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

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NEW YORK, Sunday—During the past week two people passed away who seemed to be a part of the life of this state for so many years that I must say a word about both of them. Mrs. William Kinnicutt Draper was the first one to talk to me when I was a young woman about the work of the Red Cross, and I think it was through her that I became at that time a life member. She was one of the rare individuals who could concentrate her work and develop, within the organization for which she worked, all the variety that she needed. Her service to the Red Cross is a record of great achievement, and she has been a valuable citizen of our state and of our nation.

Mr. William Church Osborn also passed away. He and his wife lived by high standards which required that, personally and in every area of life, those standards should be the measure of achievement. They brought up a family all of whom are continuing their tradition of service. All through their joint lives and in their personal lives, Mr. and Mrs. William Church Osborn served their community. Mr. Osborn, as a Democrat, stood for the best in the political democracy of our state and nation. He was ready to meet any call made on him as a citizen. And there are many philanthropies which owe much to the activities carried on consistently and enthusiastically by Mr. and Mrs. Osborn throughout their lives.

The country is poorer in the loss of every good citizen, and many grieve. But at the same time we are richer because we take stock of the qualities of the people which made for their lasting contributions, and their example is of infinite value to many other citizens who are seeking and striving to be of service also in their communities.

I was happy to see that Senator Thomas of Utah has been appointed as High Commissioner of Trust Territories of the Pacific, and I am sure that he will contribute a very valuable piece of work.

I want also to mention today a movement started by Anthony Cucolo of Suffern, N. Y. He writes me: "No doubt you saw General Eisenhower's plea for unity in the newspapers last Thursday. It made me very happy as I know that the American people are whole-heartedly with him, and if he and a few other people would push this symbol, 'U for Unity,' I am sure the American people would follow. It would come to mean as much to our nation as the 'V for Victory' did once."

He sends me some stickers—red, white and blue—and on the inside of the 'U' is printed "USA Unity Now." He has put his finger on a very important aspect of our world situation today. We, in the United States, need unity, less criticism of our leaders and more getting together to back whatever they tell us is necessary to meet the needs of the moment. It does no good to wring our hands over our difficulties or our temporary defeats. We must unite in order to win eventually.

Not long ago I met a young Indian artist, Mr. K.S. Kulkarni, who will have an exhibition of his paintings from January 9 to 20 in the Arthur U. Newton galleries in New York City. We need to know India better and to understand her, and one of the ways to understand a country is to get to know its artists. The government of India chose Mr. Kulkarni to represent them at the Institute of International Education. They consider him one of their most promising artists, and as such he is a good cultural ambassador.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1951, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 8, 1951

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

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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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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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