Eleanor Roosevelt – My Day (1944)

81

April 3, 1944

Washington – (Sunday)
Now let me tell you more about my visit to Brazil.

Not far from Recife, VAdm. Ingram has established a recreation center where our Navy men, who go out to sea in the smaller craft which do the really hard patrol and convoy work, can spend two or three days between trips. The building was already there when our men arrived and has been adapted to their use. I think it was to have been a hospital and therefore there are some beautiful sundecks from which you get a view of a lovely countryside all around.

The men have horseshoe pitching and games and quite a number of nice-looking horses which they can ride. A boy from Tennessee, in a few weeks, had built up a pretty nursery garden, and you will recognize that this was quite a feat when I tell you that all their water comes to them in barrels by cartloads.

In Recife, we drove along the docks, and the length of that drive gave one an idea of the amount of shipping activity there. When we came to one of our cruisers, RAdm. Read and I went aboard. It was a great chance for me to see this ship and her men, who have done such valiant work. They had painted on her side three swastikas, which means three German ships sunk. You will remember reading about this in the papers some time ago.

Later, we drove to the Plaza to review some Brazilian Army units. They went through a delightful drill. Then, with great fervor in Portuguese, the soldiers sang “God Bless America.” This song is quite appropriate for any country in North or South America, so I was delighted to find it was translated – and evidently liked, because it was sung so lustily by these Brazilian troops.

We also visited the Brazilian naval apprentice school. This interested me greatly. They take boys of sixteen, give them both academic and practical training and, at seventeen, put them into the Navy as third-class seamen. They are permitted to rise to the rank of lieutenant commander. I don’t suppose that many of them get beyond the rank of non-commissioned officers, but they often come from families where opportunities are scarce.

There are also schools for fishermen and their families which Madame Vargas has started and which promote a knowledge of the ways of preserving and using fish which make fishing a source of better income. The people in the area around Recife live almost entirely from the sea and furnish most of the Brazilian Navy with its sailors.

Their fishing boats fascinated me. They are just logs tied together. No nails are used. The anchor is a stone around which they tie sticks. They sail with one big sail, which, to my eyes, seemed a rather difficult rig to manage. But, in these “jangadas,” from which you would think a good wave would wash them overboard, they venture far afield, even going all the way down the coast to Rio.

82

April 4, 1944

Washington – (Monday)
When I look back on my visit to Galapagos, I know why every man there calls it “The Rock.” To a geologist, I’m sure it would furnish several years of absorbing work, but to men establishing gun positions and defenses, building airfields and trying to find level space for a recreation field, it must be one of the most discouraging spots in the world. It is as though the earth had spewed forth rocks of every size and shape and, as one man said: “You remove one rock, only to find two more underneath.”

In between the rocks, there is deep-red dust, which permeates everything. A few cactus plants grow and also a few trees, which are easily blown over because they have no earth to root in.

All the water is either distilled from salt water or is brought in on a tank ship from another island. On the whole island, there are just two places with running water. Otherwise, tin basins or helmets are used for washing, and the regular setup that men have at the front for showers is the order of the day. No luxurious living there!

One boy in the dispensary, Cpl. Edward Schwing (who was born of American parents but lived 18 of his 22 years in France, where his father still remains) had spent much time putting up very good battle maps (covering every front) with colored pins showing the various activities. He told me that many boys came in to watch the pins change!

Galapagos is one of those places where “going native” would be very easy. For that reason, during the day, men at work may wear as few clothes as they choose but, for evening inspection, every man must be in uniform. The Navy bars “whites” because they cannot be kept clean.

One of the most attractive places on the island is the Bluejackets Club, which the men have created themselves. Every bit of furniture and every decoration is their own handiwork. On the door of the club hangs a sign which reads: “Bluejackets Club-Women Invited.” The joke is that there are no women there! American women in Ecuador have sent a few things like curtains and Ecuadorian straw mats to various service clubs on the island, but every day room and post exchange represents much work by the men themselves.

Cdr. Huffman has some pets – two goats, Blackie and Ruth, each with a painted green and red horn. And, in a little enclosure outside, are two prehistoric-looking iguanas. He was disappointed because I found these native pets interesting but not attractive!

