Eleanor Roosevelt – My Day (1942)

203

August 24, 1942

Washington – (Sunday)
We left Hyde Park early Friday morning, changed trains in New York City and came straight through to Washington, to find ourselves slightly warmer on arrival than we had been in the early morning hours at Hyde Park. On the whole, we felt very well pleased with our time spent on the train, for we had completely canvassed the Christmas lists and are now well on our way towards preparations for this annual event.

I imagine many people will do as I am planning to do this year – namely – try to give such things as people need and must have, and to supplement with as many Defense Bonds and Stamps as possible.

Because of the poem by two soldiers, which I quoted in my column, written about their desire for letters, our old friend, Mr. Louis Ruppel of the Columbia Broadcasting System, sent me a copy of the CBS Mail Bag. This general letter, sent to CBS employees, already numbering 168, who are now in the services, was started primarily to print extracts from letters as they came back, telling where the different men were.

They found such a demand for news from home, however, that they are now adding considerable news about the home front. They find that the boys deeply appreciate this mailing service, and I speak of it here as a suggestion to other large organizations. I am sure a number of them are already keeping in touch with their employees in the same way, but more may be encouraged to do so if they realize how much it is appreciated.

I also have a letter from the Servicemen’s Council of the Federation of Churches, working with the YMCA of New York, Brooklyn and Queens. They enclose a report of the work which the churches are doing. Near the big camps, different denominations are helping the Army chaplains by providing music. These same churches often provide hospitality for parents, wives and friends of the men, who come long distances to visit them.

In many communities, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish churches are working together, and sometimes the auxiliaries send hometown newspapers to the boys far from home. Often they get together and send Christmas boxes. When she cannot reach her own boys, many a mother gets great satisfaction by cooking extra food and having boys who are on leave, or boys from the camps, come to her for Sunday dinner. The churches are one of the many organizations in every community working along these lines.

204

August 25, 1942

Washington – (Monday)
Reading the galley proof of a book which is soon to come out by Herbert Agar, gave me the courage to think through some vague thoughts which have been floating through my mind these past days.

For long months past, people have written many things which were not particularly pleasant reading about various of our children. That has never troubled me very much, because so far as I am concerned, if you are satisfied within yourself that you have done, as far as you could, what you believed was right, the world’s opinion mattered little.

Now, suddenly, over the radio and in the press, they say something good has been done by one of our sons. It was evident to us that about this time, his Marine corps unit under Lt. Col. Carlson, would be making use of its training. But we knew no more than any other people knew, whose children are “somewhere” at war.

I am glad, of course, that our son acquitted himself well. It would never have occurred to me that anything else would happen. I am sure that everyone of the men whom I saw in that California camp, which I visited before they left, acquitted themselves equally well. I am deeply grateful that our son came through alive, but some men did not, and in the performance of the job they had to do, and which must be done to free the world, other young people of the enemy nations were killed.

Somehow, I cannot free myself of a heavy heart, which must keep companionship with the hearts of other men and women in our own country and in other countries all over the world. With it goes a tremendous sense of the responsibility which must be carried by the older generation for the world we now face.

As things are, the war must be fought to a victorious end. It will not have been worth the courage and the suffering which come to young and old, unless we face now our fundamental failures of the past 25 years. We must want peace, but not be afraid of war because our fear of war made us compromise during these past few years with our principles and our standards. We must bring about economic security, but first we will have to bring about a change in our own moral fiber.

I am not a sentimentalist just using fine phrases, the future requires action and not mere conversation. However, the action must be based on a very clear understanding of what our failures have been in the past years, not only in material things. Perhaps the real failures have been more of character and moral fiber.

If the democracies are to be successful, and the future world is to be built on a firmer foundation, it is important to examine for the moment what kind of people we really are and what are the standards we live by, before we even try to solve the necessary economic questions of the future. Only thus can we justify the sacrifices of youth.

205

August 26, 1942

Washington – (Tuesday)
Even at this season in Washington, one has a few visitors from out of town. Yesterday afternoon, Señora de Somoza, wife of the President of Nicaragua, and her daughter, and Señora Doña Hena de Bayle, wife of the Nicaraguan Minister, came to pay me a call. Señora de Somoza brought me two examples of work done by people in different parts of her country.

The needlework of the women, represented by lace and embroidery on some handkerchiefs, is really exquisite. The gold filigree work, done by people living near the coast, is also a work of art. She told me she obtained this lovely gold filigree necklace when she attended ceremonies in connection with the road being built from the United States through Mexico and Central America to South America.

I suppose it will be a long time before it can be completed, but, like the road to Alaska, just thinking about it fascinates me. The varied scenery, the different people – what a fascinating trip following that road will be! The road to Alaska also will be interesting to us, but I imagine very few will want to travel it during the winter months.

