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Primary Sources – John Beck '60 Letter to Dean Young

The following amusing letter from John Beck, '60 to then Dean of Harvard College Burris Young was discovered in the Adams House archives, and describes in detail the visit of Eleanor Roosevelt to dedicate the bronze plaque currently just to the left of the Suite fireplace in the spring of 1960. Besides referencing the "intensive research" to find the exact location of the Suite before ER's visit, it also makes an interesting note that FDR's "student desk" was still in Eleanor Roosevelt's possession at that time. This piece may very well be the one a British antiques dealer recently offered for sale to the Project. Although this particular desk's provenance through the Roosevelt estate via FDR's son Elliott is well established, it's not absolutely certain that the piece resided in FDR's Westmorly rooms.