The American man’s sense of humor was evident everywhere. They had held a competition at the Navy base for the naming and the general appearance of the various quarters. The doctors’ quarters were labelled “Rock’s Docs.” That won the prize. There are outposts where small groups of men are stationed from three to six months and then brought back to the rock, but some of them get no more change than that, because men with their particular skills are evidently scarce in the services and are needed there.

You have to be deeply convinced that your job is an essential one in order to keep your balance and cheerfulness in these surroundings. I think perhaps it takes more fortitude and character to stand the loneliness and hardship of this kind of service without much excitement than the more active kind of service, though many women at home are probably happier with the knowledge that their men are not being sniped at by the enemy.

83

April 5, 1944

Washington – (Tuesday)
Still reviewing my trip, I want to tell you of my visit to Guatemala. The day we left Galapagos, we started in the early morning and landed at a U.S. base on the coast of Guatemala. At the post exchange there, the men had put up a sign over the door which read: “The Home of Forgotten Men and 10,000 Vermin.” The usual snakes and insects abound, but our base is free of malaria.

A half hour’s flight from the shore base brought us to Guatemala City, 5,000 feet above sea level. We could see high mountains all around us and, below us, flat plateaus, with farms on top and deep chasms dropping off.

On the less steep hillsides, the Indians, who are the farmers of the mountain districts, build their huts and seem to find places to grow what they need. These Indians are short, dark and stocky and, in Guatemala City, they told me they were “good Indians.” Each little village has some custom of its own and some particular costume. In the highlands, they wear kilts like the Scotch.

Guatemala City is very clean and attractive, with a delightful climate. Most of the people are skilled in hand work. Guatemala abounds in woods of all kinds and the carving one sees everywhere is very beautifully done. The Guatemalans also do good silver and iron work, and very interesting weaving, but the war makes it hard for them to get the cotton, silk and wool which they use. The women require no patterns, but weave almost from instinct, the art having come down from mother to daughter.

The flying over the mountain peaks is none too safe and there have been casualties among our fliers. The President of Guatemala himself visited the first young fliers’ graves and has put up a monument in our United States cemetery, where Guatemalan and American flags fly together. A white picket fence surrounds the plot, and shade trees have been planted. It is a quiet and beautiful place on a hillside.

President and Mrs. Ubico showed me through the National Palace, which houses all the departments of government. Many of the beautiful things in the Palace, and in the city as well, have been brought from the old capital, Antigua, which has been destroyed by an earthquake. The people also make very beautiful tiles and, as you look down at the various patios, the tiles blend with the many flowers and the little fountains, making very attractive interiors.

Gen. Brett took me to “Los Cipreses,” which is a club run by Guatemalan ladies for our servicemen. They will not permit the boys to pay for anything because they want it to be like a real home. Once a month, they give a dance, bringing all the food from their own houses. I was glad that I happened to be there on the night of one of those parties. The boys and girls were enjoying it, and a good marimba band was playing.

Madame Perez, who runs the club, made me taste her pies, which were “like mother makes.” She kept reiterating, “I love your boys.” It is quite evident that the boys return her affection and are grateful to this white-haired lady who puts in not only time but her own money to make this club a real home for them.

There are lounge rooms around a big central court. There is a library with papers, magazines and a good radio. When we reached the kitchen, the boy who was showing me around said: “There are always bottles of soft drinks in the ice box, and you can always find something to cook for yourself or to eat, just as you would at home.” The boys in Guatemala City may wish they were nearer the fighting zones but, on the whole, their surroundings are among the pleasantest I saw on my trip.

84

April 6, 1944

Washington – (Wednesday)
I look back on my visit to the Canal Zone as the time when Miss Thompson and myself were most steadily on the go. We had our headquarters at the home of Governor and Mrs. Glen Edgerton, but I think we must have been most unsatisfactory guests. We left the house so early each morning that our hosts did not say “Good morning” to us until the afternoon, and when we came in at night, we were so weary that we would say “Good night” and go to bed at once.

On our first morning, we went by plane to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus, where we visited Army and Navy hospitals, took an interesting drive to see various military activities, and lunched with some enlisted men who were going through a course in jungle warfare. Then, we flew back to the Pacific side and went to the Gorgas Hospital. This is for Canal Zone civilian workers and their families, but it also has quite a large number of military patients. We had supper with some of the soldiers.