Last night we had a few guests at dinner and afterwards the President firmly told us that he had to go to work, but someone had provided what they prophesied would be exciting film called The Big Shot, so he agreed to stay with us for a little while.

It was not as much of a mystery story as he had hoped, and when it was over he sighed and said:

Well, now I shall have to work a little later than I intended to do.

…and went off into his study.

As a matter of fact, the film is really intended to show the difficulties which confront a man with a prison record. Once a man has a mark against him, very few people will give him a chance. The “big shot” in the film, himself recognizes he would not be so keen to employ a criminal if he were doing the employing. He redeems himself in the end by being unwilling to let an innocent boy suffer in his place.

To me, the most important point brought out, was the fact that in all this underworld racket, there is usually some “highly respectable” person who takes no risks but gets much profit out of those who take them. There are many people who are, perhaps, not quite as bad as the lawyer in the picture, but degrees of crookedness are usually measured only by opportunity. I have always had a feeling that society ought to look with more disfavor on the man who profits from other people’s crimes than on the criminals themselves.

206

August 27, 1942

Washington – (Wednesday)
I don’t know how many of you read a magazine called Travel, but to those who are familiar with the Hudson River Valley and like it, I think the article called “The President’s Home Town,” by Herbert Saltford, will be interesting. The reproductions of the murals which Olin Dows has done for the little post office in the village, are particularly nice.

In ordinary times, I would say, stop as you drive through the village and see them. Now I shall say, read the article and when normal times return, I am sure you will be tempted to stop at this little post-office and see these charming murals.

I was sent a little book yesterday, which I have just read, called Body Servant by Edith Tatum. This short story of the devotion of a Negro slave to his young Confederate master during the War Between the States is told with skill and sensitiveness and deep appreciation of the qualities of the aristocratic young Southerner and his adoring Negro slave.

Great crises bring out great qualities and the descendants of the young plantation owner are today distinguishing themselves all over the world, in airplanes, on ships and in the Army; and a change has come over the descendants of the young slave.

No slave today needs to creep behind his master’s regiment, knowing only enough to follow and steal for him, and live for him. The fine qualities in Miss Tatum’s “Johnny” have been developed by education, and the Johnnys of today are giving a far greater and more intelligent service to their country as a whole, rather than to one individual.

The news of the Duke of Kent’s death last night saddened us all. It is hard that the young King and Queen of England should have to bear a personal sorrow, when their minds and hearts are so torn for their people everywhere. To them, and to the young wife and children of the Duke of Kent, we would like to hold out a hand of sympathy.

War is no respecter of persons and sorrow comes to all, high and low, but the people of Great Britain seem to have learned that there is strength in the merging of sorrow. Where so many suffer, those who survive must be able to go on. Going on means following the day’s routine, and submerging sorrow and anxiety in the doing of little things that are always at hand to be done.

This, the British people and their rulers are doing with magnificent courage and fortitude, as are the Russians and the Chinese and the rulers and the people of all the United Nations. We of the United States, look up to them with gratitude and admiration.

207

August 28, 1942

New York – (Thursday)
One of the things a great many of us are worried about today is the possibility of inflation. We are told that if we deny ourselves as many things as possible, we may be able to divert the production power which would ordinarily flow into the making of consumer goods, into the production of things which are vitally needed in the war effort.

There are certain things, of course, which are needed for the preservation of health and morale by the civilian population. However, the more we learn to do without, the quicker the war will be over and the less inflation we shall have. If we are fortunate enough to have an income which covers more than our needs, so that we may buy War Bonds and Stamps, we shall be able to spend at the end of the war and help our country back to a peacetime economy.

Some figures are before me, which I think may be of interest to you. In the war period of April 1917, to September 1917, the cost of living rose 10.4%, compared to the preceding six months, from October 1916 to March 1917. This time we have done better from January 1942 to June 1942. The cost of living rose only 5.6% compared to the previous six months from July 1941 to December 1941.

According to these figures, we have also done better in keeping down corporate profits. In 1917, the profits of 68 leading industrial corporations were only 7.7% less than in 1916, according to reports published by Standard Statistics, Inc. The profits of 290 leading industrial corporations in the first half of 1942, were 34.6% less than in the first half of 1941, as reported by the National City Bank. Some of this decrease may be due to the fact that corporations have made excessive allowances for taxes.

The true picture of 1942 profits cannot be seen, however, until after the passage of the new tax bill and the start of the new year. Still, it looks hopeful. If the people throughout the nation, as well as our industrial leaders, can remember what it means to us now to save in every possible way to prevent inflation and to tide us over the period after the war, we shall help our government very substantially.

