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

[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]

      

NEW YORK, Monday—Now we come to the part of my reader's letter that tells of the boys about whom I wrote yesterday.

"Edwin volunteered for the ministry, finished his literary work at Mercer University, completed the required work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (where he led his class in Greek) entered the Army as a chaplain and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain. Today he is a professor of Greek. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, England.

"Robert, in the Air Corps during the war, has learned photography and is now engaged in that rapidly advancing profession. He is buying a home and recently surprised us all by buying a washing machine and putting in all the necessary plumbing, unaided. His mechanical training is paying off well.

"Stephen, in the Signal Corps, took a Master's degree at Tech, passed Civil Service examination and is now in radar work at the proving Grounds in Florida, where the guided missles are being tested. He enjoyed his amateur radio station before the war, accumulating cards from every state in the Union and from more than 40 countries, from 'hams' who heard him on his 'rig'.

David, definitely a scientist-in-the-making, has an assistantship which is helping his work toward the coveted Ph.D. Before he was 21, with recommendations from his professors at Georgia, he was elected to represent Uncle Sam in the Fish and Wildlife Service and was sent, by our government, to Idaho and Wyoming to do work there. That made us very, very proud.

"Although our boys always made good grades, they never received any scholarships or cash awards. They worked, and worked hard, waxing and polishing floors at the Seminary, working at night (when necessary) for the express company, testing airplanes (in Seattle), working in radio stations in Atlanta, West Point and Augusta—to mention a few of their part-time occupations.

“Please excuse this too-long letter, but without all these facts, I do not think you could possibly see what America has done for this one family. I believe there are many other families who have reaped rich rewards for the vision supplied by some far-seeing relative. To this vision, we added provision, a few thousand meals and a few dozen pairs of shoes and pants, and today our precious sons are the recipients of my father's foresight.”

The recipients of her father's foresight, but also of the much-to-be-cherished freedom of opportunity that can only exist in a democratic country.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 14, 1950

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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