#EleanorRoosevelt sent a snippy letter to social activist Dorothy Day #OTD in 1959. Ms. Day had been arrested on April 17th for protesting the annual civil defense drill known as Operation Alert. I've never been able to find the originating letter. cc: @RobertEllsberg

In fairness to ER, very few understood at the time why anyone would go to extremes to prevent nuclear war when the government had made it clear that they had it all under control, and that most people would survive if they followed the rules and hid under their desks.

Interestingly, Mrs. Roosevelt visited the New York Women’s House of Detention two yrs before the snippy letter when Day and fellow inmate Judith Malina were serving their sentence for protesting Operation Alert '57. Malina's diaries capture the entire prison stay. Fascinating.