The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
APRIL 11, 1957
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NEW YORK.—I have now been home in New York a week and I must say how good it is, as always, to be home.
I grieve to see that Egypt is so ready for war that she threatens Israel again. Sometimes it seems as though dictators all become a little mad under the influence of their power.
Now back to my last day in Morocco.
I woke early enough to see a crescent moon once more in the deep blue night sky with the first red flush of dawn on the horizon. This is one of the pictures I carried away with me, together with the smell of orange blossoms at night and the chorus of the many birds in the early morning.
In Marrakech I visited the tombs of the last dynasty. Then I went to a modern and beautiful palace built for a grand vizier. Historically, it is interesting because Marshal Lyautey lived there when he came to Morocco.
One cannot be in Morocco long without feeling the gratitude for the marshal. He is the one who saw to it that the old Morocco was preserved and the new was built separately. He is buried in Rabat, and I think the Moroccans owe him much, though he did not live to carry through all his plans and his successors ignored them where they could.
In the afternoon Dr. Gurewitsch took his daughter, Miss Catherwood, and me with him on a visit to three hospitals—one for lepers, where many are cured; the tuberculosis hospital, and the one for the mentally disturbed.
I visited the museum on the morning we left Marrakech and saw rugs from all sections of Morocco—a really wonderful collection. I was more interested, however, in the old part of the town through which we had to walk. It had not changed at all.
We left Marrakech in the afternoon and the drive in to Casablanca was through flat country which looked like desert most of the way. Nearer the city, the land began to be greener and the crops looked better.
We stopped at the big U.S. supply base just before reaching Casablanca and the commanding officer, General Heim, showed us the extent of the base. Then we stopped at the officers' club, and a Girl Scout group came to bring me some flowers and get many autograph books signed.
On reaching Casablanca I went to a cocktail party given by the World Jewish Congress. I was sorry not to be able to go to another party given by the Department of Tourism, but my son, Elliott, and Mrs. Mildred Morton took my place successfully.
Finally, I went to the annual money-raising party for the ORT organization. In the midst of all, this we heard an airport strike would prevent our taking the night plane, so we slept in Casablanca.
Early the next morning we were told we could leave at 9 a.m., so we started our journey to Paris, saw the Straits of Gibraltar, flew over Madrid, and arrived a little after 3 p.m.
E.R.
(Copyright, 1957, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Gurewitsch, A. David (Arno David), 1902-1974 [ index ]
Russian-Jewish born, ER's personal physician and friend
[ ERPP bio | LC | ISNI | VIAF | SNAC | FAST | NYT ] - Gurievitch, Grania [ index ]
American film maker; Daughter of ER's physician David Gurewitsch
[ LC | VIAF | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives ] - Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve, 1854-1934 [ index ]
French general and colonial administrator
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Brittanica ]
Geographic
- [ index ] New York (N.Y., United States)
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, April 11, 1957
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.
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