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

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NEW YORK, Thursday—On Tuesday afternoon I reached New York City in time to attend a service in the Bronx in commemoration of the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, a new and authorized revision by American Protestant scholars. Dr. David J. Fant, general secretary of the New York Bible Society, told us that for fifteen years scholars have worked on this new edition. To many of us the King James Version had seemed fully satisfying, but the desire of these scholars was to interpret the exact meaning both in the Old and New Testaments of original manuscripts, and to evaluate anew the old translations in the light of new knowledge acquired.

Dr. Fant remarked that this new version of the Bible, if it reached into a greater number of hands and made more people familiar with the Scriptures, might well make this a more important event in the world's history than battles lost or won, financial crises met, or even the result of Presidential elections.

I was presented with one of the new copies and have begun to look through it to see what changes have been made in my favorite passages. The first one I find is in the 13th Chapter of First Corinthians where the word "charity" is changed to "love". I had heard some time ago, that that was the correct translation and I think it is a very pleasant change. It does not really affect the meaning a great deal, since charity has always been a practical demonstration of love.

On Wednesday morning I dashed around New York City doing things that I thought were important and shopping for some things my son, Elliott, had not had time to get for his son in school before he left for Colorado.

I must tell you an amusing incident in connection with this. I started forth at an early hour—I think it was about ten minutes after nine—and by the time I reached De Pinna's store it was perhaps 9:15. I started to go in, only to find a neat little notice on the locked door: "This store opens at 9:45."

That seemed to me a commentary on the habits of New York City shoppers. It is evidently not worth while opening a store to catch the early bird; the early bird just doesn't exist. People like myself just wait and attend to some other business where the hours permit some activity a little earlier in the morning.

Last Saturday President Truman opened the Community Chest campaign. He called on all Americans to support the annual drive which in community after community throughout the country supports a large number of the important voluntary social service activities of every area. In some communities we talk about Community Chest or United Fund or the Red Feather Drive—the objectives are always the same. They are to get together the people of the community, not only to give their money but to help one another to show what neighborliness and work done together can do to improve any of the hardships of poverty.

We, in the United States, think that these undertakings, which are not supported by taxation but by voluntary work and contributions, are more valuable to those who give. Therefore, they are more valuable also to those who receive. The time is drawing to an end for your contribution to be paid into this fund and you must remember that this is giving service through the USO and USO camp shows and five other national agencies to those engaged in our tremendous defense effort at home and overseas.

Here is a demonstration of getting together without any political division, so I hope we will show the world what we can do in this campaign.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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  • New York (N.Y., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, October 3, 1952

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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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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