In the evening, we drove out to a jungle base for a USO dance. Chaperones escort groups of girls out to the dances at these posts in the jungle, and the men take a great deal of trouble in their preparations for the dances. That evening, the room was decorated with palms and a good military orchestra was playing.

Quite a number of the soldiers are from Puerto Rico, and so, when I drew the numbers for the door prizes out of a helmet, I had to announce the numbers in Spanish as well as in English. First, the hostess said the Spanish numbers for me, but then I gathered up my courage and began to say them myself, receiving wild applause the first time, because the boys could tell I was a novice at the language.

We then drove back to town to attend a concert at the Teatro Nacional for the benefit of the Navy Relief Society. The solo artist was a sailor from Panama named Samuel Matlowsky. He’s really an artist and plays so well that I hope nothing happens to him in the Navy to prevent him from going on with his profession.

While in the Canal Zone, I saw a pamphlet describing the program of orientation classes for the Panama Mobile Force, and was impressed by it. Officially, the object is to give the soldiers an insight into the causes of war, the problems of peace, and so on. Unofficially, the classes are free-for-all discussions of all kinds of topics.

Officers who started the program with crossed fingers have found that these round-table discussions, with all soldiers taking part on an equal footing, have aroused keen interest. The best criterion of the success of the program is that the classes often run through chow time. If a soldier would rather talk than eat, he really likes round tables!

It seems to me that something of this kind should be done much more widely in the Caribbean area, particularly at the lonelier outposts, where there is very little entertainment. In places like Galapagos, for instance, the men have discussions among themselves but with little direction or information, and as one of them remarked to me, “Most of our discussions are about when we will get home.”

We are missing a chance to have the men informed on the problems they will face when they return. If they were given an opportunity to think about these problems and to discuss them in their own way, it would be forming a habit which would give us better citizens in the future.

85

April 7, 1944

Washington – (Thursday)
We have been back in Washington just a week and two days, and every day I have been looking for spring. The forsythia bush on the White House lawn shows a delicate yellow, the magnolia blossoms are faintly pink, and many other shrubs suggest that the time has come for them to burst into bloom. But the other night we had snow and a sudden clap of thunder, and I begin to agree with one of my friends who wrote me that if we could have two days of the same season, her cold might disappear.

The President hasn’t been well, but he is getting steadily better. He has had bronchitis and he has been weary, but I think it is probably as much the weariness that assails everyone who grasps the full meaning of war, as it is a physical ailment. One cannot quite get over it. One can only accommodate oneself to the burden and pray for the day when the war will end victoriously.

I spent a day in New York City and reported to the USO on the clubs which I visited on my trip. I also saw two plays. One, Jacobowsky and the Colonel, is a quiet war play which the Theater Guild has produced. The original play was by Franz Werfel. The cast is excellent and the dialogue delightful, but the play never stirred me very deeply. It’s probably a very good play for the majority of us to see just now. It brings out the important things that we are apt to forget – that the man of action and the man of ideas can and must live in the world together and each has his particular moment of importance in the march of events.

Then I saw Edward Chodorov’s play, Decision. It left me far more unhappy than the other play, though it dealt with just one phase of our home front. This is a phase which many of us know little or nothing about, but which deeply troubles any of us who have even had a glimpse of it. It shows the Fascist side of our communities, and is very frightening, not because the Fascism exists, but because so few people are aware that it is something we must fight at home. I am delighted that the play is such a success and I particularly congratulate the gentlemen who play the leading parts.

I have spoken on my trip to the National Women’s Press Club this week, and also to the business and professional women of the district. In addition, I have enjoyed seeing Mr. W. L. White, who dined with us the other evening. I’ve had time to read John Hersey’s delightful novel A Bell for Adano. Let us hope that the Maj. Joppolos multiply and that the Gen. Marvins disappear from our Army!

I visited the draft aid center of the Civilian War Services Division here the other day and found it most interesting. I feel sure that something similar should be done in any large center of population. Many draftees need help and information for themselves and their families when they are inducted.

86

April 8, 1944

Washington – (Friday)
In none of my columns since I came home, or while I was on my last trip, have I told you of many letters that came to me from ladies in various islands and in the South and Central American countries. Some of these ladies were writers, some of them ladies in the woman suffrage movement of their countries, some of them were leaders in the organized labor movement.

