 1990s.

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