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

      

NEW YORK, Sunday—The last few days have been somewhat hectic. The ceremonies in General Marshall's office presenting the awards to Miss Edith Hamilton and Mrs. Anna Rosenberg were dignified and impressive. Miss Doris Fleeson, as a member of the award committee living in Washington and a member of the Chi Omega, made all the arrangements in close cooperation with Dr. Mary Love Collins, and nothing could have been more delightfully planned. The reception at the F. Street Club in the afternoon was a pleasant and friendly party. That is certainly a charming house, which lends itself well to club meetings and parties.

After the reception Mrs. Rosenberg and Miss Fleeson took me to the airport, where we had a chance to talk at dinner before I took the plane back to New York City. Early Friday morning I traveled to Saybrook, Connecticut, where I was met by my friend, Esther Lape. We had a wonderful walk in the woods under a blue sky before lunch, and to my complete surprise I discovered the first green shoots of some hardy daffodils coming up in one sheltered spot.

Mr. and Mrs. Chester Bowles came to luncheon and then we drove over to have an early dinner with Admiral and Mrs. Wilson Brown. I have long wanted to see their Connecticut home, which they always talked about as the mecca which would be reached on retirement. I was sorry to find, however, that they were in a turmoil over the fact that a private company was about to build a steel mill nearby on the shore. The project would cover such a large area that they and their neighbors would be engulfed, and in danger of having their land condemned. I had previously not been aware of the fact that private companies, even when preparing to undertake government work, could condemn private property and take it over. As I thought of the empty land one sees all around that region, it seemed a pity to be destroying people's homes. Admiral Brown has become deeply interested in organic gardening. Their home overlooks a sea landscape at all times and so, he tells me, he has no desire to go back to sea!

A few minutes after 7 we were at the New London Coast Guard Academy, where we found our way to Admiral Hall's house. There in the auditorium I talked for an hour on the United Nations and answered questions for half an hour. Some of the girls came over from Connecticut State College and they were ready with questions, having written them out beforehand. We were home by 11 o'clock, and Saturday morning we drove around the lovely Connecticut countryside visiting some of Miss Lape's neighbors. I also had time for a good deal of reading. Certain materials come in the mail and I put them aside until they have accumulated to such an extent that I feel rather hopeless about ever working my way through them. But then a train ride or a few quiet hours in the country away from home gives one the opportunity to read and catch up.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1951, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, February 26, 1951

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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Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

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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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