All of them wanted me to express to the women of the United States their admiration for the way in which our women are contributing to the war effort, and almost invariably they added that they hoped for closer cooperation with the women of this country in the future, and a better understanding on our part of their problems.

Many of the women with whom I talked were working on problems of nutrition and better childcare. That is a natural outlet, because families are large and women have lived much within the walls of their own homes. The war is drawing them towards a point of view which has long been ours – that interest in our own homes leads us finally to interest in our communities and in our government.

The three ladies with whom I spent two full days were Brazilian ladies. They were Madame Salgado, wife of the Minister of Aviation for Brazil; Madame Amaral, head of the Legion for Assistance; and Miss Aranha, daughter of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They were sent by Madame Vargas who has been ill for some time, but who has been very active in the organization of ladies’ work along many lines.

All of them were charming, all of them were ladies of education, speaking not only their own language, Portuguese, but English and French, probably German and certainly Spanish. All three were well read, anxious to make a contribution to their own country, also anxious to build up a real link with the women of our country. They are showing great hospitality to our servicemen. I hope that if their servicemen should come to our shores, or when they themselves come, that we will be equally hospitable and build a lasting link for future goodwill.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending an hour in a training class for junior hostesses which is being conducted in the Department of Commerce auditorium. I felt rather inadequate, since it is obvious that I can never be a junior hostess. But I think the real problem of all hostesses transcends age and even looks. It is inherent in liking people and wanting to make them feel at home. A 70-year-old lady who heads the Guatemalan version of the USO might well be the pattern for us all.

87

April 10, 1944

Washington – (Sunday)
This is Easter Sunday and the touch of spring I was looking for has really begun to appear in Washington.

This is the season when we are reminded that faith and hope are a part of our religion. And surely this year, and at this particular season, we need both as part of our everyday consciousness.

The other day, some ministers of the church asked me, and I guess asked themselves, what leadership the church could or should take in the post-war period. How should or could it be defined, where should it begin, where should it end?

It is probably not possible for anyone to answer these questions, but on this Easter Day, in hundreds of churches, people will think of the Resurrection. It was a day in the dim past when, to some people, the hopes for the present and future had seemed to die, and then suddenly came to life again, to live eternally in the hearts of men who believe in the story of Christ as a symbol of what all of us must go through and can go through and still come out triumphant.

Men on the field of battle and men and women at home are going through daily crucifixion, and only faith and hope can make their victory sure.

We don’t know when an invasion of Europe will begin, but we do know that when it does begin it will be the great test, not only of our men in the field, but of us at home. What we have given our men to live for is what they will fight for. Everyone who has a man in the fighting area must carry his share of responsibility for a particular individual when crucial days come.

All of us, however, whether we have men at the front or not, must carry the responsibilities in a country in which the citizens themselves are responsible for what their country stands for. Is it a country of faith and hope? Is it a country for which every man in the field will fight with the assurance in his heart that his loved ones are daily making a better home for the future?

Easter is a soul-searching time this year, for just as the Apostles who met Christ walking on the road were somewhat frightened, so each one of us, meeting our test of Easter faith and hope, will be somewhat frightened at the responsibility it entails. God grant us all the courage and constancy of faith to see us through this period of our history.

88

April 11, 1944

Washington – (Monday)
We had children in the White House with us over Easter, and the youngest members of our family have acquired a little white Easter bunny. To the children who read my daughter’s story about “Scamper” in the White House several years ago, there will be no surprise in the fact that this new bunny was promptly named Scamper. He was brought by some WAVES as an Easter gift to Fala. I was a little afraid that even Fala’s good education might not have eradicated his natural instincts as far as rabbits are concerned, so their meeting was brief, and the bunny now resides in a box of his own.

We all attended the early Easter morning service at Arlington. This is always a very impressive ceremony to me. We walked out to the Unknown Soldier’s tomb which, in a time of war, has a particularly poignant meaning. As the sentry walks up and down guarding the tomb, he must be thinking today of all the boys all over the world who will be represented in this war in this symbolic manner.

Here one should, without question, rededicate oneself to the effort to lay foundations on which peace may be built by the generation that fights the war in the immediate post-war period. These young people will undoubtedly have to rebuild this torn and tattered world. The process will be painful and will call for boldness, self-sacrifice, courage and vision.

