Uh… hasn’t the war been going on for like a year?
1 Like
March 12, 1943
New York – (Thursday)
I was much impressed last night by the way in which the Rochester Youth Council had organized its evening meeting. There must have been at least 3,600 people filling every seat of the big auditorium, even in the top gallery, and by far the majority of them were young people.
That their own high school chorus sang most beautifully, the cantata, “I Am An American,” was doubtless an attraction, but they listened to a report on the work of the committee and two lengthy speeches. For young people to spend a long evening at a meeting, when there is a great deal for them to do in these war time days, shows an interest in their responsibilities for the present and the future, which is very encouraging.
In addition, it shows a valuable ability to organize. I think a feeling of unity of purpose is also beginning to develop between old and young. In this meeting there were included all the youth-serving agencies, which meant that the actual youth organizations had as advisers the adult leaders of many agencies dealing with youth. I think a growing joint effort is going to enrich and strengthen the work of all organizations.
After the meeting was over, Miss Hildur Coon and I had a little time to talk quietly with President and Mrs. Valentine in the library of the beautiful Eastman house. At midnight President Valentine put us on our train, which was already a half hour late and so did not reach New York City this morning until after 8:00 o’clock.
This morning I have seen Mr. Wilbur Phillips, who is anxious to try a plan which he worked out in Cincinnati and in other communities. It gives the consumer an opportunity for organization, which perhaps may be valuable. I do not feel able to judge it, but I hope that people with more experience will go into it, for it seems to me consumers are little organized in this country and, therefore, obtain comparatively little recognition.
To be sure, all of us are both producers and consumers, but we are so much better organized as producers, that, perhaps, we should think of ourselves more frequently as consumers. The women who spend so much of the family income should be more vocal and active in consumer organizations.
March 13, 1943
Washington – (Friday)
The meeting in Philadelphia last night was very impressive. Thousands of people do not gather together for an evening meeting of speeches unless they are really interested in the topic discussed. It is evident to me that our people are really deeply interested in the subject of winning the war and winning the peace.
However, it is possible that we shall do what we did before. I am old enough to remember with some bitterness, the assurances of many people that they believed in an organization for world peace. Certain people believed in many of the international agreements which had been proposed on a nonpartisan basis. But when it came down to the the final analysis, domestic issues controlled their votes.
In the long run, there was no compromise and no organization for peace was achieved. The thirty-one eminent gentlemen who believed in the League of Nations never could persuade the members of their own political party that there was any basis on which we, in this country, could effect a compromise and go to work for peace in the world.
So we turned around and concentrated on domestic issues and felt very virtuous, because all we asked was payment by the other nations of the money we lent them during the war. The net result was that we put them in a position where they could not recover prosperity themselves, and in time our ephemeral prosperity disappeared also.
I listened to Governor Stassen last night with great interest. I do not question his sincerity, for he is a fine person. I hope that in the course of events the similarities which are apparent in this situation may not come to fruition in the future.
I have no particular formula for the way we shall function after the war. I only feel sure that we must function together and I am glad that we are preparing now for work as the United Nations. It must be real work and real unity must exist. We must all have an opportunity to express ourselves freely and to lay the plans for what we feel will be a solid foundation for world peace. It won’t be enough if only Great Britain and the United States feel that the plan is good. It must be a plan which Russia, China and all the United Nations subscribe to wholeheartedly and which they feel we all mean to carry through.
For over 15 months now, yes.
1 Like
so… why does Eleanor Roosevelt say that she is still adjusting to the new war rules?
1 Like
Life ain’t as easy and not rigidly controlled as 1939. 
As an example to show this applies even today: I still wasn’t used to COVID rules by the summer of 2021. Still am not today, barely two years later.
1 Like
??? Rigidly controlled? That too America? I doubt it.
Yes, this is Roosevelt you’re talking about. Control was tighter in Britain, but even here in the U.S., it’s controlled as hell. Don’t be surprised when criticism of Roosevelt leads to an FBI agent at your door… (in '43, ofc)
1 Like
March 15, 1943
Washington – (Sunday)
Friday evening we saw a film called The Human Comedy, by Saroyan. It is the real America but not the America of the usual movie and so I hope it will be shown in many parts of the world. Even though the hymns are unfamiliar, the boys’ attitudes will ring true and it will be among the first simple, everyday pictures of American life to get through to many of the people of other countries.
I find films of this kind rather hard to bear – I suppose because the telegrams remind me of the letters that come over my desk from parents whose boys are missing or dead. Nevertheless, one must appreciate and enjoy something which is really fine even if one finds it somewhat sad.
