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

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GOLDEN BEACH, Fla., Monday—From March 12th to March 18th, the Girl Scouts will celebrate their twenty-ninth birthday. All over this country, groups of Girl Scouts are preparing through their various programs to meet the emergencies of the future. The points which they emphasize in their training, are all points which make for better citizens in any community.

Through their camps, they teach the building of health and the value of outdoor life. They develop habits of self-reliance and resourcefulness which are a safeguard in their everyday lives. They learn the value of conservation for the country and for the individual at home.

Recreation is emphasized as a part of healthy, normal living and, above everything else, they feel they are a necessary part of any community in which they live, because they give service. They have already offered many hours of work to the nation in the defense program and probably have learned the first and most important lesson, that defense begins at home. The better you make your community, the better the defense of the nation will be.

Their contribution to Pan-American friendship through the encampment held last summer, where thirteen countries of the Western Hemisphere were represented, was really a significant achievement. It will be followed up again this year by a similar gathering. I think all of us can be proud of what this organization and its members are accomplishing, and I want to wish them many happy returns on their birthday.

We spent a fairly lazy day in the sun yesterday and read aloud Mr. Archibald MacLeish's little book, "The American Cause." He has the gift of words which sing as you read, and a way of expressing his beliefs which will be a help to the nation. I particularly liked his idea that the artists of the country can best make their contribution to the nation in constructive ways which lead to permanent benefits for the whole people.

Last evening, at the Naval Air Station, we went to a special showing of Mr. and Mrs. Armand Denis' picture, "Dark Rapture." I had seen it before but found it no less exciting and interesting than when they showed it at the White House. They are born adventurers and it seems to agree with them, for both of them looked well, young and full of vigor.

They have fallen in love with Florida and have bought two pieces of property here. One is known as the Indian Trading Post and has a bit of real jungle land on it. There, they will gradually accumulate the animals which they have already collected, but which are now scattered around the country. They also intend to bring back others from future trips. They rather sadly admit they have only two monkeys and one cheetah now, but time will change the size of their menagerie.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1941, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Golden Beach (Fla., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, March 11, 1941

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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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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