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| Grace Tully | |
|---|---|
| Name | Grace Tully |
| Birth date | 1891-11-02 |
| Death date | 1984-12-01 |
| Occupation | Secretary, stenographer, author |
| Notable works | The Years With Mrs. Roosevelt |
Grace Tully was an American secretary and stenographer who served as personal secretary to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House during the New Deal and World War II era. Born in Buffalo, New York and active in Washington, D.C., Tully worked alongside figures from the Roosevelt family, the Democratic Party, and the U.S. federal government, later documenting her service in memoirs and interviews that touch on events such as the Yalta Conference, the Works Progress Administration, and wartime correspondence.
Tully was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in a household shaped by local institutions like the Buffalo Public Library and area schools; she received secretarial training in programs influenced by standards used in offices across New York City, Washington, D.C., and regional business colleges. As a young woman she became proficient in shorthand and typing methods popularized by instructors linked to organizations such as the National Education Association and business schools that supplied clerical staff to private firms, the U.S. Postal Service, and municipal offices. Her early employment placed her in networks that included personnel connected to figures like Franklin D. Roosevelt's New York circle, Eleanor Roosevelt's social reform contacts, and administrators involved with the Democratic National Committee.
Tully joined the Roosevelt household staff during a period when Eleanor Roosevelt expanded her public role through columns, public appearances, and organizational affiliations with groups like the Red Cross, the Y. W. C. A., and the United Nations' predecessor forums. Working intimately with Roosevelt, Tully coordinated correspondence involving leaders such as Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Cordell Hull, and activists tied to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Recovery Administration. Her duties brought her into contact with journalists from outlets including the New York Times, the Associated Press, and magazines linked to figures like Walter Lippmann and Doris Kearns Goodwin's subjects. Tully handled scheduling for engagements with organizations such as the League of Women Voters, the Women's Trade Union League, and cultural institutions like the Lincoln Center's precursors.
As personal secretary in the White House to the First Lady and at times to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Tully managed stenographic records, typed drafts, and organized files related to initiatives under the New Deal, including interactions with administrators like Harry Hopkins, Frances Perkins, Henry A. Wallace, and agencies like the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Social Security Administration. She processed incoming communications from world leaders such as Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, and diplomats affiliated with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy system. Tully arranged travel and public engagements that intersected with military and wartime figures including the War Production Board, General George C. Marshall, the Office of Strategic Services, and conferences like the Tehran Conference and Yalta Conference. Her secretarial control extended to press relations involving editors of the Saturday Evening Post, columnists like Westbrook Pegler, and broadcasters from networks such as CBS and NBC.
After leaving active White House duty following President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death and the transition to President Harry S. Truman, Tully continued participation in public life through writings, interviews, and archival contributions used by historians studying the New Deal, World War II, and early United Nations diplomacy. She interacted with scholars and biographers associated with universities such as Harvard University, Columbia University, and the University of Virginia, and with archival repositories like the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration. Tully's reminiscences were cited in works addressing personalities including Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Maynard, and contemporaries in Roosevelt's staff like Stephen Early and Louis Howe.
Tully maintained private ties to communities in New York State and Washington, D.C. while preserving documents that have informed research on Eleanor Roosevelt and the Roosevelt administration in collections consulted by historians studying figures such as Allan Nevins, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Isaac Asimov's era commentators, and archivists at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Her memoir and testimony have contributed to the historical record on interactions with political leaders including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and international actors like Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin, shaping scholarly accounts, documentaries, and exhibitions at institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Roosevelt Library.
Category:1891 births Category:1984 deaths Category:American secretaries