I cannot help being very glad that I was asked to attend the Capitol pageboys’ commencement. It led to my asking them here for lunch and a movie on Saturday afternoon and I do not think I ever have seen a nicer group of youngsters. The ages are supposed to run from 12 to 16, though I think some boys remain on until they are 18 and go directly to college.
The boys take no examinations. They are simply appointed by Senators or Representatives. They carry on what I would consider a pretty heavy schedule, going to school every morning from 7:15 until the time their respective Houses open, and returning to school in the afternoon at whatever hour an adjournment comes. The principal of the school runs on a long schedule too, but he is the only teacher who remains from 7:15 a.m. until 8 p.m., when school closes. The other teachers are there off and on, depending on the number of boys and the hours at which they come in.
About 60% of the boys live with their families in Washington. Forty percent of them come from different parts of the country and live in boarding houses. I am rather surprised that members of Congress, when they were providing office space, did not provide dormitory space for these pageboys, since they would certainly profit by that type of supervision.
I am sure that these boys are a remarkably independent and self-reliant group. Nevertheless, they can’t all be beyond the need of attention from an interested older person at times.
One boy was recounting to me at lunch his many exploits – one trip by bicycle practically across the whole United States at the age of 13, which came to a tragic end when he was taken ill with appendicitis. Several other trips by train. I look forward to having them all again for a picnic early in the summer.
March 16, 1943
Washington – (Monday)
Saturday evening we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Anthony Eden for the first time on this visit. He was very kind to me when I was in Great Britain and I was very happy to see him again.
Sunday afternoon I went to the Pan American Building, where, between 4:00 and 5:00 every Sunday afternoon, they have an hour of music and entertainment for the many government workers and servicemen who visit the building. I was glad of the opportunity to say a few words about the charming South American watercolors, which are still on exhibition.
Later, I had the pleasure of seeing Miss Mary Grigs, who is attached to the British Ministry of Agriculture and who has been here some time working with our Department of Agriculture. In the evening we had a mixed group of diplomats and military men to view some pictures my husband wished to have shown after supper.
It is a great satisfaction to feel that the promise has been made to the men in our armed forces, that they shall not again return to a country that has not thought through a method of economy which will prevent them from being jobless and hungry. The President has presented to Congress a report from the National Resources Planning Board, which I am glad to see has formed a basis for their own study. They have already named a committee, which, according to the papers, will begin work on Monday or Tuesday.
I can think of nothing which will hearten our men who fight all over the world, so much as to know that both the Executive and Legislative branches of their Government are determined to see that there shall be no recurrence of the post-war period of the '20s and '30s, and that their interests are being considered during their absence.
There is need this time to prevent the boom period, just as much as the depression period. If we can keep an even keel and retain employment for those now at work and gradual absorption of the men in the Armed Forces as they are returned to civilian life, we shall prove to the world that democracies can work to the people’s advantage.
I am going to New York City to attend a tea this afternoon, where a group of people interested in helping refugee children in this country will be present. This evening I go with the Crown Princess Martha of Norway to the rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, for the American Red Cross workers.
March 17, 1943
New York – (Tuesday)
The Progressive Schools’ Committee for Refugee Children, Inc., is doing a really very appealing piece of work. I was glad yesterday afternoon to be able to speak for them before a small group, but I was even more interested to see the photographs of some of the children who have been in this country for two years or more.
The Committee places these children in farm schools, where they can live close to earth with the animals as companions. This seems to help them to adjust to the new life here after the horrors they have been through. Every nationality in Europe seems to be represented among these children.
Some of them have neither father nor mother here, most of them have one parent, sometimes a mother and sometimes a father. The other parent is frequently left behind in a concentration camp.
One little boy, for months, would speak to no one because he had seen his mother go out of her mind in Paris. Then, with his father, he fled from place to place, finally getting to Casablanca, then to Lisbon, and at last to the United States.
In the school where he was, they very wisely left him alone for a time, until they found out that he was painting. Gradually, he painted out of his mind all the horrors he had been through. Now he is able to talk and laugh with the American children and seems to be a normal child.
The schools have given very generous scholarships, to these children, but it takes about $500 a year for their support. It takes the parents, as a rule, about two years to adjust and begin to earn enough money to take care of the children themselves.
Some of these children will be people who, having learned what democracy means over here, will, after the war, carry the message most effectively back to the countries of their birth.
