ARCHIVE: The Hot Dog Picnic: Royal Visit Correspondence.
THE PICNIC THAT WON WORLD WAR II:
THE ORIGINAL SCHEDULING AND INSTRUCTIONS SENT BY FIRST LADY ELEANOR
ROOSEVELT TO FDR’S MOTHER FOR THE MOMENTOUS VISIT OF KING GEORGE VI AND
QUEEN ELIZABETH TO HYDE PARK IN 1939
IT CHANGED THE ATTITUDE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ABOUT THE BRITISH, AND MADE
POSSIBLE U.S. AID TO BRITAIN WHEN WORLD WAR II BROKE OUT
Roosevelt, Eleanor and Sara. Royal Visit Correspondence. 1939.
Sara Roosevelt’s apparently unpublished personal file of correspondence from Eleanor, the
Royals, and related material, pertaining to the royal visit to her home. The letters show the First
Lady’s great attention to detail, and dedication to making the Royal Family and their entourage
comfortable and happy.
The small but dense archive includes the following:
• three letters from Eleanor to Sara, the first two detailing what was expected of Sara, and
the latter walking her through the schedule
• a telegram of gratitude from the King and Queen to Sara
• Sara’s manuscript telegram to them in response saying she would cherish the memory of
their visit
• a rare original program for the event sent from the White House
• letters by Sara describing the visit
• additional artifacts.
Further details follow the contextual summary below.
Throughout the summer of 1938 the eyes of the world were focused on the threatening demands
being made by Adolf Hitler on lands that were part of Czechoslovakia. Europe teetered on thee
brink of war, as Britain and France nominally supported Czechoslovakia, but in reality were not
willing to go to war to save her. On September 13 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
asked Hitler for a personal meeting to find a peaceful solution. Chamberlain arrived by plane in
Germany on September 15 and met with the Fuhrer; the result was a solution that would
dismember Czechoslovakia. After the meeting, on September 16, French Prime Minister Edouard
Daladier flew to London to meet British officials to discuss a course of action. They determined
to pressure Czechoslovakia to make concessions, to essentially abandon Czechoslovakia in the
hopes of avoiding another world war. The next day Hitler established a paramilitary organization
of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia. At the end of the month, Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain
and Daladier met at Munich to sign the infamous Munich Agreement, appeasing Hitler and
convincing him that Britain and France were weak and would never stand up to him. On October
5, Winston Churchill would warn the British people that “they should know that we have
sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our
road. He also stated, “At Munich the Government had to choose between war and shame. They
chose shame. I tell you, they shall get war, too.”
At that time, September 1938, U.S. foreign policy was isolationist. Relations with Britain were
cold and distant at best, with much anti-British sentiment and anger about having been dragged
into World War I. As war loomed in Europe, a September 23, 1938, Gallup poll showed that
Americans wanted no part of European squabbles, and 73% were in favor of maintaining a
mandatory arms embargo on all sides. Franklin Roosevelt was an exception to these sentiments,
as he was already convinced that the Nazis would bring war soon enough, and that the United
States would not be able to avoid choosing sides. He wanted the U.S. to provide assistance to
Britain, but first had to persuade the public that it was both a good idea and that the British were
worthy of the risk the U.S. would be taking by getting involved. There was an ongoing and
intense debate within the U.S. over potential intervention, and it was a very critical time in
relations between Britain and the U.S.
As the events of September 1938 were taking place, Roosevelt learned that British King George
VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth (known as the Queen Mother when her daughter Elizabeth
ascended the t
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