Lorena Hickok

Lorena Hickok

Lorena Alice Hickok (March 7, 1893 – May 1, 1968) was an American journalist and confidant of Eleanor Roosevelt. Her relationship with Roosevelt has been the subject of research and it is not universally accepted by historians that the two were romantically connected. [Lillian Faderman, "Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America", Penguin Books Ltd, 1991, page 99] ["However, the case for Roosevelt's lesbianism is one of inference and is not a view universally shared. Among experts who take an opposing view are historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.; Lorena Hickok's biographer, Doris Faber; and Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II"." [http://www.bnl.gov/bera/activities/globe/eleanor_roosevelt.htm Eleanor Roosevelt biography] .]

Biography

Lorena Hickok was born in East Troy, Wisconsin in Walworth County. She helped Harry Hopkins with some fact finding missions during the New Deal. This, however, scarcely defines the relationship between Mrs. Roosevelt and "Hick" as she was popularly known. Lorena Hickok died in 1968 and willed her personal papers to the FDR Library, in Hyde Park, New York, part of the US National Archives, contained in 18 filing boxes to be sealed (to the outside world) until 10 years after her death.

In early May, 1978, Doris Faber, as part of research for a projected short biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, was perhaps the first person outside the National Archives to open these boxes, and was astounded to discover that they contained 2336 letters from Mrs. Roosevelt to Lorena, most of them dated in the 1930s, and continuing right up to Mrs. Roosevelt's death in 1962.

A key passage from just one early twelve-page handwritten missive to Lorena from Eleanor is indicative::Goodnight, dear one. I want to put my arms around you and kiss you at the corner of your mouth. And in a little more than a week now — I shall! [cite book|title = The Life of Lorena Hickok, E.R.'s Friend |author = Faber, Doris|year = 1980|publisher = William Morrow & Company| id = ISBN 0-688-03631-7 p. 132]

From early January, 1941 until shortly after FDR's fourth inauguration in 1945, Lorena lived at the White House. During that time she formed an intense friendship with the Honorable Marion Janet Harron, a United States Tax Court judge ten years her junior. After the judge's death in 1972 of cancer, her papers were found to contain what can only be described as intense love letters to Lorena, beginning in March 1942. No documentation is available to indicate whether the love was reciprocated or not.

In earlier life, Lorena was one of Associated Press's most valued correspondents of either sex, participating in a prominent way in such events as the Lindbergh kidnapping [See Faber p 82 ff] .

At first, being a "special friend" of Mrs. Roosevelt was a journalistic asset, but in the end she had to choose between her friendship with Mrs. Roosevelt and her position with Associated Press. The choice was made in letter to Harry Hopkins, Federal Relief Coordinator on June 7, 1933, informing him that she would begin work for Hopkins about June 19, and that she had resigned from Associated Press days before.

During her time at the White House, Lorena's nominal address during the war was at the Mayflower Hotel in DC, not the White House, and that is where she met most people other than the Roosevelts. An exception to this was Judge Harron, who visited Lorena frequently at the White House, almost the only person to do so. [See Faber, Chapter 18]

After World War II, assorted circumstances conspired to keep her away from Eleanor, although she lived in a cottage on the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park, where she died in 1968.

ee also

*Arthurdale

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/elro/glossary/hickok-lorena.htm Lorena Alice Hickok] at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
* has appeared onstage in Provincetown, Massachusetts every year since 1994.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lorena — may refer to: * Lorena (name), Lorena as a given name * Lorena, São Paulo, a municipality in Brazil * Lorena, Texas, a city in McLennan County, Texas * Lorena (album), a 2007 album by spanish singer Lorena * Lorena (song), an 1856 song by Joseph… …   Wikipedia

  • Hickok — may refer to:People* Eugene W. Hickok (born 1951), American education advocate * Laurens Perseus Hickok (1798–1888), American philosopher * Lorena Hickok (1893–1968), American journalist * Wild Bill Hickok (1837–1876), American scout and… …   Wikipedia

  • Hickok, Lorena Alice (“Hick”) — (1893 1968)    Born in East Troy, Wisconsin, Lorena Hickok had an unhappy childhood and a broken education. She became a reporter in 1913 and worked for a succession of newspapers, including the Milwaukee Sentinel, Minneapolis Tribune, and New… …   Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era

  • Hickok — Lorena A. Hickok Lorena Alice Hickok (7 mars 1893 – 1er mai 1968) est un écrivain américain, notamment connue pour son roman : L histoire d Helen Keller. Elle est née le 7mars 1893 à East Troy d un crémier et d une… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lorena A. Hickok — Lorena Alice Hickok (7 mars 1893 – 1er mai 1968) est une écrivaine américaine, notamment connue pour son roman L Histoire d Helen Keller. Elle est née le 7 mars 1893 à East Troy d un crémier et d une couturière. Violence et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Eleanor Roosevelt — Anna Eleanor Roosevelt [ æna ɛlɪnɔɹ ɹoʊzəvɛlt] (* 11. Oktober 1884 in New York; † 7. November 1962 ebenda) war eine US amerikanische Menschenrechtsaktivistin und Diplomatin sowie die Ehefrau des US Präsidenten Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vom 4. März… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Anna Eleanor Roosevelt — [ æna ɛlɪnɔɹ ɹoʊzəvɛlt] (* 11. Oktober 1884 in New York; † 7. November 1962 ebenda) war eine US amerikanische Menschenrechtsaktivistin und Diplomatin sowie die Ehefrau des US Präsidenten Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vom 4. März 1933 bis zum 12. April… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Eleanor Roosevelt — Infobox Politician name =Eleanor Roosevelt caption = White House portrait birth name = Anna Eleanor Roosevelt birth date = birth date|mf=yes|1884|10|11 birth place =New York, New York United States death date = death date and… …   Wikipedia

  • Minnie D. Craig — (née Davenport, 1883 1966) was an American legislator, notable as the first female speaker of a state House of Representatives in the United States.[1] Born in Phillips, Maine on November 4, 1883 to Marshall and Aura (Prescott) Davenport, Minnie… …   Wikipedia

  • Women in journalism and media professions — As journalism became a profession, women were restricted by custom and law from access to journalism occupations, and faced significant discrimination within the profession. Nevertheless, women operated as newspaper owners, editors, and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”