The show at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, last night was a mixture of speeches and entertainment. Mayor La Guardia conducting the massed bands of the City of New York Police, Fire and Sanitation Departments, made the greatest hit.
I think the bravest and most appealing words came from Mrs. Barney Ross, who delivered a message for her husband, Cpl. Barney Ross, U.S. Marine Corps. He has had to go back to the hospital with a recurrence of the malaria which he acquired on Guadalcanal. Mrs. Ross could hardly speak, but the audience knew why she was there and why she was so deeply stirred, and were grateful to her for coming.
March 18, 1943
Washington – (Wednesday)
I enjoyed the music so much last Sunday afternoon at the Pan American Union Building. Mr. Terry La Franconi sang some charming Mexican songs, accompanied by Elena Crivella, who plays the piano delightfully. She also accompanied Madame Genia Ury, a Russian with a very lovely voice. The whole program, which lasted only three-quarters of an hour, was delightful.
I learned afterwards that a group meets after these programs on Sunday and talks Spanish and Portuguese for an hour. This is a very good idea, for when people are learning a language it is often very difficult to find people who can talk to them on interesting subjects and who have patience enough not to make them self-conscious.
I arrived in Washington this morning early, after a very warm night on the train. A very great honor was accorded me in being allowed to lunch with some members of the Supreme Court on my wedding anniversary. I felt a little awed to be lunching with all these gentlemen, but they joked with each other in quite normal fashion. Though they often disagree on intellectual standpoints, they tell me that, to an amazing degree they are able to make the distinction between intellectual disagreement and personal liking.
The Chief Justice and Justice Frankfurter took me afterwards to see the bust of Justice Brandeis, done by Miss Eleanor Platt, of New York City. She was chosen as a coming young artist, but this head has so much strength, and is done with so much sensitive understanding of her subject, that I should think from now on she has “arrived.”
My friends also showed me some of the portraits which are at present removed from the walls for safekeeping. A few of them are really fine portraits, but all of them with very rare exception, are at least interesting.
I happened to see an advertisement the other day that speaks for the things that the boys at the front are writing home and asking their home folks to safeguard, so they can be sure to return to them. The following words struck me particularly:
…where we and our children are free to make our lives what we want them to be… where there are no limits to man’s, or woman’s or any child’s opportunity.
If that is to be true in the future, we have a lot to accomplish during these war years, for it means we can have no depression period. We had better face certain facts right now, because we can’t overcome them unless we do, since they don’t mean going back to the American way of life of the early thirties, but going forward to a bold, secure, new American way of life.
March 19, 1943
Washington – (Thursday)
I wonder whether you agree with the statement I made yesterday, that we cannot overcome difficulties unless we recognize them.
In talking to some Russians once, I was struck by the fact that they kept insisting that everything in their country was perfect. It seemed to me, at the time, as rather childish and adolescent, but forgivable in a young country trying a new experiment. In us, a mature democracy, it would seem to me unforgiveable to deny the existence of unpleasant facts.
A certain gentleman in Congress seems to have forgotten that groups of sharecroppers attracted the attention of the whole country not so very long ago, because they were living along the highways and their living conditions were as bad as bad could be. This gentleman thinks it odd that a group of people are willing to back a union which will try to improve conditions for these people, and that acknowledges the fact of the conditions under which sharecroppers in the United States of America have had to live in certain parts of our country.
Perhaps the gentleman in question, who mentions only three people on this committee, would like to have it also recorded that there are a few other members of this committee – among them Bishop Edward L. Parsons, Governor Saltonstall of Massachusetts, Mr. Raymond Gram Swing and Mr. William Allen White. Perhaps this gentleman in Congress would like to hear the stories that some of these sharecroppers tell, not just the poor Negroes, but some of his own white people. I hardly think he would approve of these conditions.
Since they exist, I think we had better set ourselves to correcting them. That is the mature way to approach all undesirable situations. Of course, if he approves of them, then I can well understand that he does not wish to have them mentioned.
Hitler’s propagandists can make far greater use of things that are wrong and which we do not try to correct, than they can when we try to improve conditions. This member of Congress is evidently not reading some of the things which the German propagandists have said about situations which have occurred in this country, at least he makes no mention of them.
I am going to speak today at a War Savings Bond rally in Upper Darby, near Philadelphia, and tonight at Swarthmore College. I shall be back in Washington before the night is over.
March 20, 1943
Washington – (Friday)
I came home this morning at 1:40, but the day proved fruitful. I managed to read a good deal on the trip and that is something I need to do, for I am far behind.
