The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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NEW YORK, Tuesday—Someone sent me a remark the other day made by a man at the time of my husband's death and I think it's rather a nice little obituary. He said, "He helped the poor and did not hurt the rich doing it." That is rather apt to be forgotten today, and yet, if people would stretch their memories a little, I think they would realize that both the rich and the poor found they were able to put themselves back on their feet between the thirties and the forties because of Government aid. In fact, if people had remained where they were in 1932 it might have been more difficult to face the years 1941 and '42.

On Thursday, I left New York and drove to Litchfield, Connecticut, to speak to the Women's Forum on the United States position in the world today. My hostesses seemed a little troubled since their biggest hall was what they call the "playhouse" and is filled up so quickly that they had to put people on the stage. I never like this very much because I always feel that people behind you are at a great disadvantage and very possibly are unable to hear anything of what is being said. However they assured me that the loud speaker system would carry all over the hall and there were no complaints from those behind me, so I hope everyone was able to hear.

After the meeting, I drove over to my cousin, Stanley Mortimer's, and had tea and then drove home, reaching Hyde Park at 7:30. My two small dogs had been with me all day and I thought they behaved extremely well. I think they gave my man, William, a good deal of trouble, nevertheless, since during his lunch hour he had to beg the waitress in the "diner" to do two very raw hamburgers for the dogs, and then he had to walk them about, not daring to take them off their leashes for fear they would disappear into the woods.

Living in two places is not always so easy as you expect, and I found on Friday morning I had a great many things to do to get my house ready for weekend guests and to prepare for a rather large buffet lunch.

The Crown Prince of Japan came to my husband's grave at one o'clock on Friday and then hurriedly went through the house and the library. It could be nothing more than a rapid walk because he had to drive through the woods and lunch with me and be ready to leave again at quarter of three.

The State Department makes very tight schedules for its guests and it certainly makes hostesses do strange things. I had to have plates of food all set at everybody's seat so that they could sit down immediately and eat. I invited Mrs. Vining to come and be here because I thought it might make the Crown Prince feel a little more at home and I myself wanted to have another chance to see this interesting and charming lady.

I found to my great pleasure that the wife of the Consul General in New York is the daughter of Professor Takagi, who was one of my kind and thoughtful hosts in Japan and I was delighted at this opportunity to meet her. I only wish we had had a little more time but it seems the State Department expects a great deal to happen in a very limited time.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, September 23, 1953

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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