The United States Office of Civilian Defense has issued A Citizen’s Handbook for War. In it there is much valuable information for anyone who is asking the question – “What can I do?” But just for entertainment, glance through the illustrations in this little book. I am sure you will have many laughs, and laughs are needed at this time.

Miss Thompson and I left Washington yesterday afternoon by the 4:00 train with my niece and a friend of hers, who spent the last two days in Washington. I went to International House immediately on arrival for a meeting of the advisory committee of the American Federation of Negro College Students.

208

August 29, 1942

Hyde Park, New York – (Friday)
Yesterday morning, Miss Thompson and I, with Capt. John McCrae, the President’s naval aide, breakfasted early and went over to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to witness the launching of the biggest battleship that the United States has ever built. Battleships of this size must slide down the ways at exactly the right minute, and at 10:36 a.m. exactly, the battleship began to move and Mrs. Henry Wallace, wife of the Vice President, broke the bottle of champagne on her bow and christened her Iowa.

It is a wonderful sight to see a big ship take to the water for the first time, particularly in the yard where the men who have built her are standing around with pride shining in their eyes as they see their handiwork completed and a prayer in their hearts for the ship’s good fortune at sea.

Yesterday it seemed to me to have an added significance, for all about us were men in uniform in far greater numbers than usual. One could not help thinking of how many boys that ship will hold when it finally sails off to take its place in the great world battle now going on. We know that all branches of the services are equally important, and that they depend on each other and must function as a group to be really successful. A strong Navy is important, but without strong air protection, battleships are far more vulnerable than they were before the advent of the airplane.

The Navy and Air Force may prepare a territory, but a land force must follow to deal the final blows. So, as this great new battleship, a fine addition to our fleet, slid down the ways, I am sure that there was a prayer in all the hearts of the people watching her. The prayer was not just for her success, but for the success of all our forces fighting together, so that before long we might have again a peaceful world.

I had several engagements during the day, and at 5:30 went to a restaurant uptown, where a meeting was held in the interests of the Young Men’s Vocational Foundation. Like all other organizations, they are busy trying to raise their yearly budget, so that they can devote their time to their work and take care of the necessary salaries and office expenses. I think it was a most successful meeting and I particularly enjoyed hearing members of the staff tell stories of some of the boys for whom the organization exists.

This morning, Miss Thompson and I came up by train to Hyde Park, and it was a joy to find three healthy, happy children awaiting us.

209

August 31, 1942

Hyde Park, New York – (Sunday)
My days have been decidedly peaceful here, though full of activity from the point of view of doing things with the children, swimming and playing games. There is a real touch of autumn in the air. Around the pond, the purple weed has turned to a faint reddish tinge. Here and there some scarlet leaves are showing on the swamp maples.

Though I imagine we shall have some warm weather before autumn really sets in, I still look at every meal out of doors as an added blessing before the cold weather makes it impossible.

Some of us attended the Roosevelt Home Club dance at the Town Hall in the village last night. We all took part in a very active Virginia reel, and I envied my young niece, Amy Roosevelt’s ease and grace. Even the most active prancing didn’t seem to make her puff.

The other night I read a play by Seldon Rodman called The Revolutionists. It deals with the always fascinating story of Toussaint Louverture and Henri Christophe. The President has always spoken of this episode in history and the extraordinary citadel Toussaint Louverture built in Haiti, the ruins of which still exist. This play is good reading and I shall be interested to see it acted. These two men were great and more people should know their story.

Yesterday, a young Syrian, Mr. Salom Rizk, who has been speaking under the auspices of a magazine to various groups of young people in schools and colleges throughout the country, came to see me. I can well understand that his life story would make his lectures interesting.

He was born in the mountains of Syria and, as a young man, came to a Midwestern city in the United States. He was an American citizen, but had to learn the meaning of America and suffered much before he became a citizen of the United States.

The story of the Marines in the Solomon Islands, which is in all our papers this morning, adds another page to their glorious record. As Americans, we rejoice in all their glorious records, and as Americans we rejoice in all they have done and in the cooperation they have received from all the other branches of the services. We grieve at the losses which were sustained and which will bring sorrow to many homes in our nation, and pray we may all do our utmost to bring the war to a victorious end.

210

September 1, 1942

Hyde Park, New York – (Monday)
Yesterday afternoon I went to the annual Roosevelt Home Club party, which had been scheduled for Saturday afternoon but had to be postponed.

In spite of the change of time, it was well attended. We all listened to a recording made by the War Department of the last message sent from the Fortress of Corregidor. The mother of the boy who sent it was in the audience and she came to the rostrum to say a few words.

She has heard nothing from her boy and the best she can hope is that he is a prisoner and can survive under whatever conditions to which he is subjected. Very simply, she said she had attended these gatherings for three years. Last year we were at peace and she prayed that we might remain at peace, but now she prays daily that the next year we may return to peace. Her other boy is on the coast of the state of Washington somewhere near Seattle, which must give her a feeling of being bereft at home.

