Search Results: Titles starting with F from The Raab Collection

4/3/43. Franklin D. Roosevelt As for the name Lend Lease, which was controversial, he writes, “The expression has by now gained international currency, and is used to describe, for example, British aid to the Soviet Union as well as our own aid to Britain and to the Soviet Union. These considerations have made me hesitate so far to change an expression which is widely used and, on the whole, known very favorably.” One of the finest Roosevelt letters from World War II that we have ever carriedUnder the Lend Lease Act, which was in effect from 1941 to 1945, the United States supplied its World War Two allies, including the United Kingdom, France, the USSR, and China, with weapons and other supplies. The aid was given free of charge on the basis that such help was essential for the defense of the United States, and what was left over after the war would be returned to the U.S. A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to over $700 billion today) worth of supplies was shipped, or 17% of the total war… Read More

9/11/20. Franklin D. Roosevelt He rightly attributes the loss “to the frame of mind the people have gotten after the strenuous efforts of the war”The 1920 presidential election pitted Republicans Warren G. Harding (candidate for president) and Calvin Coolidge (candidate for vice president) against Democrats James Cox (candidate for president) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (candidate for vice president). Well before the campaign was officially under way, it became apparent that the 1920 election would be a referendum on the policies of outgoing President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson’s second term as president had attracted much criticism, beginning with the reversal of his 1916 campaign promise to keep the country out of World War I. His failure to involve congressional voices in his negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles - the postwar peace settlement - irritated members of both parties. His desire for the U.S. to join the League of Nations established under that treaty was vigorously opposed by the… Read More

George V An extraordinary rarity, this is the first time we have ever seen on one sheet the signatures of these two leaders in World War I along with their QueensWorld War One was a war not merely of nations, but also one within a family. Britain and Germany may have been swept up in jingoistic fervor against one another, but what’s often forgotten is that the British monarch at the time, King George V, was the first cousin of Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II, both being grandchildren of Queen Victoria. George V’s father, Edward VII, was Victoria’s eldest son. He had become king upon his mother’s death in 1901, only ruling for a scant nine years until he himself died in 1910, when George V took over as King. George’s mother was Alexandra of Denmark.The German Kaiser was Queen Victoria’s grandson through Victoria’s daughter, also named Victoria, who had married Germany’s Kaiser Frederick III. In fact, Wilhelm’s ties with the British Royal Family were far more than a mere matter of… Read More

31/08/1485. Ferdinand & Isabella ""We have been informed that Alfonso de Baeza, neighbor of the town of Cordova, has been condemned by penalty of fire for the crime of Heretical Depravity, for which all his belongings were and are confiscated to be used by our royal house…” It is also signed by perhaps the most famous Converso [converted Jew] at their court, the scribe to the Monarchs Alfonso de Avila This document is recorded at having sold at Parke Bernet, now part of Sothebys, in 1965 It is very rare to find a document directly relating to the Inquisition and burning at the stake of a Jewish Converso. In all our decades in the field, this is the first we have ever had. And a search of two databases going back over forty years fails to turn up even one other example. [embed size=""full""]https://player.vimeo.com/668985549[/embed]Reference for research, publication, and institutions: Raab M13.069When medieval people used the word ""inquisition,"" they were referring to a… Read More

23/12/1814. Jonathan Russell “We shall receive the British ministers at a conference this day to fill up the blanks, particularly those with respect to the limitation of capture at sea, and to arrange some of the formalities of the treaty.  This done, and fair copies of the treaty drawn up, it will be signed. You have now before you the results of our labors. I will make no other comment than that I believe we have done the best, or nearly the best, which was practicable in existing conditions.”The 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution awarded the western frontier to the United States, but the British did not give up the idea of setting up a Native American buffer state between its holdings and the U.S. on that frontier. This hoped-for state would be shaped like a dagger and descend from the Canadian border on a line from the center point of Ohio west to the Mississippi River and reach to the far south of the Illinois Territory. It would act as a block to American immigration west,… Read More

