"I AM PLEASED TO EXTEND GREETINGS TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN LAWYERS… WE MUST HAVE LEADERS OF INTELLIGENCE AND GOOD WILL IF OUR NATION IS TO FULFILL ITS OBLIGATIONS TO THE CAUSE OF PEACE": SCARCE AUGUST 5, 1947 TYPED LETTER SIGNED BY PRESIDENT TRUMAN ON WHITE HOUSE LETTERHEAD TO ADELE SPRINGER, NAWL PRESIDENT, FRAMED WITH THE FAMOUS IMAGE OF TRUMAN HOLDING THE NEWSPAPER WRONGLY DECLARING "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN"

TRUMAN, Harry. Typed letter signed. Washington, D.C.: White House, August 5, 1947. Original letterhead leaf (8 by 10-1/2 inches) typescript on the recto, matted with photogravure (5 by 7 inches), framed (total 14-1/2 by 19 inches). $2100.

August 5, 1947 typed letter signed by President Truman on official White House letterhead to Adele I. Springer, President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), alongside a photogravure of Truman pictured as he holds up the famously mistaken newspaper with its headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman," together handsomely matted and framed.

This August 5, 1947 typed letter on official White House letterhead is signed by Truman, who rose to the presidency after the death of FDR in 1945. Truman's letter to Adele Springer, President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), reads: "August 5, 1947. My dear Miss Springer: I am pleased to extend greetings to the National Association of Women Lawyers on the occasion of its annual meeting. The increasing influence of women—particularly professional women—in our national affairs is, indeed, reassuring. 'To secure justice for all' is among your high and worthy aims. Your Association is well-equipped to furnish leadership to accomplish this noble objective—not only leadership in the legal professions, but in other fields of American life and human endeavor. Your discussions, I know, will emphasize the need for all to understand the many complex problems that confront us, to participate fully in civic affairs, and to contribute to a better appreciation of the worth and meaning of American citizenship and the needs of our Nation. Your interest in the aims and purposes of the United Nations is most gratifying. May this interest in the work of that great world organization continue, so that you may be an effective instrument in helping to enlighten and mold the opinions of our people in international affairs. In ever increasing measure, we must have leaders of intelligence and good will if our Nation is to fulfill its obligations to the cause of peace. Very sincerely yours, [signed] Harry Truman [typescript] Miss Adele I. Springer, President, National Association of Women Lawyers, 60 Wall Street, New York 5, N.Y." The letter is matted with a black-and-white photogravure of Truman grinning as he raises high the Chicago Daily Tribune with its mistaken headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman." Truman won the 1948 election by defeating Dewey in what is widely considered America's greatest election upset.

Springer, who opened her Wall Street law firm in 1938, was NAWL President from 1946-47, a year in which she also represented the NAWL at the State Department Conference on Foreign Policy. In addition, after a survey found less than 50 women on the bench, Springer and the NAWL sent resolutions to President Truman, the U.S. Attorney General and state governors, calling for the appointment of more qualified women to the bench and public office. In his letter Truman's particular reference to the association between the NAWL and the United Nations comes not long after the NAWL was accredited by the State Department as an official observer at the U.N. The NAWL's goal of building "bridges of cooperation beyond the borders of the U.S. is also found in the action of Springer, who enrolled NAWL as a member of the new International Bar Association at its 1947 charter meeting in New York" (Smith, Century of Achievement, 8).

A fine framed signed letter and photogravure.