I have a letter from a gentleman who is very much exercised because our women pilots are not being utilized in the war effort. The CAA says that women are psychologically not fitted to be pilots, but I see pictures every now and then of women who are teaching men to fly. We know that in England, where the need is great, women are ferrying planes and freeing innumerable men for combat service.

It seems to me that in the Civil Air Patrol and in our own ferry command, women, if they can pass the tests imposed upon men, should have an equal opportunity for non-combat service. I always believe that when people are needed, they will eventually be used.

I believe in this case, if the war goes on long enough, and women are patient, opportunity will come knocking at their doors. However, there is just a chance that this is not a time when women should be patient. We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and every weapon possible. Women pilots, in this particular case, are a weapon waiting to be used. As my correspondent says:

I think it is time you women spoke up for yourselves and undertook a campaign to see that our 3,500 women fliers, every one of whom is anxious to do something in the war, be given a chance to do it. Hence, I am speaking up for the women fliers, because I am afraid we cannot afford to let the time slip by just now without using them.

211

September 2, 1942

Washington – (Tuesday)
I am back in Washington after spending most of yesterday on the train. We had a very pleasant time after we left New York City, when Mrs. James Forrestal joined us for luncheon, after which I spent my time reading.

Since my arrival, I have had the pleasure of meeting four young British delegates to the International Student Service Assembly. One of them, Wg. Cdr. Scott-Malden, was decorated for his part in the Dieppe raid. Another, a very young Scotchman, Capt. Cochrane, has returned recently from Libya.

There is a young naval officer, Lt. Richard Miles, and a young minister, the Rev. Alan Booth. They were an interesting group to talk with. We drove around the Lincoln Memorial last night to show them the statue, which I think is at its best with the lights on it at night. They were deeply impressed.

Today I hope to meet the Dutch delegation, which is arriving, and to have the delegation from the USSR dine with me, for I was away when they arrived.

I had a press conference this morning and later went up to Senator Glass’ office, where Miss Marie Apel had asked me to look at a bust of the President, which she is doing.

In the course of the last few days, I have had a number of letters about boys in the service. One gentleman from Trenton, Missouri encloses a clipping quoting a letter from his boy who had just received a commission as a lieutenant in the Army.

I feel that it is man’s greatest privilege to be called upon to serve his country in time of war, and I am going to give all I have.

How magnificent these boys are. Let us hope that this spirit will carry them to victory and they will continue to give “all they have” in serving their country in time of peace.

Another gentleman from Toledo, Ohio, tells me of a naval training school which has been started at the Naval Armory, and which is attended largely by boys of 16 and 17. He is particularly proud of the youngsters of that age who enlist. I question the advisability of such early enlistments and feel more and more every day that our young men should wait for their draft boards to call them, but I realize that these boys are moved by a spirit of patriotism and service which should awaken in us a humble desire to do all we can in return.

212

September 3, 1942

Washington – (Wednesday)
Today, at noon, Mrs. Alma Kitchell and Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr., together with mothers of men in the Armed Forces, were on the air, popularizing a slogan which all women will be glad to remember:

A stamp a day for the son who is away.

Many a woman may not have a son, but she may have a husband, or a brother, or a sweetheart, or just a boy in whom she is interested. Every stamp she buys, every war bond, is a help to the victory which he is fighting for, and will hasten it, which means lives saved.

No woman today can afford not to be war stamps and war bond minded. Perhaps the book There Were Giants In The Land, published at the suggestion of the War Savings Staff of the Treasury, may serve to stimulate interest and keep us all constantly busy on one of our jobs, which is to save in order that we may buy bonds and stamps.

Some people think of this purely as a contribution to the government and the war – in reality it is an investment which bears interest and which ten years from now will help us to obtain the very things which we may now go without. Of course, we may sell sooner if we wish. In buying now, we shall be helping our country in the future, as well as helping our boys in the present.

I have a letter from Ohio today, which brings up a point which I think worth passing on. My correspondent speaks for the defense workers who are now working at night and have to sleep in the daytime. Many of them live in crowded areas, and they find that radios turned on full in nearby apartments tend to make it difficult to sleep.

My correspondent’s suggestion is that, every now and then over the air, we should be reminded to keep our radios turned low for our own enjoyment, and that by doing so, we shall make it possible for better work to go forward in the factories.

Last night, the Dutch and USSR delegates to the International Student Service Assembly here, dined with me. We had an interesting time, though I find that being unable to talk directly to a person is a great drawback. I never before had realized what a help it would be if all of us learned in addition to our own language, one universal tongue. I think I shall work more enthusiastically in the future for a common language as one of the contributions to a peaceful world.

