The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
MARCH 19, 1948
[Original version of the column. Text in red are tagged with <sic> (needs correction); text in purple are tagged with <orig> (needs regularization); and text in blue are tagged names of persons or organizations. View emended version]
HYDE PARK, Thursday—I want to tell you how deeply moved I was by the dinner given for me in New York on Monday night, when the National Council of Jewish Women presented their "Woman of the Year Award". The fact that Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas came from Washington to speak, and that each speaker tied his own thoughts in with some of my interests, made it a very memorable but very solemn evening for me. It impressed upon me the great responsibility which all of us carry who are given an opportunity to touch, even in a small way, the great tide of public work which is going on today.
I went from the dinner to a meeting of a chapter of the American Veterans Committee to say a few words on the European Recovery Program. And I was glad to find Michael Straight there, speaking in favor of the plan.
* * *
Tuesday night, in some fear and trepidation, I spoke before the Phi Beta Kappa Association in New York, of which my cousin, George Emlen Roosevelt, is president. I spoke on the work of the Human Rights Commission as a basis for peace. This very learned Phi Beta Kappa group had not given a great deal of thought, I fear, to this particular small commission of the United Nations; but they were very kind and generous to me and I hope they found my account of the commission's work of some interest.
When I got on the train early yesterday morning to return to Hyde Park, I went into the dining car for breakfast and, much to my pleasure, found Miss Sarah Blanding, president of Vassar College, also breakfasting. We had a very pleasant meal together.
* * *
Yesterday Fala's grandson, Tamas, wandered far afield and was lost for several hours. And believe me, we discovered that a little dog can become very important in a household, for the gloom on everybody's face was clearly visible. Luckily, before I went to Poughkeepsie in the evening to speak for the Dutchess County chapter of the American Veterans Committee, Mr. Tamas was found and brought home, quite unaware of having caused us many hours of anxiety.
The only really bad quality I have ever found in Scotties is their wanderlust. They are curious and adventurous and they certainly want to see the world. Fala and his grandson go off to hunt either together or separately, and the distances they travel on those short little legs is a never-ending surprise to me.
When they cross the highways, it would not be the fault of any driver who might hit them, because they take it for granted that everyone will look after them and they never look to the right or the left. If they are on the scent of a squirrel or a rabbit, they are completely unconscious of anything else going on in the world about them! It seems to be a law of nature that everyone you grow to love must cause you some anxiety, and little dogs are no exception to the rule!
E. R.
(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1948, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Blanding, Sarah Gibson, 1898-1985 [ index ]
American educator
[ SNAC ] - Douglas, William O. (William Orville), 1898-1980 [ index ]
American Supreme Court justice
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ] - Roosevelt, George Emlen, 1887-1963 [ index ]
American banker and philanthropist
[ Wikidata | SNAC ]
Organizations
- American Veterans Committee [ index ]
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ] - Marshall Plan [ index ]
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | FAST ] - National Council of Jewish Women [ index ]
[ LC ] - United Nations [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Other source ] - United Nations. Commission on Human Rights [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST ] - Vassar College [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Other source ]
Geographic
- [ index ] Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States)
Other Terms and Topics
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, March 19, 1948
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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