The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
AUGUST 9, 1941
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HYDE PARK, Friday—I took my annual pilgrimage last night to Stockbridge, Mass., to hear the fourth program of the Berkshire Music Festival. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Mozart's death, excerpts were played from his requiem mass. His Symphony in G Minor was also played and, after the intermission, the Beethoven "Eroica."
The chorus of the Berkshire Musical Association, of which Horace Hunt is the conductor, sang the mass and the whole program was a most finished and beautiful performance. I enjoyed every minute of it. Even though we did not return until rather late, for it takes us two hours to drive from here, still it was well worth it.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Sergei Koussevitzky for a few minutes during the intermission. My admiration for his work increases every year.
On the way up, we met Mrs. Henry Morgenthau, Jr., and her daughter, Joan, and had a picnic supper together in a field on a dirt road leading off from Route #7, before we reached Great Barrington. One of the boys with us carelessly put his hand on the wire which surrounded part of the field we were in and discovered that it was charged. I suppose it was intended to keep erring cattle who attempted to jump the fence, within proper limits.
We picked up everything very carefully like good Boy Scouts, not even leaving chicken bones about, for fear the dogs or cattle might find them. We were very grateful for the nice, grassy spot under the shade of a tree and the view of the gently flowing stream below us.
I have just been told that there is a great shortage of young women entering the nursing schools. At this time nurses are much needed, and it has always seemed to me that it is good training for any girl to take, whether she means to take up nursing as a profession or not. At the present time, the girls in training release nurses already trained, for duty where they are needed.
If later, these girls marry, or have no reason for earning a living by nursing, but wish to serve in some way in their community, there are innumerable opportunities to use the knowledge they have acquired in the service of a great many people. Therefore, if any young woman feels she wishes to do something for her country in the present crisis, and is willing to work hard, put in long hours, and sacrifice her leisure during these years of stress, I can think of few things as useful as taking a course in one of our good training schools for nurses.
E.R.
(COPYRIGHT, 1941, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Hirschhorn, Joan Morgenthau [ index ]
American physician; daughter of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ] - Hunt, Horace, 1886-1991 [ index ]
New Zealander conductor and music teacher
[ Other source ] - Koussevitzky, Serge, 1874-1951 [ index ]
Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | ANB ] - Morgenthau, Elinor, -1949 [ index ]
American Democratic Party activist; spouse of US Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives ] - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791 [ index ]
Composer
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST ]
Organizations
- Berkshire Musical Association [ index ]
Geographic
- [ index ] Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States)
Other Terms and Topics
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, August 9, 1941
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.
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