The meeting for the War Savings Staff in the Upper Darby School was very successful, both as to numbers and evident interest. I am sure the audience enjoyed, as much as I did, the singing of the ballad “I Am An American.”
I am so happy to find that this ballad is sung in so many schools, for I believe that, as they sing the words over and over, the understanding of their actual meaning will come to an increasing number of young people. Democracy will be safe with them, if this ballad embodies their ideals.
I enjoyed the evening at Swarthmore College and left regretting that I could not spend more time with these intelligent and eager young people.
If we are able to be in the country for any length of time this summer, I feel we can all do a good deal to help our neighbors grow and preserve more food. I was glad to hear that the University of Maryland, under the auspices of the American Women’s Voluntary Services, is conducting a class in farm training, which begins on March 22. It will be an intensive three-week course. If the students promise to do at least three weeks work on a farm, they do not have to pay for their course.
About a dozen women have registered from various occupations – two of them saleswomen, one of them a beauty parlor operator, one a manager of a beauty parlor, a public stenographer, a clerk, two or three secretaries and two or three housewives. This shows that farm life appeals to a variety of people and that, when given the confidence which goes with good training, they are anxious to try this type of life.
I think this work will be done by the state universities in many parts of the country as a help in solving the farm labor problem. I am quite sure that before high schools send out their senior students to work on farms, they will give some training which will make them more useful. The untrained youngster is even less helpful than the untrained adult, but I think the adult may need more conditioning physically.
I fully expect that the first day I go to work in my own or anyone else’s garden, every bone and muscle in my body will ache. That happened as one grows older with any new type of exercise, but I think this will have its rewards for many of us after the first painful period is over.
March 22, 1943
Washington – (Sunday)
On Saturday the wives of the Cabinet members met at lunch to discuss one of or two joint activities which we usually undertake in the spring, and to fix May dates for these.
Then, a little after 3:00, I went to the Corcoran Art Gallery for the opening of the exhibition of oil paintings by contemporary artists. I enjoyed it very much because I have had no chance to wander through a gallery and to look at pictures for some time, and these were very interesting paintings.
The first prize, which Mr. Minnegerode asked me to present, went to Mr. Raphael Soyer for a painting of the waiting room in the 125th St. New York Central Station in New York City. The types of people were extraordinarily well done and I felt as though I were passing through that waiting room, which I have done so many times, and looking at the people myself.
Sometimes it is hard for me, who knows so little about art, to understand all the decisions of a jury on awards, but yesterday I felt in entire agreement in most cases. I think it must be very hard to be on a jury of this kind, because so many pictures are so nearly equal and so much has to be considered that the choice must be a very difficult one.
Afterwards, my young cousin, Miss Mara di Zoppola, and I walked up to the Greek Relief Headquarters, where they have a very beautiful group of Greek embroideries, some of them old and some of them fairly modern. We reached home just in time to greet Mrs. Bates-Batcheller, who had known my mother-in-law in Paris, and who is now back in her own country and has a most interesting story to tell of her own experiences and observations before finally leaving France in May 1941.
Today there are people coming for luncheon and supper. In the afternoon, a group of Red Cross workers, preparing for overseas work, come in to be received. After that, a small group of young people, attending a conference here on stabilization and prevention of inflation, which is being held under the auspices of the United States Student Assembly Committee, will come in to see some government films.
I have just received some advance copies of a book entitled As You Were. The subtitle reads:
A portable library of prose and poetry assembled for the Armed Forces and the Merchant Marine.
It is just the right size to put in a man’s pocket and is the last piece of editing done by Alexander Woollcott.
The paper is thin, but the print is clear and good, and the choices will gladden any man who has a habit of reading and rereading the things he really enjoys. One can never collect in one volume material to satisfy every taste, but as nearly as such a thing can be done, it has for American literature in this small book.
March 23, 1943
Washington – (Monday)
I read not long ago a most interesting speech delivered in Congress by Rep. Walter H. Judd, on the background of our whole relations with Japan. It stopped just short of his final conclusions, his time having come to an end. I was, therefore, particularly glad yesterday to have an opportunity to invite him to lunch and to have him discuss the whole question.
He emphasizes the fact that, to some nationalities the realization that we, the white race, are not according them respect and equal treatment as a race, is even more important than anything we may do from an economic standpoint.
I have felt for a long time that this was a lesson we would have to learn before peace could be built on any firm foundation. People cannot be judged by the color of their skin. Frequently a sense that others look down upon us forces us into doing foolish and evil things.