As each step is taken in this rebuilding process, we will see a peaceful world being shaped, or we will see the steps that lead to war being carved out again by personal and national greed and self-interest.

I am doing a broadcast today in the Treasury Department’s Grandmother Series. I thought I was doing pretty well with thirteen grandchildren, but one of my co-grandmothers on this broadcast is far ahead of me. Like other grandmothers, I have been giving my grandchildren war savings stamps for birthday and Christmas presents ever since the war began, but since this is a special occasion. I think the youngest grandchild will have to have a bond of her own to mark it.

I must confess, however, that for the youngest members of my family I often try to have either a book or an inexpensive toy in addition to the savings stamps. Just lately I have been sent a charming little book called Poppet and Pete, by Mrs. Margaret M. Pearson of Sydney, Australia, who has illustrated and printed the story herself. I gave it to one of the younger grandchildren.

89

April 12, 1944

Washington – (Tuesday)
In National Red Cross Headquarters the other morning, I looked at some familiar pictures. An exhibition of paintings done in New Guinea, which I had seen in Australia, was displayed. Some of them, of course, were done by men who were artists or illustrators in civilian life. Some were done by men who never before had painted anything. All of them are interesting, both in subject matter, which shows so well the artists’ present living conditions, and in the material and techniques used.

The only prize that was offered was the promise that the paintings would be exhibited in this country, and I hope that anyone who happens to be in Washington will wander into the lobby of the Red Cross building and see the work.

I had hoped that these paintings would be sent to other galleries in the country, for I am sure that many people would like to see these vivid impressions from men in the fighting forces, particularly if their own men happen to be in a similar area. I am told, however, that the artists in many cases want them delivered as soon as possible to their families. In other cases, the paintings have already been sold and the buyers are anxious to acquire possession. So, I fear that the present exhibition is all that will be possible.

In addition, I understand that Frederick Douglas Greenbowe, a member of a Marine raider group, has sent a number of crayon and pencil drawings which he made on one of the combat islands in the Pacific, back to the Red Cross. They will shortly be on exhibition, so I am looking forward to seeing these and hope they may be shown in other cities as well.

Incidentally, while we were on Galapagos, one of the officers wrote some verses inspired by a Navy commander’s pets, two iguanas, which I mentioned to you before. The verses amused me and I am sure they will amuse you, so with the author’s permission I quote them here:

Iguanas are unlovely creatures;
They have the very plainest features.
Their lives are simple, happy, blameless;
Their meat for stew is simply famous.
They nest in most outlandish places,
From corner-stones to packing-cases;
Since each is homelier than the other
Their mating is no bother.
And so they propagate their race
Without regard to form or face.
I wouldn’t mind their wooing smugly,
If they weren’t so gosh-darn ugly.

90

April 13, 1944

Washington – (Wednesday)
With me on the Grandmothers War Bond League broadcast for the Treasury Department on Monday, were three very interesting grandmothers, as you may have gathered. As I looked at Mrs. Low, the Chinese grandmother, I could not help marveling at her ability to go from door to door selling bonds each day, for she is surely well over 70. The other two were very young grandmothers, and I feel sure they will put many of us to shame by their activity for quite a while.

While we are talking about bonds, I must tell you that I have had some questions lately that I think are worthy of your consideration.

One of my correspondents says that he thinks it would be an encouraging thing for our boys overseas if, instead of telling them about the difficulties of rationing and wartime economies, we sang the praises of the extraordinary achievements in selling bonds. If we told them about the people in the neighborhood who are working and buying bonds, it would give the boys a sense of pride and satisfaction in their own communities. They might even have a greater feeling of security in their futures, because they would realize that the people at home were really thinking about them and their welfare when they bought bonds.

While I was in New York City, I had hoped to see a play called Mrs. January and Mr. X, but that proved impossible so I look forward to seeing it at some later time. However, I did see a preview of a new play which Mr. John Golden is producing called But Not Goodbye. One of the people with me enjoyed the play very much and kept saying, “I like it because I think I might almost have written it myself,” which was a tribute to the reality and naturalness of the situations. The fact that the characters were real people whom you might see in any one of our hometowns deepened this impression. The idea is original, if somewhat uncomfortable to contemplate, and I think you will spend an amusing evening and take away much food for thought!

