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

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Chicago, Ill. Thursday—On our arrival in Springfield, Ill., yesterday afternoon, there seemed to be a little difference of opinion as to exactly what my program was to be. One person said I was to go the hotel and hold a press conference, another person said I was to go immediately to lay a wreath on Lincoln's tomb.

The crowd at the station was very friendly and the Governor's wife and the Mayor's wife and other people who met us were very kind. We finally drove to the hotel, discovered that I was not needed there at once, and proceeded to Lincoln's tomb. This is a very imposing monument which rises high above everything else in the cemetery.

When I was there with my husband in 1932, I do not think I was really able to see how fine the marble is along the walls of the corridors leading to the tomb. The veins are perfectly matched and the colors very beautiful. I liked all the replicas of the different Lincoln statues. One can not stand before his tomb and not feel a sense of awe, for here lies buried one of our greatest men, who lives forever in the hearts of the people he preserved as a nation.

A friend of mine went to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington not long ago and stood before that beautiful statue. She reviewed in her mind all the things that had been said in the campaign of 1864 against this Lincoln, before whose statue she now stood with tears in her eyes. From the group around her she suddenly heard the voice of a young boy.

"Grandpa, what was the name of the man who ran against Lincoln in 1864?"

"Well now, son, I can't seem to remember just who that was."

"I thought surely you'd know."

"Somehow the name slips me, but we can look it up in the encyclopedia when we get home."

"But, Grandpa, I did look it up already and it doesn't say.

"Well, then what difference does it make?"

"None, only I kinda wondered."

So you see, all the bitterness, all the lies of that campaign have faded out, and only the goodness and fineness of Lincoln remain to inspire his countrymen of today.

In Springfield we visited the Crippled Childrens Hospital and another hospital before we returned to the hotel. There we held a brief press conference, saw two girls who are interested in promoting the cause of unity, now that the campaign is over, and rested a while before the evening lecture.

After that I went to the Governor's mansion for a short time to meet some of the committee sponsoring the lecture. On my return to the hotel I found Mrs. Robert Baker, Mrs. Louis Howe's daughter, with two of her friends, who paid us a short visit.

We returned this morning to Chicago and I have had the pleasure of meeting the Democratic National Committeeman from Oklahoma, Mr. Kerr, and his wife and daughter. Now I am about to leave for Kenosha, Wisconsin, for this evening's lecture.

E.R.

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


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

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  • Chicago (Ill., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 15, 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

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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.

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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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