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

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HYDE PARK, Friday—Last evening when my son and daughter-in-law and two small boys, aged 6 and 4, got back from the county fair, I thought of the story written by Dorothy Canfield Fisher in "Petunia, That's for Remembrance," in which she describes Granther and his youngest grandchild taking off for the fair by themselves. Our youngest was so tired, he could not eat a mouthful and only wanted to curl up and go to sleep. In the story, all the glories of the day remained for contemplation even though both Granther and his companion went to bed to be nursed by an irate mother who felt she had two children on her hands and was perhaps rather more annoyed with the older one!

The horse show was on at the Dutchess County Fair yesterday and, from all I hear, there must have been good horses competing. I am always sorry for the judges. It must be hard to stick to the points you are supposed to be judging and not to be influenced by whether you like a horse or a rider. I used to be drawn to all the fat little boys and girls who bumped along on their ponies, and I would have hated to pass them by when longing eyes were fixed on the bits of colored ribbon.

* * *

I have to be really very angry with someone to want to judge them at all. And even then, my verdict would have to be rendered quickly because, if I wait long enough, I cool off and begin to think that perhaps I don't understand the circumstances or that, in the same circumstances, I might do the same thing!

My husband was curious in his expression of anger. He had to be really deeply moved to get angry, and he had to express his anger while it was strong upon him! I only once or twice saw him so moved, and then I would have hated to be the man who provoked his wrath and contempt. Little reproofs he could never bear to administer, and he would often say to me, "Do tell so and so I would like this or that done", but he himself would rather be uncomfortable than to seem to criticize in any way.

* * *

I have been sent a little leaflet about the plan for the international assembly of women which is to be held in October at the home of Mrs. Alice T. McLean in South Kortright, New York. The leaders of women's organizations in this and other countries throughout the world will come together to discuss four main topics:

(1) "What kind of political world are we living in?"
(2) "What kind of economic world are we living in?"
(3) "What kind of social order should we strive to achieve?"
(4) "How can we apply the ideas exchanged at this conference for the benefit of our communities, our nations and the world?"

This is an educational conference and it will last ten days. The subjects under discussion are so all-encompassing that one could go on discussing them day in and day out for many years to come. That, I think, is exactly what the sponsoring organizations hope will come about.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1946, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR PART PROHIBITED.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
  • Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958 [ index ]
         American writer and social activist
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | ANB ]
  • McLean, Alice Throckmorton, 1886-1968 [ index ]
         American social service organizer; founded American Women's Voluntary Services
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 [ index ]
         American politician; 32nd President of the United States
         [ ERPP bio | LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]
Other Terms and Topics
  • Book reviews
         [ LC | FAST ]
  • Women
         [ LC | FAST ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, August 31, 1946

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | WorldCat | DPLA | Wikidata | SNAC ]

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)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
    [ ISNI ]
  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ISNI ]
  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]

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: May 2, 2022.

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.
TMs, AERP, FDRL