We can easily see that among our friends. I have known people to indulge in foolish extravagances, simply because they did not have enough self-assurance to feel that respect for them was not dependent on their material situation. I have known people to be disagreeable, because they were afraid if they were agreeable people would think they were currying favor.
Our psychologists have a long study before them in learning how to make some of us, who are rather arrogant, approach life with a humility which the Christian religion should teach us, but which few people seem to have unless they are absolutely self-confident.
Miss Harriet Elliott came to my press conference this morning and gave a most interesting report on the work of the women in selling War Stamps and Bonds. From my own observation, I think she has been able to enlist very capable women in various localities, who do this work with complete devotion and as conscientiously as though it were a full-time paid job.
At 1:00, I leave for Hartford, Connecticut, where the Women’s Division of the Hartford Defense Council is holding a rally tonight.
I happened to notice the other day a window display in a shop at 461 6th Ave., New York City, which a better citizens group, members of the League for Women Voters, is running.
The display is interesting in itself and the shop is open from 4:00 to 6:00, five days a week. They distribute material on such subjects as isolationism, manpower, Lend-Lease, child labor and the like. I imagine the League is undertaking this in many communities and I think it is very valuable to the enlightenment of the average citizen.
March 24, 1943
Hartford, Connecticut – (Tuesday)
After my press conference yesterday morning, I spent an hour with the small conference group which gathered in Washington over the weekend under the auspices of the United States Students Assembly Committee. They have learned a great deal from the various speakers to whom they have listened. All of them felt that the conference had been fruitful and would help them in organizing similar ones in their own localities.
Miss Thompson and I had a little difficulty deciding how we were going to reach New Haven in time to make our connections for the evening meeting at Hartford. We took a train which was supposed to make a good connection at New Haven, but we were late and missed it, so the Governor of Connecticut rescued us and had the State Police bring us to Hartford. This was very fortunate, because we only had ten minutes to spare before the Governor went on the air and I followed.
The meeting, under the auspices of the Women’s Division of the Hartford War Council, preceded a house-to-house canvas which begins today in an effort to enlist the workers needed for industry in this area. If the attendance at the meeting is any gauge of the interest which people take, they should have no difficulty in getting everyone to work.
After the meeting last night, girls who represented all different types of work being done in this area, came by. They had acted as ushers and it was interesting to see Girl Scouts, Red Cross workers of every kind, WAACs, WAVES, workers from the factories and uniformed drivers for these same factories and many others file past.
This area already has a housing and transportation problem. It is very important that they recruit new labor from the neighborhood, since importing people who have to find housing space would be almost impossible and might even lead to serious health conditions from overcrowding.
After the meeting, we went back to spend the night with my cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Alsop. They have closed a large part of the house, because Mrs. Alsop says she could not bear it with so much of the family gone.
Their three sons are in the services and their daughter is married. They have a charming Russian couple living in the house, and the man not only does his job all day, but works four nights a week for six hours in an aircraft factory.
We were up early this morning and are now, at 8:45, about to drive to the University of Connecticut. I am very anxious to see the kind of work which is done here in preparation for work on farms during the summer.
March 25, 1943
Northampton, Massachusetts – (Wednesday)
The University of Connecticut, which we visited yesterday, has a large student body and many activities. After a general assembly, at which I spoke, we went over to see the short courses given to girls and women who wish to volunteer for work on the land. Two weeks is allotted to a specific subject. For instance, you take a dairy course or a poultry course, and really know something about the care of cows and chickens at the end of two weeks. If you want to continue, you may do so.
Women who are not giving a definite time to agricultural work but want to learn how to work on their own farms because their husbands have gone off to war, or because less labor is available, are allowed to take the course. They pay $15 a week. The dairy students get up at 4:30 in the morning and finish at 5:30 in the afternoon. They actually work with a very fine herd of cows, each girl having charge, at different periods, of four cows all by herself.
All of the girls told me they would feel quite capable of holding a job on the farm and that they were enjoying the course. Most of them come from small town or city backgrounds and some of them have never done any manual labor of this kind before.
Of course, until the government sets this up as a regular war service, there will not be a great number of women entering it. I imagine there is still a good deal to be done before we win over the farmers of this country to the idea that a girl can do as good work as a man. Necessity has forced this upon the farmers in Great Britain and, I presume, the farmers of Russia, China and many other countries as well. We lucky ones shall take a little longer to see that women, once they have been trained, are valuable and can release men, but we shall learn in the end.