In New York City, I was also presented with a batch of doughnuts by the Camp Fire Girls, which they are selling for their annual fundraising campaign. I hope everybody will be doughnut conscious this week, for the little girls told me that each one of them had to sell 40 dozen, which is quite an obligation for a youngster!

91

April 14, 1944

New York – (Thursday)
Tuesday morning, I had the great joy of breakfasting with our oldest son, and he had seen our youngest boy who is now somewhere at sea. It is exciting when a loved one appears out of space, so to speak, and even though you do not get much opportunity to talk, except at meals or in the middle of the night, since the rest of the day must be spent at the department, a glimpse gives you a chance to renew contacts and hear a great deal of news which never gets to you in letters.

On Tuesday afternoon I went to the annual Thrift Shop meeting and enjoyed a most interesting program. I returned home in time to see Mrs. Bernard Ryan from Albion, New York, who was in Washington for a day or two, and to greet my guests, who spent the night with me. They were six ladies representing church women and educators from different parts of the country, and were deeply interested in the war and its future effect on this country and the world.

After dinner, we saw the films which the President of Guatemala sent by me to my husband. Unfortunately, my husband did not have time to see them before he left, but he will when he returns. I know he will be interested in the emphasis which is evidently being put on the improvement in education and health in Guatemala, as well as on training for military service. Some of their Indian contingents are particularly interesting as they wear native costume of the region with one or two modern military touches.

On Wednesday I took the midday train to Newark, New Jersey, and spoke at the Urban League dinner there. This is one of the organizations working throughout our country for better racial understanding between white and colored people. Because people of both races work together, I think it achieves very good results in many places. The Newark report for the past year is extremely encouraging, particularly from the industrial angle. This is the center of much industrial employment. Highly skilled Negro workers have been accepted and proved themselves valuable to industry and acceptable to their fellow workers.

From faraway Butte, Montana, some high school girls have written me that they think their age group might be used to make a real contribution to the war effort if some older people would sponsor them. They say that they know of young mothers who would gladly give several hours of volunteer service daily if their little children could be taken care of in places furnished by the community. The girls feel they could care for the children and do the necessary work after school hours. This doesn’t seem such a bad idea, though of course it would have to be organized and supervised by older people. It would have the advantage of giving an opportunity for patriotic service to a group of young people who do not feel that their abilities are being used at present.

92

April 15, 1944

New York – (Friday)
Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes at a small club which is visited by members of the Allied Forces passing through this country. It is run in connection with a small book shop on Park Avenue. Because it is so small, there is personal contact possible which makes it more homelike. Rooms are found for the men if they spend the night in New York. I think they must often find their hosts friendly people who try to make them comfortable.

I was pleased to see this club, because it is the kind of thing that I saw being done for our men by Australian and New Zealand women, and I like to think that their boys go home after having had a contact with some of the homes of our people here.

After a short meeting, I took a train to Poughkeepsie where I had a little business to attend to, and then I went to the Poughkeepsie High School for a parent-teacher meeting. During the winter they have been discussing the need for a youth center in Poughkeepsie.

It is interesting to find that the people in this country are increasingly conscious of the questions involved in child care, both for small children and the older young people. There was a time when we thought the home, the school and the church were the only agencies concerned with young people, and one was expected to take an interest only in his own young people. Now there has been developed a feeling that all the people of the community have not only an interest, but a responsibility, in our modern and complicated civilization, for all the young people in their community.

Whether we start child care centers for young people depends on the interest of the young people themselves and the need that their elders feel for such activity. If opportunities for recreation are not plentiful, I think we will find these centers springing up in private houses, in rooms in existing organizations, or in buildings sponsored by the community. But in every case, the need and the young people’s enthusiasm will have to be plainly demonstrated.

You may have heard the radio talk given by Miss Dorothy Thompson on a Sunday night some weeks ago on the subject of community responsibility for child care. She particularly spoke of the school lunch program. This program, of course, grew out of a real need. We found here, as the Scandinavian and other European countries found out long ago, that the school lunch program was of value from the point of view of good health for the children and education for the parents. What the children learned in school resulted in better nutrition habits in the home. I hope this program will grow until every school in the country provides a hot school lunch for its children.

Miss Dorothy Thompson’s talk was recorded and can now be heard by many of the women’s groups which have received copies of the recording.