There is something very charming to me about the young Russian woman, Junior Lt. Lyudmila Pavlichenko. She has suffered, as have all these young people, and is suffering something which is universal and binds all the world together regardless of language.

213

September 4, 1942

Washington – (Thursday)
My mention of women aviators the other day has brought me a very charming letter about “America’s Pioneer Aviatrix,” Mrs. Kathrine Stinson Otero.

The letter was written by D. S. McMillan, Lt. (jg.), USNR, and I feel sure he will not mind my mentioning it. He tells me Mrs. Otero taught her famous Stinson brothers to fly, that she was the first woman to accomplish the loop the loop, and in the last war gave valuable service to the country in aviation training.

The courage which she showed in her flying, she has had to use in later life in a long fight against tuberculosis. For the past twenty years she has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Lt. McMillan spent a year in the same sanitarium and he pays her a tribute of which I think any one of us would be proud.

She constantly showed the same bravery of heart and courageous spirit that she displayed as a pilot, and this spirit served splendidly to help maintain the morale of the patients who knew her and knew how close to her heart was the aviation life, which adversity had forced her to give up forever.

Accepting the inevitable is forced upon us all. Doing it cheerfully and making the most of our lives with whatever we have at hand is a lesson which a great many of us will have to teach ourselves, or will have to help some dear one near us to learn in the course of the next few years. So the story of Kathrine Stinson Otero is one I am glad to remember and happy to pass on in the hope that it may help others.

It was a moving sight this morning to watch the President deliver his speech to youth, and to note the intense faces gathered about him. The members of the steering committee and the men and women in uniform of the various delegations had come as representatives of the whole International Student Assembly to meet the President and to listen to him in the small diplomatic reception room.

I always feel that it is a great responsibility and a tremendous challenge to talk to youth, because anything less than complete sincerity is detected and discounted. There was no question about the acceptance of the sincerity of the purpose as expressed in this speech. While it carried a pledge primarily to youth of our own country, it answered many questions as to the attitude of our leaders in this country which had been in the minds of young people of the other nations.

214

September 5, 1942

Washington – (Friday)
Yesterday I worked with a group of foreign students on a broadcast which we gave last evening, and from the studio we went to the auditorium. Mr. William Batt and I spoke, and Dr. Frank Graham, President of the University of North Carolina, was chairman of this session of the “The People’s Century.”

The questions after our talks were equally divided between Dr. Batt and myself. A few were directed at Dr. Graham. They were all pertinent and challenging questions, and I only hope that we were able to give something of value to these young people from some 53 nations of the world.

The Canadian delegation to the assembly had breakfast with me this morning and stayed afterwards for a talk, in which Dr. Alvin Johnson joined. Today the executive committee of the International Student Service met at lunch, and there are panels and round table discussions during both morning and afternoon for the delegates.

I have been to a great many conferences, both of older people and younger people, in the course of a long life. However, I am impressed by the earnestness of everyone in attendance here, and also by the ability with which the conference has been run. When you get so many people together, there is bound to be some confusion, but I think at this conference it has been kept at a minimum.

I was very sorry not to be able to go to New York City today to attend a meeting of the United States Committee for the Care of European Children. There is going to be an opportunity for us in this country to show our concern for the suffering of children in Europe. It should be possible to bring some children over here, whose parents are in concentration camps, or who themselves have been interned, I think our committee should make every effort to raise the necessary money.

This younger generation is paying in many cases, for the sins of its elders. I feel very strongly that the world is going to need these children, who certainly will have a realization of what the loss of the brotherhood of man can mean to a generation.

When the women state chairmen, who are accepting the responsibility of helping to sell war stamps and bonds throughout this country, were here for lunch the other day, they brought me a number of those corsage bouquets made of stamps. Each state has tried to develop something distinctive to represent the state. In many instances they are really charming bouquets which have far greater permanence than the flowers which used to be presented to young ladies.

The state of Washington seems to have a particularly attractive one. The different shades of brown will tone in well with autumn colors. Anywhere in the country now, we can buy these little stamp bouquets and they are a pleasant method of investment.

215

September 7, 1942

Washington – (Sunday)
Last night was the closing session of the assembly organized by the United States Committee of the International Student Service. It was a very moving meeting. The declaration which was drafted by the young people and their determination to keep a committee together to work in peace as well as in war, with all the various countries represented, shows a faith and hope in the future which only youth can have.

I am sure that every one of the older generation said a fervent prayer last night that, out of this meeting of young minds, out of their struggles to find a common ground on which they could unite, there would come a strength and determination for future work which would mean much to the peace of the world.

