FIRST LADY MAMIE DOUD EISENHOWER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 04/25/1961 - HFSID 271406

MAMIE EISENHOWER
Mamie Eisenhower sends an autograph letter if thanks for the welcome home letter.
Autograph Letter signed: "Mamie", 2p, 4x6. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1961 April 25. On note card with printed image of the Eisenhower home in Gettysburg, to "Dear Mary". In full: "Enjoyed receiving your nice 'welcome home' letter. We did have a wonderful time in the desert even tho I had a 'strep' throat and relapse. If one had to be ill where could you find a better spot? Our children were fine and seemed to have grown in class. Was in Washington yesterday and saw Mike - the Mrs fine. Yest, May 13th will be a sad day for us, the first without mother. Have not decided yet when we will go to Denver to unsettle the house. Uncle Joel is well and think he will return east soon. Spring is here 94 yesterday. Love to you & Charlie. Hello to Jane for me. Fine condition. Accompanied by original envelope addressed in her hand to Mrs Charles Smith, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, postmarked Gettysburg, April 25, 1961. Slightly soiled. One-half-inch tear on flap. Neatly opened at top edge. Overall, fine condition. In the summer of 1915, the Doud family of Denver and San Antonio was visiting friends, Major and Mrs. Hunter Harris, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Mrs. Harris introduced Mamie Geneva Doud (1896-1979) to the officer of the watch, 2nd Lieutenant Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), a recent West Point graduate. The young soldier asked Mamie to walk his rounds with him. After they left, Mrs. Harris told the Douds not to worry because Eisenhower was the "woman hater" of the base. That evening, Eisenhower asked the popular Miss Doud out, but she was busy. Their first date was three weeks later. On her 19th birthday in November, Mamie received a silver jewelry box from Eisenhower. They were engaged on Valentine's Day, 1916. On July 1, 1916, they were married in the parlor of the Doud home in Denver. They had two children: Dwight (1917-1920) and John (born 1923). As an Army wife for 37 years, Mamie grew accustomed to entertaining groups of influential people, a talent she drew upon during her eight years as First Lady (1953-1961). In their 53 years of married life, the Eisenhower's lived in 33 homes; their last, in Gettysburg, was the only home they owned together. Two items.