93

April 17, 1944

Washington – (Sunday)
On Friday evening, I spoke on the radio here for the Treasury Department, and then attended two celebrations of Pan-American Day. The first was held at the Labor Department Auditorium. Many government workers who have an interest in South and Central America because of their work in the Coordinator’s Office and the State Department were present.

Afterwards I went to a concert at the Pan-American Building, which was attended by many of the diplomats. The young pianist from Cuba, Lt. Jorge Bolet, played, and I enjoyed again his great artistic gift. Our own Navy Band orchestra is excellent, and I am sure that everyone had a very pleasant evening. The Secretary of State spoke over the air and I hope we will all heed his plea for unity among the nations in this hemisphere. It is of vital importance to us and to all our neighbors.

I realize that my interest in all things Pan-American is greater since I have had the pleasure of meeting more Americans from among our neighbors. I certainly was happy to have an opportunity to welcome the members of the Inter-American Commission of Women here at tea on Saturday afternoon.

I believe that this is one of the largest representative gatherings they have had, and the ladies are all leaders in their own countries. Their particular interest is how the women of the different Americans can cooperate to bring about better understanding throughout the world after the war, and how to foster better cooperation in this hemisphere which may be of use to the women and children of the world.

Last evening the delegates to the Association for Childhood Education Conference met in the east room, and I was very glad to hear Dr. Margaret Mead’s address. She brought out a point which I think we must not forget. She said that this country of ours is unique because we have always expected every generation of young people to do better than their parents. Therefore, our approach to our schools has been somewhat different because it was through the schools that we expected this opportunity to come to our young people.

In nearly all the countries of the world, parents know more than their children and even in some portions of our own country that is the case! By and large, however, we take it for granted that our children are going ahead of their elders, and will know more than their elders have known. That creates a different attitude and gives us a different approach towards our youth. In short, it is what makes us “the country of opportunity.”

94

April 18, 1944

Hyde Park, New York – (Monday)
Yesterday, Miss Thompson and I came up to Hyde Park. Mr. Charles Keen Taylor is our guest here. This morning we are visiting the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School and I shall spend a good part of the morning listening to school problems and hearing Mr. Taylor discuss and, I hope, demonstrate his ideas on vocational guidance.

Signs of spring here in the country are not as evident as they are in Washington, but nevertheless, every time I have a glimpse of my own home surroundings, I am conscious of a great longing to stay and watch the gradual unfolding of spring. It is so many years since I have seen the lilac bushes bud and the lilies of the valley push up through the ground.

In Washington, spring suddenly seems to burst upon you. Here it creeps, but it is nevertheless a miracle of beauty and hope. With so much death and destruction going on throughout the world, the fact that the seasons follow their course, that there is rebirth when the time comes, must bring comfort to many sad souls in the world.

Dean Eleanor Grady of Hunter College came to see me in Washington on Saturday to talk about what the college could do for the returning girls as they are discharged from the military services. I am sure the college will do its part, for one always finds Hunter thinking ahead on the problems of the day where girls are concerned.

Just now I have before me the notice of a conference to be held in the Hunter College Auditorium on April 19, on “Religion at Work in the Community.” Some 2,000 leaders, educators and laymen will hear specific programs discussed, and I am sure that this coming together of the various religious leaders with the laymen is a valuable and necessary step.

The churches must lead in the spiritual regeneration of our time, but they cannot lead unless the laymen will accept a fundamental truth – that the ideas which they hear spoken from the pulpits of their churches must be translated by all into action in their daily lives. Otherwise, these ideas will have no influence on the life of the times. Sermons may carry inspiration, but they may be completely sterile if they cease to have any effect when the members of a church group pass through the doors of the House of God and out into the world.

This is true of all our religions, and so I am glad that this meeting brings together representatives of various groups – Catholic, Protestant and Jewish – for all of us must work together or there will be no religious leadership of great influence in any community.

95

April 19, 1944

New York – (Tuesday)
Mr. Charles Keen Taylor of the Vocational Research Bureau was most interesting yesterday morning at Hyde Park. He showed the young high school students that during their school years they are building up a record which can be used to decide what they will do well in future life. He pointed out, too, that the things we enjoy doing in our leisure time are part of this record and that personality and character will have a great deal to do with the final decision of what vocation will be best.