The International Student Service is concerned primarily with the intellectual groups, but these intellectual groups have much to gain from all of the other youth groups in their nations and in the world. The practical experience of boys and girls at work in mines or factories, or on the farms, may make a contribution to the students. Education will provide better leadership, but it is not the only thing needed to build a better civilization for the future. In saying goodbye to the delegates at the assembly, I want to wish them well from the bottom of my heart.

The other day I saw an appeal in a newspaper that we, who may have old furs, coats, jackets and scarfs, turn them in to the “Fur Vest Project Workroom” in New York City, so that they may be made into warm vests for our Merchant Marine sailors. The work on them will be donated by the workers in the industry. I am sure that those who have furs to give, will be very glad to do so.

I have a most interesting letter from some food sales consultants, who make the point that if we are going to improve the nutrition of the country while the cost of living is going up, we must find ways of saving. They enclose a series of suggestions stating that there is practically no household in the country whose kitchen could not make savings which will amount to a great deal in the aggregate. I quote here one paragraph, which struck me as particularly interesting and made me want to investigate my own kitchen at once.

“What” is waste, “where” is it, and “how” can we put a stop to it? Waste is the withered potato lying in the bottom of the bag, multiplied by millions of other potatoes all over the country. Waste is the tired-out box of crackers reposing on my pantry shelf and that of my neighbor. These may sound like trivial examples, but the sum total of such minor wasteful habits from Maine to California have expanded our national “waste-line” until it is around our necks and choking us out of $3,500,000,000 food dollars each year.

216

September 8, 1942

Washington – Monday
The United States Office of Education is cooperating with high schools to make their pupils air-minded, and I have a long letter from Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, telling me about the aviation ground school course for their older students, which is beginning this fall. A teacher training course in aeronautics has been held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, and Gould Academy is fortunate in having their teacher in physics and chemistry a graduate of this course.

Many schools will carry on similar courses for high school students with the purpose of developing in them a greater knowledge of the growth of aviation and of giving such basic preparation as they will need in the various types of employment connected with this industry.

This will, of course, not prepare anyone to fly, but it will be good basic preparation for learning to fly later on. These courses show vision, because aviation along commercial lines is going to develop very rapidly when peace returns and the young people who are already trained to undertake more specialized training will be prepared to obtain jobs in this field.

I had a most interesting letter yesterday from a mother whose children are still very small. She brings out a point which I think important enough to pass on to the War Production Board and to you. In our efforts to save material in ready-made clothing, we have removed cuffs from men’s trousers and we are prescribing the length of ladies’ skirts, among other regulations.

The rules result in small children’s clothing having two-inch hems and very little extra material in the seams. This young mother points out that she is about to buy her little girl a new coat and expects to pay $25 for it. As a rule, she chooses it very carefully and insists on a five-inch hem and deep seams, so that the child can wear it for two or three years. Under the present regulation, she will undoubtedly have to buy a new coat every year, which is a waste of material, labor and money.

Anyone who ever bought children’s clothes knows how rapidly they outgrow them. When you have younger children in the family to wear them, they can be passed on, but what this woman says is perfectly true, that the same child can use the clothes for two or three seasons if the material is adequate. In making this suggestion, this young mother is perhaps rendering a real service to our war economy and I hope that her letter will receive consideration.

217

September 9, 1942

Washington – (Tuesday)
This morning I am in a mood when I wish that I could only see one side of a question. The other night a very important gentleman told me that he found it very difficult, because he could often see two sides to every question. It is certainly much more convenient to be a crusader and close your mind to everything but your own point of view. In the sad tale I am going to tell you today, I would like to have only one point of view, though I know that there is another.

A lady writes me that she has a thoroughbred six-month-old Scottie dog she has trained and brought up from puppyhood. She is the wife of an officer and is trying to find a place to lay her head in overcrowded Washington, so that she can be with her husband until he is ordered away. But the “hard-hearted” real estate people, who sometimes refuse to rent apartments to people with babies, are even more adamant when it comes to dogs.

She agrees that if her dog became a nuisance to the neighbors, he should go, because she thinks that in that case the pet would also become a nuisance to her. She has no one to whom she can give the poor little Scottie, and the choice seems to be between getting rid of him, or seeking in vain for a place in which to live.

It ill becomes anyone who lives in the house with Fala and knows what a joy a really well-behaved pet dog can be, even to consider the real estate owner’s point of view for a second. But I do know that if you are running a crowded development and a great many people have pets, they make a difference to the grounds and mean added complications in the house for an often sorely tried manager. I am sure from this woman’s letter that she would always have a well-trained and well-behaved dog. Unfortunately, everybody is not as considerate or as capable.

Those of us who love dogs know that our greatest joy with them is usually in the country. To have a little dog in the city is not impossible. If you are alone, it is surely very comforting to have one friend on whom you can rely, who will never question your moods, nor your actions, but will simply look at you adoringly and lick your hand whenever you give him a chance.