4/12/33. Eleanor Roosevelt The Gentlewomen's League of Washington was an organization particularly active during the Great Depression and was one of the most successful women’s exchanges in the country. Any funds which were collected above the necessary expenses of running the League were turned into a fund for helping the needy women who were constantly coming to the organization for aid. Many of these had once been of means, but had been financially stranded by the Depression. Moreover, every member of the board gave of her own private funds toward support of the League, and hundreds of women sold their goods through the League, giving them an income when money was hard to come by.Typed letter signed, on White House stationery, Washington, December 4, 1933, to Mrs. William Aspinwall, expressing her willingness to support the League financially. “I have asked my housekeeper to keep the Gentlewomen’s League in mind and to buy what she can from there. I will also keep it in mind in respect to… Read More

16/01/1961. Dwight D. Eisenhower Ike wrote that asked “for help in dealing with this crisis, your company at once furnished…the same team - Mr. Leo C. Beebe and Mr. Charles A. Pink - who did so much to make a success of our work…for the Hungarian refugees four years ago.”In the wake of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, a Cuban exodus began as the new government allied itself with the Soviet Union and began to introduce communism. Tens of thousands of Cubans left Cuba starting in late 1959 and picking up in 1960, and the United States became the country of first asylum as the Cuban refugees sought and found political refuge here. For the first time, the United States Government found it necessary to develop a program to help refugees from another nation in this hemisphere.In the forefront of this effort was President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was in the waning days of his administration. In November 1960, Eisenhower directed Tracy S. Voorhees, a former Undersecretary of the Army, to act as the… Read More

16/07/1872. David Stanley He comments to his fellow Union general that although he supports U.S. Grant in the upcoming election and does not like ""Horace"", Grant ""is a man of intense prejudice""Reference for research, publication, and institutions: Raab F13.099Stories of Yellowstone had reached the East coast as early as 1810, when John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition who remained in the West, wrote of an odd territory the Native American Minnetaree tribe called ""mi tsi a da zi,"" or ""Rock Yellow River."" Reports of vapors and volcanic craters that bubbled with clay circulated sporadically among other trappers and explorers who claimed to have seen the place they called ""Colter's Hell,"" but credible accounts of the region were not published until the completion of the Washburn-Doane Survey and the Hayden Expedition in 1870 and 1871. The sensational accounts of Yellowstone's geology fascinated Eastern audiences, and publicity for the finds in the area was plentiful.… Read More

5/5/33. Albert Einstein Germany as an island of intellectuals is no longer possible, he writes, blaming the fall of his country and exile of his colleagues on poor education, a vestige of Bismarck ""I am almost collapsing under all my responsibilities.""  A glimpse into the tragic end to the scientific flowering of pre-Nazi Germany, along with Einstein's explanation for why it all happened A rare letter from a brief but consequential period in Einstein's life: after he left Germany but before he arrived in AmericaEinstein had long been a revered scientist and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and was employed by Berlin University. At the beginning of March 1932 he returned to Germany from a visit to the United States where he had discussed heading the soon-to-open Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He determined to accept, and to spend half the year in Berlin and half the year in Princeton. But that year the Nazis were on the rise. It was becoming… Read More

12/03/1850. John Tyler On southern opponents and John C. Calhoun’s speech: “It is too ultra and his ultimata impracticable. How is agitation to be quieted or an amendment to the Constitution to be obtained and how above all, can it be expected, that the North will concede a power which has grown up under the Constitution and by our own concessions?…I regard his speech as calculated to do injury to the Southern Cause, and in that view I regret its delivery…” He denies that President Zachary Taylor and his position on the compromise are popular “General Taylor was quite communicative - mistook all the demonstrations of popular feeling as evidences of his popularity, in all which he was in great error.”Victory in the Mexican War paradoxically brought the U.S. to a crisis. The issue was the new territories and what to do with them as regards slavery. The subject had immediacy because with the huge number of people (the 49ers) who were flooding into California seeking gold, that… Read More

