The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
JUNE 17, 1942
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WASHINGTON, Tuesday—On Sunday evening a few of us went to the concert at the Water Gate, which was the first of a series of concerts given by the National Symphony Orchestra and led by Mr. Hans Kindler. The program Sunday night was dedicated to the United Nations.
In addition to the music, there was an informal pageant produced in cooperation with the Office of Civilian Defense and the Office of Facts and Figures. Mr. Melvyn Douglas directed it and the script was written by Mr. Maxwell Anderson. I think everybody felt it was an appropriate and effective presentation for this occasion.
Our climate treated us to one if its sudden changes and a warm day became a cool and windy evening. However, it was certainly a lovely setting for beautiful music and I was happy to see the numbers of young people in canoes listening and enjoying the evening. We are becoming a musically appreciative nation, particularly in the younger generation.
I have been leading a rather uncertain existence due to the fact that other people's plans on which my own have to be dependent, have been rather changeable. Instead of reaching New York City yesterday in time for lunch, I got there just in time for a reception at Holland House in celebration of Flag Day. It was sponsored by the National Council of Women and the Women's Society for a Free and Democratic Europe.
In the evening, I presided during the first part of a meeting held under the auspices of the French weekly, "Pour La Victoire", for the benefit of a group of united charities. Manhattan Center was crowded and an overflow meeting was held in a nearby hall. Mr. Conrad Thibault sang the "Star Spangled Banner" and Madame Genevieve Tabouis opened the meeting.
I had the pleasure of introducing Mlle. Eve Curie, who spoke on her travels in the various battle-torn countries. It was an extraordinarily interesting hour-and-a-half. There were light touches here and there in her address, but on the whole the factual presentation of these travels made a deep impression on me.
They showed a power of observation and analysis of situations and people, which must have been based on a calmness and self-possession even in moments of danger. As a woman, I am always proud when women acquit themselves so well in any job which they are allowed to undertake.
I reached Washington again in the very early hours of the morning and I was reminded of the time when I was greeted with a "good morning", instead of a "good night."
E.R.
(COPYRIGHT, 1942, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 17, 1942
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.
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