I can only suggest trying to find a real estate owner who feels the same devotion to dogs that my correspondent and I have in common, because gas and rubber shortages make it impossible to move out of town.

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September 10, 1942

Washington – (Wednesday)
At 12:30 yesterday, I flew up with Adm. Emory S. Land, to attend the opening of the first convalescent home, which the United Seaman’s Service, Inc., is opening. Maj. and Mrs. Kermit Roosevelt have given their home, “Mohannes,” in Oyster Bay, to the Committee for the duration of the war.

Since Maj. Roosevelt is in Alaska, and their sons are either in the service or working for the government, she had to hand over the keys herself. It was a very nice ceremony, and I saw a number of my Oyster Bay Roosevelt cousins, which was equally pleasant. I was sorry that Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt Sr. was not well enough to be there herself, for I am sure she is glad to have one of her son’s homes used this way during the war.

We were driven out and back by Capt. Sullivan of the AWVS, so I was at my apartment in New York City by 6:00. Some friends came to see me and then I dined with a friend and caught the night train for Washington. As I got off the train this morning, it was hard for me to realize that I had been gone only about eighteen hours.

At noon today, a young lady came to see me about the program to teach senior high school students something about aviation. I have already mentioned it in my column. She tells me the program is open to both boys and girls, and all but four States are putting it into their public schools. In New York State, the legislature is granting a sum of money to cover the cost of the necessary equipment. If all the legislatures do not follow this procedure, money for equipment will probably have to be raised from state groups.

An anonymous letter came to me the other day, asking me to answer a problem in my column. Through Mr. Earl Harrison, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, I find that only a person who entered the United States as a visitor in 1925 is, of course, here illegally. Since my correspondent is a woman married to a United States citizen and mother of an American born child, she could probably apply for the suspension of the provision of a recent law under which she is subject to deportation, and her entry into this country can then be legalized.

She should go to the nearest office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and tell all the facts of her entry into the United States. If her record is good since then, she will undoubtedly get the benefit of the provisions of the Alien Registration Act of 1940 which provides for a suspension of deportation under similar circumstances.

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September 11, 1942

Washington – (Thursday)
I have two very different problems placed before me today. I know of no better way to handle them than to ask you, the public, to consider in your communities how to meet these wartime situations.

The first problem exists in a northern university city which was settled very early in our history. Here there is a medical school where young doctors are being trained as quickly as possible to fill one of the most vital needs of our armed forces and of our civilian population. If these young men, out of uniform, of course, go for a walk at night, they have on several occasions found themselves attacked by soldiers from a nearby camp. The soldiers do not stop to find out what the boys are doing, they just brand them as cowards for being out of uniform at the present time.

I remember a similar psychology in the last war, and it is certainly very unfair. I receive a great many letters from young men who have been turned down by their draft boards for physical reasons and who beg me to find a way in which they can get into the armed forces.

This attitude on the part of any people is regrettable and shows, I fear, a lack of confidence in the fairness of the draft boards and a feeling that certain young men, who are out of uniform, have been given special privileges. In reality, they are deprived of the greatest of all privileges they long for, namely, to defend their country now.

Those who are in training, of course, students in some course which is of vital importance to the future of the war, should not be subjected to any suspicion. Could we devise some kind of insignia to be worn by students taking necessary courses of training? Something also could be awarded to those who, while they are physically unfit for the armed services, are still doing in their daily lives work which is of vital importance to the community, and therefore is equally important in carrying out the war effort.

The other problem is the tale of a soldier who was found lying in a ditch, completely unconscious, his money and valuables stolen. All he remembered was that he had accepted a ride from a passing motorist and then the offer of a drink. From that time on his memory was a blank.

Thousands of people are giving the boys a ride and doing a great service by doing so, but there is this danger of being picked up by the wrong kind of person. I wonder, if in every community, anyone who drives a car should not apply for some sort of permit to be shown clearly on the car authorizing the picking up of men in uniform.

220

September 12, 1942

Washington – (Friday)
There is a very lovely story in the Louisville Courier-Journal about Southern hospitality as it is extended by one family, particularly the mother of the family, to the boys in the nearby camp.

The newspaper photograph and the clipping is sent me by one of the boys. I think a quotation from his letter will show you what genuine hospitality these boys receive:

We are the boys Mrs. Edmonson adopted. She and Mr. Edmonson opened their home and hearts to us, as are many women all over the country to our soldiers. Tribute should be paid to Mrs. Edmonson as a shining example of those greatest of morale builders, the American housewife like “our Mom.”

These four boys of varying backgrounds spend every weekend at the Edmonson home. They can sleep, or read, or listen to the radio, or even help in the kitchen! Mrs. Edmonson will cook for them the meals of their choice, each in turn, and she has made them feel much like her own children.