We stopped for lunch at the YWCA in Hartford with Mrs. Alsop. Then we went to New Haven, where I met with a group of white and colored people, who have formed an anti-discrimination committee and are working to bring about better understanding between the many racial groups in the community.
By 3:00, I was at Mrs. Charles Windlow’s house, where the high school and college press came to interview me. The Women’s Committee for the Sale of War Savings Stamps and Bonds, came to tell me that they had made a wonderful record for their first five weeks of work. They presented me with a very patriotic and original red, white and blue corsage of War Savings Stamps.
The dinner given by the Yale Dames began at 6:30 in the YWCA. After it, a reception was held in the lounge and fifty of the Y’s industrial girls passed in line, as well as the Yale Dames and their guests, who had attended the dinner.
March 26, 1943
New York – (Thursday)
After a short trip from New Haven Tuesday night, Miss Thompson and I were met by Capt. Underwood, who commands the school for WAVES at Northampton, Massachusetts. Both Capt. and Mrs. Underwood were extremely kind and made two weary people quickly feel at home. Soon, much too soon, it was morning and we were starting out on another day!
Wednesday was a most interesting day. It began with the assembly of Smith College students, and then followed through the various Navy training classes, many of which are already being taught by women who graduated only a few weeks ago themselves. Cdr. Mildred McAfee joined us about 10:00 and left soon after we did.
We saw the cadets drill extremely well in the armory, and watched some very strenuous setting-up exercises for a while. I decided that they were getting plenty of physical as well as mental stimulus in this course. These girls are being trained as officers.
As I looked down at them all assembled before lunch, I could not help thinking how smart and keenly alive a large group of women all dressed alike look. The same thing impressed me about the WAACs. It must be that putting everything you have into your work brings about that look of alertness and vigor. They sang some songs at their assembly which have been written by different members of the corps. All seemed to enjoy it and gave us much pleasure.
We lunched in the old inn, which I remember staying in. It is used as a dormitory and mess hall. We watched the cadets going through, cafeteria style, and then went into the officers’ dining room, where we were told we had the same meal as everybody else. If so, they are particularly fortunate in this training center.
After lunch, we drove over to Mount Holyoke and saw several hundred more cadets. President and Mrs. Ham were with us and told us how well the association of students in the college and students in the armed services is working out. Here, after a general inspection, which included watching some 75 newly-arrived women Marines getting their first drill training, I spoke to a joint assembly which included the Mount Holyoke students.
On our return to Northampton, Capt. and Mrs. Underwood had a very pleasant, small tea party. We drove to the train, which reached New York City a little after 10:00 p.m.
Here we found, as usual, plenty of mail awaiting us. However, it is restful to be among one’s own belongings, and today is not a very busy one. I have telephoned the President, have already had a guest for breakfast, and now must start out on a few personal errands.
March 27, 1943
Fort Wayne, Indiana – (Friday)
Last night in New York City I saw Mr. John Golden’s revival of the play Counsellor At Law, with Paul Muni as the successful lawyer who has come up from poverty to be a rich and well-known criminal lawyer. I enjoyed every minute of the play, though today the young communist’s speech sounds a bit hollow. I am not quite sure that this play teaches a very good lesson from the moral standpoint, since all our sympathy is with the evasion of the letter of the law.
At the very end, however, there is one really valuable fact brought out, which all of us should remember. Just as the lawyer thinks life has cheated him of the one thing for which he really cared, when he is convinced that the wife he loves is a “no-account” woman, he is pulled back from the depths of despair by the chance to do a real job. Work, which has healed so many people, again proves to be the saving grace.
Not only Mr. Golden, but everybody else present last night was so very kind. I hope I was able to express some of the gratitude I feel for the tremendous efforts put forth by the people of the theatre in this war.
Not only have many of them given up their profession and gone into the armed services, but men and women are helping through their profession. When the history of the morale-building war agencies is written, the American Theatre Wing will rank very high, and the generous theatre managers and actors will have earned our gratitude. Let us hope we shall not forget this and will continue to give them our support.
No matter how much the movies and radio bring us in the way of entertainment, and I rank them very high, they still never quite equal a good production of the legitimate theatre, or the actual hearing and seeing a fine orchestra play.
We nearly missed our train, because I could not bear to leave during the last scene. I had told my maid to meet us with our bags at the New York Central Station, instead of at the Pennsylvania Station, and had only three minutes to spare when we got on the train.
Our train was about an hour and a half late this morning. As always, the diner was crowded with servicemen. But we had our breakfast comfortably and I enjoyed my neighbors at table.