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

      

NEW YORK, Monday—Sunday was an extremely rainy day in the country. I don't mind the rain myself, but I suffer for my guests who are deprived of a pleasant holiday and being out-of-doors.

Saturday afternoon was pleasant, however, and Madame Hanso Mehta, who is the Indian delegate serving on the Human Rights Commission and who came up with me from New York City on Saturday morning, was able to sit out on the lawn in the sun and read most of the afternoon.

I picked flowers and made my house look as springlike as possible. Then I went over to the library to meet a group of German labor people who are at present at Bard College where they are getting their orientation before traveling around our country. They are workers in the textile and garment industries and will go first to New York City and then to the south and perhaps to New England.

We dined with Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr. and a very charming young woman, Miss Irene Mayo. Miss Mayo, who is planning to visit India to continue her studies of Indian dancing and ritual, did two or three dances for us. She is extraordinarily graceful and her costumes are beautiful. I was glad to have her meet Madame Hanso Mehta. Ambassador Hernan Santa Cruz from Chile also was with us.

On Sunday we had the great pleasure of having the Austrian Chancellor, Leopold Figl, and his party lunch with us. Last Sunday the Mayor of Vienna was with us and now, this Sunday the Chancellor. So, I have been particularly grateful for my neighbor, Mrs. Joseph Lash, since my German is not very good, for I have used it so little in the past few years, and her German is perfect.

After lunch I left immediately and drove to Great Neck, Long Island, where Mr. and Mrs. Saul L. Epstein had a party at which I spoke for the benefit of Wiltwyck School.

From there I came back to my apartment at the Park Sheraton Hotel, where Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Chandor dined with me. They are about to sail for England next week and Mr. Chandor is looking forward to painting a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. I am sure it will be a delightful portrait and I am glad it is going to hang in the British Embassy in Washington. Mr. Chandor is British by birth, but has long been an American citizen and lives in Texas.

After dinner I went to Mount Olivet Church in Harlem to speak again for Wiltwyck School and finally I dashed back to the dinner for the conference held under the auspices of The Nation magazine. I had refused this invitation earlier but decided to go because so much intimidation and pressure had been put on everyone attending it.

I frequently disagree with stands taken in The Nation, but I believe it is a mistake to hang the Communist label on any individual or group whose ideas may be different from ours. I believe we want to preserve our right to think and present differing opinions and to have people decide for themselves what their own beliefs are.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 27, 1952

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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