A Beautiful and Mysterious Tapestry

In 1970 I received another gift from Eleanor Roosevelt which came to me through her dear friend, Truda Lash who was my mother-in-law.  She gave me a beautiful wall hanging, that once belonged to Mrs Roosevelt. The colors are beautiful and range brown to blue to orange. Since 1970, the tapestry hung in my house on Panama Street. First, in Mickey’s and my bedroom and now has followed me to my new residence on Rittenhouse Square. Somehow, I have never been able to find the right place for it.

The research I’ve done on the tapestry suggests it is a gift from the Norwegian, Trygve Lie, the first Secretary General of the UN to Eleanor Roosevelt from 1946 to 1952.

Why do I think that Trude wanted to get rid of it? She had invited Mickey and me to a dinner at her house, where she gave the tapestry to me. Mickey and I split in 1971, just a year after receiving the tapestry. Trude went upstairs after dinner and emerged with this weaving in her arms, a folded up rectangle of fabric. She looked at me and said, “I want you to have this tapestry which was a gift to Mrs. Roosevelt from the Norwegians.”

Holding out the bundle, I took it, not really having another option and not entirely sure what it was, or what I was going to do with it. But if your mother-in-law hands you a gift, you don’t say no, especially because she was so insistent, it seems she wanted it out of the house, and I will never know why. It had been a present from the first Secretary General of the UN, so the tapestry held a lot of significance. For many years I knew very little about it and was not even able to identify the weaver. And I haven’t learned anything more about the tapestry. I’d be happy to hear from my readers if they could give me any more information about this tapestry!