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

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HYDE PARK—The first biennial convention of elected delegates to the American Association for the United Nations has been meeting in New York at the World Affairs Center in the Carnegie Endowment Building and at the Hotel Roosevelt since last Saturday morning. This being the first convention that the association has held, the major part of the interest has centered on new organization, on how money shall be found for the support of the various chapters and of the national organization, and how representation shall be assured on a more democratic basis on the board of directors and on the nominating committee.

I think on the whole it has been a satisfactory convention but, as in most conventions of this kind, there are some things that people say they came to get from this meeting which they have not as yet been able to discuss.

One lady told me yesterday she wanted to know how to organize programs which would keep people interested in the United Nations. She has been told, she said, what the mechanics were but the inspiration was something she found very difficult to discover in her area.

It seems to me that this is a problem many people would have, but somehow they would have to solve it themselves by finding people who can give inspiration somewhere in their vicinity. People can only inspire other people to work if they themselves are convinced that what they are doing is necessary and if they understand clearly why they have this belief.

The meetings, however, brought out one thing in particular that pleased me. For the first time I feel convinced that there is real vitality in the chapters of the AAUN and that as they learn how to achieve their purposes they are going to be more and more effective in their localities.

I went to a dinner last Sunday night, given in honor of Herbert by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The Seminary has established the Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Ethics, and this dinner was to help raise the money to put it into operation.

The booklet about the Institute of Ethics says: "Senator Lehman's precept for living exemplifies the motivationg spirit behind the Seminary's continuing effort to provide greater substance to, and clarification of, the better way of life."

As I listened to the Senator's response and as I heard him praise the very excellent speech made by Senator John Kennedy, I could not help thinking what a wonderful thing it is to reach the later years of life and have everyone agree that the following quotation is a well deserved tribute:

“No one in our time has rendered greater service to the introduction of the moral dimension in the civil life than Senator Lehman. His service to the American people and to the world has assumed historical proportions, and in many ways he has become a spokesman for the American conscience...”

This was said of Senator Herbert H. Lehman by the Hon. Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, and I thing his fellow citizens agree with every word of it.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1958, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 27, 1958

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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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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