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

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WASHINGTON—At luncheon yesterday a group of people met here in the White House to discuss plans for expanding the Army and Navy Young Men's Christian Association. The personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard is being expanded, the boys come from all over the United States and the YMCA has offered them a friendly atmosphere and an opportunity for recreation in their leisure hours. It should greatly expand its work to meet the present needs. Money will be required in large quantities and, in addition, we must have the interest of communities where young men are coming in to train or where they are sent on duty. I cannot believe that people will not meet this need, for it seems only fair to our young people who voluntarily enter the service of their country. I hope I may find some ways of helping the people who are planning this campaign.

Several people came to see me in the afternoon. In the evening, Miss Thompson and I went to dine with Mrs. Frances Parkinson Keyes in a new home which she has bought in Alexandria, Virginia. She showed us pictures of the house as it was in February, and I must say that the changes she has wrought in it and the garden are remarkable.

When I returned, I found that Franklin, Jr., and two friends had just arrived from Charlottesville. They spent the night at the White House. Two other house guests had never seen the Lincoln Memorial at night and the reflection of the Washington Monument in the reflecting pool, so we took a short drive to see this really beautiful sight.

This morning I actually had time to try my new horse and I liked him very much. His gaits are perfect and I have a feeling that "Charlie" and I are going to be good friends. They told me he had never before had sugar but I doubt if that is true, because with very little urging he ate two lumps of sugar and seemed to enjoy it greatly. I have always taught my horses to "shake hands" with me when we come in at the end of a ride. For that they get one lump of sugar and then I hold the second one out and they follow me a little ways and nuzzle me with their soft lips before they are rewarded with this second lump. I think Charley is very intelligent because he seems to understand at once. Perhaps he has had some training from the grooms in preparation, but in any case he will soon be perfect in these habits.

I have just been to my broadcast and in a few minutes we shall have lunch. This afternoon I am attending a reception for the Daughters of the Confederacy.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 5, 1940

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
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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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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