The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
FEBRUARY 5, 1941
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WASHINGTON, Tuesday—I was interested last evening to talk to four more of the young people who are down here as government internes for the winter. I think I have mentioned these young people before. Ex-Congressman Davenport shepherds this group and I usually see them in one large gathering some evening during the winter.
This year it happens that a number of them had some tie with friends of mine and I have had an opportunity to see five of them more informally. They are all extremely interested and seem to be getting a great deal out of their actual work in some government department or in assisting in one of the congressional offices.
An amusing incident, was the discovery by Mrs. Robert Baker, whose husband is professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois, and who lives in Urbana, that one of the young people was the daughter of another professor who lived only two blocks from the Baker home. They had to come to Washington, however, to meet!
Because I had been unable to see some of the "March of Time" movies, I asked to have them shown over again for my benefit last evening. The one in which Mr. Quentin Reynolds is the narrator, that begins with the singing of carols on Christmas Eve, the night when Mr. Reynolds was starting back to the United States, was one of the most moving news reels I have ever seen.
How utterly weary people must be, sleeping night after night, herded like animals on the tube platforms in London. I could not help wondering how they could go on day after day to work with such unrefreshing rest. To me, it is air at night that matters almost as much as sleep.
We also saw a short reel showing what is being done under the Maritime Commission to encourage the building up of our merchant marine and the training of our men for this service. It is a most interesting film and one which I hope will be widely distributed commercially.
Miss Mary Margaret McBride spent last night with us and left this morning by plane from New York City. She has been in Florida on an advertising program, but we talked of much besides Florida because I always find her a charming and delightful person with a wide range of interests.
I lunched today with Mrs. Frank Walker, wife of the Postmaster General, and it was a delightful party. Soon this round of gaiety with the wives of the Cabinet will be brought to a close. In the spring, there are lunches for various congressional wives' groups, but they are not scheduled quite so closely together.
I had word from New York State this morning that they have had really cold weather and snow enough to do some skiing even around our cottage. I cannot help wishing that there was time to stay there and tramp the hills for two or three days. Snow in the city is something we always want to see melt away, but snow in the country is beautiful for a long time.
E.R.
(COPYRIGHT, 1941, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Baker, Mary Hartley Howe, 1900-1965 [ index ]
American librarian; daughter of FDR advisor Louis Howe
[ NYT ] - Davenport, Frederick Morgan, 1866-1956 [ index ]
American politician and government official
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | USCongress ] - McBride, Mary Margaret, 1899-1976 [ index ]
American writer and radio personality
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | ANB ] - Reynolds, Quentin James, 1902-1965 [ index ]
American journalist
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | ANB ] - Walker, Hallie Boucher, 1892-1969 [ index ]
Spouse of American government official Frank C. Walker
Geographic
- [ index ] Washington (D.C., United States)
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, February 5, 1941
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
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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