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

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WASHINGTON, Thursday—I reached the White House yesterday in time to greet my luncheon guest, who entered at the same moment. The afternoon was a succession of callers, among them a group of 4-H Club representatives, who brought me two delicious looking packages of products from the newly formed Atlantic County, New Jersey, Women's Market. I have ordered them sent to Hyde Park, for I always feel that there I am better able to appreciate special things of this kind.

A group of colored people also came to talk over conditions at the National Training School for Girls. The percentage of white girls sent to this institution is apparently growing less and less, so we have an opportunity for making this an outstanding model institution for the re-education of young delinquent colored girls. The present appropriation is entirely inadequate and has resulted in the staff not being able to do a good job. Too much is expected of them and therefore no real program of education or rehabilitation can be carried on.

I wish that I could feel that this Administration would leave an improved condition in District of Columbia institutions as a memorial to the interest taken by the wives of the members of Congress and the wives of administration officials. I cannot say, however, that I feel that any of us could leave here tomorrow with a sense of great accomplishment.

In the afternoon, my old friend, Mrs. Anne Winter, who for years was my grandmother's companion, arrived to spend the night at the White House with her friend, Miss Marie Voydi, who is an attendance officer in the school system of New York City. Mrs. Winter is a character and the President always enjoys hearing her tell of things which have happened to her during the eighty odd years she has lived. She is a gallant spirit and nothing ever seems to daunt her.

Miss Thompson and I worked all evening, though for a part of the time she was a little discouraged with me because I kept falling asleep, which I think is the effect of returning to a fairly warm day and the relaxing Washington climate.

I held my last press conference this morning, but I promised if I came back for anything of special interest during the summer, that I would call a special meeting. I hope that most of the ladies of the press will have some holiday and enjoy relaxation such as I look forward to and which is necessary for us all.

I have a number of guests coming to lunch today. A little later this afternoon, I am going to visit the local Red Cross headquarters to see what they are doing. I hope I may be of assistance to the Red Cross in Poughkeepsie and in Hyde Park during the next few weeks.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

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  • Washington (D.C., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 14, 1940

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

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
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  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
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  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
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  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
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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.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

XML master last modified on: June 9, 2017.

HTML version generated and published on: May 3, 2022.

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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