05/12/1856. Millard Fillmore Buchanan chose future Confederate Howell Cobb instead of CorningErastus Corning & Co. became important in Albany and the surrounding area, as it supplied iron products, nails, stoves, and farming equipment, and most likely supplying the needs of the Erie Canal. To help corner the market, in 1826 he purchased an iron foundry. Around 1831, quite early, Corning perceptively became interested in the railroad industry as his foundry could produce all the metal tracks and nail required for their construction. He was an investor and board member of the in the Utica and Schenectady Railroad as well as the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad. Two of his companies, Albany Iron Works and the Rensselaer Iron Works became the largest producer of railroad equipment and other iron in the United States. In additional to his business dealings, Corning was also active in politics as a Democrat. He served one term as Mayor of Albany from 1834-1837, and a State Senator from 1842-1845. In 1851 the… Read More

30/01/1962. Dwight D. Eisenhower Ford had taken that position as a member of the President's Advisory Committee on Labor-Management Policy “I, too, feel that automation can result in increased productivity if intelligence is applied to the problem, and if we encourage the initiative and self-reliance of the American citizen (instead, as seems to be the case) lulling him into letting the central government take over.”In the waning days of 1960, President Eisenhower prepared to leave office and hand the presidency to John F. Kennedy. Henry Ford II was a close confidant of Eisenhower’s, and during his presidency provided Ike with important assistance. On three occasions, Ford lent one of his senior executives, Leo Beebe, to the U.S. government to supervise the resettlement of refugees and manage similar projects. Beebe became executive vice chairman of Eisenhower’s Committee for Hungarian Refugees in 1956, a need that resulted from the Hungarian Revolution and subsequent flight from the… Read More

05/01/1898. Benjamin Harrison He also advises Russell on life and business: “Whatever course you determine upon, you owe it to your family to keep up heart and courage.” The former President says he has only $2000 cash and must work for a livingBenjamin Harrison was born in 1833 in North Bend, Ohio, to a prominent family that had a legacy of political activism. He was the great-grandson of a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and grandson of the nation's 9th President, William Henry Harrison. Raised on a farm adjacent to his grandfather's vast estate, Harrison believed he was destined for greatness, and ended up following in his grandfather’s footprints as President.In 1853 Harrison married Caroline Lavinia Scott, and they moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, the following year. There he began his own law practice, and got involved in Republican politics. The Harrisons had a son Russell and a daughter Mary.During Benjamin Harrison’s presidency, Russell was his father’s aide and… Read More

29/08/1986. Richard Nixon ""Too much of the debate has focused only on the possibilities of developing a one hundred percent leak-proof population defense which even the strongest proponents agree could not be developed until next century.""President Nixon made his mark in the area of foreign policy. Although he had made his own career as a militant opponent of Communism, Nixon saw opportunities to reduce the temperature of the Cold War by improving relations with the Soviet Union.One of these was the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks negotiations, which were a series of meetings beginning in Helsinki that lasted from November 17, 1969 until May 1972. After a long deadlock, the first results of SALT I came in May 1971, when an agreement was reached over anti-ballistic missiles systems. Further discussion brought the negotiations to an end in Moscow on May 26, 1972, when Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev signed both the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Interim Agreement Between The United States of… Read More

19/10/1814. Albert Gallatin The War of 1812 had been raging for two years. The U.S. government faced a very challenging financial situation, brought on by restricted trade and almost two decades of seizures of merchant ships at sea, and now by a war on its own soil. Revenues were down to about one half of what was required, and prospects were for a $50 million shortfall by the end of the year. It needed to take steps to raise money, and quickly. Without further funds, there was a real question as to whether the government would be able to pay to maintain the army and navy during wartime. Specie (hard money) payments were severely restricted, and many US banks could not or would not extend the credit. Moreover, merchants would accept Treasury bills only at a steep discount.To meet this challenge, on March 24, 1814, Congress authorized the President to raise the money by borrowing up to $25 million. This prompted a lively public debate on the nation's capacity to sustain a debt of that size. So the… Read More

