The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
JANUARY 6, 1937
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WASHINGTON, Tuesday—Two teas yesterday afternoon and an evening buried amongst old letters. Why does one ever keep old letters? Whenever I find myself looking for something in them I wonder whatever made me think that I would have time to really find the particular things I want in them. Of course, one should file everything so neatly that one knows exactly what letter to look at for this or that information, but when I put these letters away I was not as familiar with files as I am today, and now I have chosen the busiest week of the year to get them properly filed because I really want to get at some of the information which they contain!
Amongst other things I found little strands of hair tied with pink and blue ribbons belonging to babies at different ages and some letters from the children when they were small which make me smile today because I can almost see in the grown men and women the characteristics which come out in these childish letters.
The fire is the proper place for a great many of the things that I am unearthing so it is lucky that I am doing it in winter!
This morning a press conference, and a long talk with a man who for many years has been building up the international houses where foreign students can find a home in different cities in the United States and abroad. He has an idea that this service can be very much increased in the interest of peace and I am inclined to think that he is right. He says that foreign students going back to their own countries carry a different and wider point of view and will always be an influence for peace and for international understanding. I asked if the movement had been going on long enough for any check to be made on the influence exerted by these foreign students when they return to their own country and he feels that there is evidence enough to prove that they usually occupy positions where they assist in forming public opinion which must exert some influence on the various governments.
Two other gentlemen came to lunch and most of the afternoon is divided into half hour appointments. Guests are arriving in the late afternoon for the Cabinet dinner tonight which I will tell you more about tomorrow.
E.R.
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 6, 1937
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project
Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.
TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.
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TMsd, 5 January 1937, AERP, FDRL