It is worth while being President when one's small daughter receives
that kind of an autograph gift. When I was younger than she is, my
Aunt Annie Bulloch, of Georgia, used to tell me some of the brer rabbit
stories, especially brer rabbit and the tar baby. But fond though I
am of the brer rabbit stories I think I am even fonder of your other
writings. I doubt if there is a more genuinely pathetic tale in all our
literature than "Free Joe." Moreover I have felt that all that you
write serves to bring our people closer together. I know, of course, the
ordinary talk is that an artist should be judged purely by his art; but
I am rather a Philistine and like to feel that the art serves a good
purpose. Your art is not only an art addition to our sum of national
achievement, but it has also always been an addition to the forces
that tell for decency, and above all for the blotting out of sectional
antagonism.