18/08/1845. John Tyler|John C. Calhoun The Brig Leonidas saw long service in the whaling industry, and is frequently mentioned in journals and records of the era. An interesting and unexpected episode in its history was recorded in a magazine in 1850: “Another illustration of the well known power and agility of the swordfish, the formidable enemy of the whale, was discovered by the workmen engaged in repairing the brig Leonidas, whaler, at this port, a day or two since. In searching for the cause of a leak which bad occurred during her last voyage, it was found that the side of the vessel bad been penetrated quite through, including the copper sheathing and two thicknesses of solid oak plank, not less than five inches, by the sword of one of these fish. The sword was about 12 inches in length…”Peleg Cornell was a well-known whaling captain out of Westport, Massachusetts [near New Bedford]. He made 20 voyages between 1831 and 1870, and left an interesting journal that sold at Christie’s. There… Read More

07/07/1831. Andrew Jackson|Martin Van Buren The whaling ship Caledonia operated out of New London, Connecticut. Parker H. Smith belonged to a successful family of whaling captains, and also became involved in the investing and outfitting of whaling vessels. In 1831 he was master of the Caledonia for a voyage into the Pacific Ocean’s whaling grounds.Document signed, as President, Washington, July 7, 1831, being a passport providing that “Leave and permission are hereby given to Parker H. Smith, master or commander of the Ship called Caledonia of the burthen of 445 tons, lying at present in the port of New London bound for the Pacific Ocean and laden with Stores & apparatus for a whaling voyage, to depart and proceed…on his said voyage…” The document is countersigned by Martin Van Buren as Secretary of State, and also signing is Ingoldsby W. Crawford, Collector of the Port of New London. The passport is in four languages (English, Spanish, French, and Dutch), as befits a ship’s… Read More

14/07/1851. Millard Fillmore|Daniel Webster The noted whaling ship Sarah was out of Nantucket but often docked in the whaling hub of New Bedford. A book speaks of this ship, and reveals the length of its journeys and value of its cargo, stating that “In1830 the whaling ship Sarah returned home to Nantucket Island, carrying 3,500 barrels of valuable whale oil after a voyage of nearly three years.” This amount of whale oil would have been worth about $90,000 back then, equal to millions of dollars today.Ezra Smalley was a whaling captain originally from Nantucket, and he was booked to captain the Ship Sarah on its voyage in 1851.Document signed, as President, Washington, July 14, 1851, being a passport providing that “Leave and permission are hereby given to Ezra Smalley, master or commander of the Ship called Sarah of the burthen of 370 tons, lying at present in the port of Mattapoisett [near New Bedford, Massachusetts] bound for the Pacific Ocean and laden with Provisions, stores and utensils… Read More

14/08/1877. Rutherford B. Hayes In the 1840s, around the time Herman Melville was completing Moby Dick, whaling was a booming worldwide business and the United States was the global behemoth. The U.S. whaling industry grew by a factor of fourteen between 1816 and 1850, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, accounted for half of America's whaling output. In 1846, the U.S. owned 640 whaling ships, more than the rest of the world put together and tripled. Demand for New Bedford's haul came from all over the country. Sperm oil could lubricate fancy new machinery. Inferior whale oil could light up a room. Whale cartilage could hold together a corset or umbrella. At its height, the whaling industry contributed $10 million (in 1880 dollars), enough to make it the fifth largest sector of the U.S. economy.In the 1870s, however, the industry started to decline as whale resources decreased and the price of whale oil fell as a result of increased petroleum production. Capitalists began to funnel their cash into other… Read More

10/9/31. Frank Lloyd Wright Wright first wrote to Lewis Mumford in 1926, when he was in his 50s and already renowned, but at a low point in his career and in desperate need of renewed critical interest in his work; Mumford was in his 30s and making his name in cultural criticism, with much of his writing focused on architecture and urban planning. His writing, however, connected the separate domains of philosophy, architecture, anthropology, and literature to one another and to the human domain in general. He greatly admired Wright's work as ""the exemplar of organic design, built in accordance with the rhythms of modern life""; the two men shared ideas and interests. Wright first approached Mumford with an admiring note, and they developed an often wary friendship that meanders from growing intimacy to a break over politics and then to a gradual reconciliation. Their correspondence, which has been published, stands out in particular for the intensity of the pair's intellectual discourse.Both Wright… Read More