Mrs. Roosevelt: No Photo For You!

I always thought this response a bit harsh. Since a personal reply is being sent anyway, why not just include a photo in the envelope? Surely she had a budget for this sort of thing (or she could have procured the photos for free).

Lol, only for friends.

Looks like Malvina was her own secretary (see below her signature).

yeah that is odd?

Perhaps a bit, but I without seeing what the letter asking for photos said I would give the interpretation that it is polite enough. Also, it is not a form letter so at least the writer got a personal response which I think is pretty remarkable given the many thousands of such requests for photos and autographs and invitations to come and give talks, etc. that someone as famous as Eleonor Roosevelt must have received every month. The incoming letter could very well have been demanding or otherwise rudely written and so this response could be an exceptionally civil letter. There is no way to tell at this point. I have worked in the Federal government for a high level official and there are a great many rude and obnoxious people who write letters and having to respond to them without giving back in kind, at least a small bit, of what they write is not easy.

A couple of things I found when looking up Malvina Thompson Schneider on the web: She was the long-time personal secretary to Mrs. Roosevelt who called her Tommy. The First Lady relied upon Tommy to cut off her own tendencies to be sympathetic and over-generous to petitioners. Entirely loyal to Mrs. Roosevelt, Tommy was efficient, protective, and open-hearted. Tommy smoked cigarettes from morning to night, drank Scotch at day's end, and saw something funny in almost every situation. Mrs. Roosevelt relied on her quick-witted support, and her fabulous sense of humor. Tommy's robust and hearty laugh lit up many tense situations, and she had a good time wherever she went

Eleanor Roosevelt's Secretary was Mrs James Helm, I knew I had the scan somewhere...found it.

Not exactly. Edith Helm (Mrs. James Helm) was Eleanor Roosevelt's social secretary. Tommy Thompson was Eleanor Roosevelt's personal secretary. There is a big difference that may not be immediately apparent to those who have not served in the senior levels of the federal government. A social secretary is junior and merely keeps track of the daily calendar of the person. A personal secretary is a fairly senior level person who works closely with the person - in this case Tommy Thompson was a combination of Eleanor Roosevelt's personal confidant, one of the very few who could and was expected to tell Eleanor no when Eleanor was not thinking clearly, she was Eleanor's press secretary and gave Eleanor frank feedback on speeches and interviews with the press, etc. Basically Edith served in the traditional role of a secretary doing typing and keeping calendars while Tommy was a trusted personal confidant and companion.