On her birthday they called her up to sing happy birthday to her, and reversed the charges as most of our children do! She has even gone one step further and writes to the families of her adopted boys, so that the real parents will know more about their boys than any young man will probably impart in his own letters home.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration has sent me some facts on the use of women in their CAA pilot training and on their attitude toward women fliers in general. They say that they have been the greatest benefactor and aid to the aspirations of women in aviation. When they began their pilot training program in 1939, there were only 675 certified women pilots in this country, and today there are 3,698. Out of this number, 2,450 received their initial flight training from the CAA.

The use of women is a problem, they concede, but the problem is created by the budget and Congressional committees, who feel that the money appropriated has a wider potential if used for men, so far as the war effort is concerned. For the fiscal year 1942, only enough money was appropriated to train the enlisted reservists requested by the Army and Navy. Therefore, the CAA has been unable since July 1, 1941, to take any women for CAA training.

Even such women as now acting as instructors, may be removed if the armed forces require all civilian instructors in military flying schools and CPT schools to become enlisted reservists, so that greater control may be had over the assignments. It seems, therefore, if women fliers wish really to bring pressure to bear to be of use in the war, they must exert it on the heads of the armed forces and the budget and Congressional committees.

221

September 14, 1942

Hyde Park, New York – (Sunday)
We left Washington Friday and, after seeing one or two people in New York City, reached Hyde Park in time for dinner. The cottage seemed very peaceful and the open fire was both comfortable and attractive.

Yesterday, we were out of doors all day, but it was not until morning that I woke early enough to have the full benefit of the early morning birds’ serenade. One rather young one perched on the rail near me and repeated over and over again what seemed like a musical call. He cocked his head from side to side and his bright little eyes twinkled with each call.

The air is still soft, but cool in the evenings and early mornings. When the sun shines, the pool is still a pleasant place, but across the pond from where I sit, my swamp maple is completely red and I know that in another two weeks the autumn colors will be everywhere.

Again we opened our papers this morning to find that Stalingrad is still holding. This is certainly going down in history as a valiant defense. I have great sympathy for the three young Russians now travelling in this country, who must scan the papers every day and wonder why we, in this country, can live so comfortably and still be at war; when they know that war means a change in the everyday life to every citizen in the Soviet Union.

There is one advantage in fighting on your own soil. No one can say, as they say occasionally to me by letter: “Why do my boys have to go out of the country?” Everybody in Russia knows what is happening because it is within the borders of the country.

They tell me that even the besieged cities in Russia get mail by airplane, and that is one of the ways by which morale is kept high. That, of course, has been one of the great advantages in Great Britain also. The young British wing-commander, Scott-Malden, in his radio interview the other night, said he had been fighting two weeks before, about seventy miles from his home in the raid on Dieppe.

This is about the same distance as from New York City to Poughkeepsie! It is easier to know what is happening when the happenings are so near and many of them occur in civilian areas. Our distant operations have kept us, as civilians, safe from harm, but they also make it much more difficult for us to understand and cooperate in the war effort.

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September 15, 1942

New York – (Monday)
Yesterday we had supper with Secretary and Mrs. Morgenthau, and then Miss Thompson and I took the evening train to New York City. Today I am going by train to Westbrook, Connecticut, to spend a few hours with my old friends, Miss Elizabeth Read and Miss Esther Lape. Even two days in the country makes one aware of rural problems. I am very much concerned about the shortage of labor which exists on all the farms around the neighborhood, particularly in the apple growing sections. The employment offices do not seem to have been very successful in choosing young people with a sense of responsibility for their jobs and for the war situation which they are trying to alleviate.

I hope that, as we become more conscious of the needs which the war is creating in the rural districts, we shall be able to get girls and young women who will really take their day’s work seriously.

The war is changing the position of women in many ways. I notice that the Department of Agriculture has requested the farmers of the nation to consider the election of farm women as well as men, to county and community committees to administer the AAA farm program next year.

The AAA’s articles of association are being amended to permit farm wives, as well as women farming in their own name, to vote in the committee members’ elections and to hold office. This is an innovation in one of our most conservative groups and, I think, a fair recognition of the part women play in agricultural life.

This is the season of the year when the fruit of the earth always seems to me more abundant than at any other time. The baskets of purple grapes which one sees by the roadside, and the apples and sickle pears which one can pick up in any orchard, are very pleasant to eat. But one can enjoy almost as much, the smell of the fruit as one walks through an orchard.

The sun seems to bring it out and, just as a strawberry picked and eaten in the strawberry bed has a better flavor than if you eat it indoors, so the fruit at this season straight from the tree or the vine has much more flavor than anything you can buy in city markets. I always wish that every city dweller could have at least a sample of the joys of the country in every one of the changing seasons.