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

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WASHINGTON, Wednesday—It was beautiful driving through the Maine countryside yesterday. The lilacs are in bloom, the blossoms are all out and there is sparkling blue water on one side and dark green pines on the hill.

There is something about a beautiful Maine day which is hard to match. One forgets it for a while perhaps, but recognizes it immediately when one returns to the State. There will always be a pull on my heartstrings with the first view of the dancing water and glimpses of miles of blue-green tree tops.

Everyone was most kind. Mrs. Charles Donohue, the former Democratic National Committeewoman, met me at the hotel in Portland in the early morning, and it was very pleasant to be greeted so warmly. Later, in Bangor, I met the new Democratic National Committeewoman, Mrs. Hickson. The arrangements there seemed a little formal at first, but as they proceeded I had the feeling of real welcome and close contact with the citizens of Bangor.

We stopped for a few minutes before the statue of Hannibal Hamlin, who was Vice-President in President Lincoln's first administration. President Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Bangor was recalled. As a matter of fact, I have a distinct recollection of Uncle Ted going to Maine many times on fishing and hunting expeditions, and I am sure it is the country that appealed to him.

My husband knows every inch of the coast and I think there are few parts of Maine that I have not at least driven through at one time or another. The Roosevelt family seems to have some real ties in this border State.

At luncheon with Governor and Mrs. Sewall, I met one or two Washington acquaintances and Mrs. Franklin Johnson, wife of the President of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where we visited last fall.

On the way to Bangor we were able to drive through and see some of the buildings at the central airport, which the Army is preparing. The buildings are all up, but it looks to me as though it would take quite a little grading around them before the grass grows and makes them look less bare.

The need of rain is apparent and the ground looked baked and hard. While I am hoping that we do not have rain in Washington tomorrow, because of the veteran's garden party, I would be grateful if we could have it everywhere else!

We took the night train back to Boston, had our breakfast at the Statler Hotel, and I went to see Franklin, Jr., at the hospital. He is not a very pretty sight after his automobile accident, but the young heal quickly and I am sure he will be himself in a few days.

We caught the plane for Washington and are now back ready for the late afternoon appointments here.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1941 BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 22, 1941

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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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate 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.

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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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