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

      

SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday—Tuesday in Los Angeles was a very busy day. My children all met me at the plane: Anna, James, Elliott, and Minnewa, his wife. I had had breakfast at five A.M., but I had another one after we got to Elliott's house, and it tasted very good.

By 10:30 I had to be ready for a recording and by 11 o'clock the press was on hand with photographers, and then another record.

At noon the Steering Committee of the Public Relations Section of the American Association for the United Nations, Los Angeles Chapter, came to tell me about their problems. In preparation for the afternoon meeting, the committee had prepared a list of questions. I was able to answer some of them but some I shall have to take back to the central office in New York for discussion.

At one o'clock my daughter and her husband came for lunch and we had a nice family party.

Promptly at 2:30 however, we had to leave to go down to the Ambassador Hotel where the AAUN has its offices. There we had an hour's meeting of all the chapters in this area, and I hope some ideas on organization were clarified. The regional chairman, Mrs. Taubman, was away but many of the other representatives were present, and I was glad of this opportunity to meet with them. The meeting was closed with a recitation of a United Nations prayer, which I think might well be used by every chapter in the country.

We stopped for a minute on the way home to see Mrs. Hershey Martin and her two little girls and then back to tea at Elliott's house with my daughter, Anna, and her young son, John. I find my grandchildren very interesting. They grow and change so quickly. Come to think of it, I can say that most of this younger generation is growing up very satisfactorily.

The dinner at which I came to speak was held at the Ambassador at 6:30, so I had to dress rather hurriedly to get there on time. It was the celebration of the fifth anniversary of Israel's statehood.

It is hard to believe that a country is only five years old. But then, so many countries have become independent in the last few years that there are some not yet even five years old.

The people of Israel and their friends can reap great satisfaction from the development going on in their country and from the spirit with which these people face their many problems and hardships. They are not at war and yet along their borders there is constant war activity. There is no friendly spirit surrounding them, so they must be constantly watchful. Yet, the country grows economically and spiritually.

I must say when I finally went to bed at midnight, I was glad that it was a bed and not an airplane seat. Sleep was not long in coming.

Wednesday was a little less strenuous than the day before. After breakfast I discussed with a gentleman the various activities of anti-United Nations groups, and it was not exactly a reassuring picture. These groups are headed by sinister men. Their organizations are well endowed, or else they are very successful in their methods of raising money. They play on people's fears, and more and more I come to believe that fear is one of the worst enemies of the soul of man.

Later in the morning I discussed a possible television program, which may or may not materialize, and at an early lunch we were joined by my son, James, and his wife and their children, and Mrs. Alphonzo Bell, my daughter-in-law's mother.

At two o'clock I was on the plane bound for this city, and when we arrived a press conference awaited me at the Fairmont Hotel. A little later I was attending another dinner in the interest of selling Israel bonds.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

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  • San Francisco (Calif., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, April 24, 1953

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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