He cited to them two boys, both of whom wanted to be doctors. One was chosen to train as a surgeon because in emergencies he was self-controlled and calm. The other one showed a lack of ability to control his emotions and he was steered into a different branch of medicine.

It is the all-around boy who is being built year by year who must be considered when a vocation for life is being chosen.

From Hyde Park I went through to Philadelphia, and had a pleasant dinner with Mr. and Mrs. John Frederick Lewis Jr. Then I attended the opening of the Occupational Therapy exhibit at the Art Alliance. It will be open for a month, and beginning today, there will be people there from the various hospitals, military and civilian, demonstrating how the work is done. The pictures and the finished materials on exhibition were exciting enough in themselves, but actually seeing people at work as I have in our various hospitals will thrill everyone who attended this exhibit.

I hope this exhibition will be shown in the District of Columbia, in New York, and in various other cities throughout the country when its month in Philadelphia comes to an end. No one should be without the information which these demonstrations can impart. It means hope for the handicapped, whether the disability is mental or physical.

In connection with this exhibit, I was reminded of the work which has been done lately by the Laymen’s League Against Epilepsy with headquarters in Boston. A very beautiful piece of work was pointed out to me as the creation of a soldier who had epilepsy. The doctor said, of course, epilepsy is sometimes allied to genius. The strides which have been made of late in the control of this disease are remarkable and encouraging and the League has been of great help.

I was glad to hear the other day that the Physical Therapy Aide bill was passed and the young women working with the Armed Forces as physiotherapists may now be made officers.

96

April 20, 1944

New York – (Wednesday)
I think I owe a little tribute to the railroads, for on Monday I did a bit of shuttling around on rather tight schedules. If I had been late, it would have meant putting out many people, but I was very fortunate, as no train was more than fifteen minutes late during the entire day! That’s a record of which the railroads can be proud in these crowded and busy times.

Yesterday, three young cousins of mine came to lunch. I am sorry to say that contact with them is not very frequent, but it is always a great pleasure to me to see them, because then I catch up on their activities and the news of their children. It seems incredible that any of them have boys old enough to be in the service, or girls who are graduate nurses, but nevertheless it is true, and the wonderful thing is that they look so young and that I still don’t feel too old in comparison with them.

I am always waiting for the day to appear when I shall put on my little lace cap and sit by the fire. But when I am with a number of young people, I become so interested that I put off that day just a little longer.

In the afternoon I went to speak at a meeting of the New York League of Women Voters, which was held at the home of Mrs. Max Ascoli in Gramercy Park. Miss Dorothy Thompson was the main speaker and her subject was the responsibilities of women in the present period. She is a most stimulating and interesting speaker and I was grateful for the opportunity to hear her. She made me feel that we women should unite on the care of children and work much harder than we have in the past, because it would help solve so many of our other problems.

After the meeting, I walked through 20th Street past Roosevelt House and had a yen to go in and look at it again, but it was too late and I am sure that it was already closed.

In the evening I dined with my cousin, Mrs. Kermit Roosevelt, and had the pleasure of meeting Mr. John Hersey, who wrote A Bell for Adano, a book which I much enjoyed recently. After dinner, Mrs. Roosevelt asked some friends in, and we talked about my various trips.

I had a chance to ask Dr. Foster Kennedy some questions, as he can speak with authority. He is helping with many of the problems which grow out of the war and he feels that the work which Mrs. Anna Rosenberg has started in New York City in connection with the placement in jobs of returned servicemen and their readjustment to civilian life, should be very widely extended throughout the nation.

At dinner, it was interesting to find that one man had just returned from Italy, another from Cairo, and another from London. What varied information our young men will have acquired during these strenuous years!

97

April 21, 1944

Washington – (Thursday)
Yesterday afternoon we went to a tea given by Mr. George Carlin of United Feature Syndicate and Mrs. Carlin. There were a number of interesting people there and I was happy to have this opportunity to see them.

In the evening I attended a special showing of three plays produced by “Stage for Action.” This group decided some time ago that we have a real need for informed and active citizens in this country, and that one way to give people information is to do it painlessly, through the drama. They decided that if the plays were good, people would enjoy them, but they would also get the point and go out and work in their communities on the problems presented.

They use a little of the technique of the “Living Newspaper,” and the audience is made to feel very much a part of the show because its members speak up and take part in the discussion of what is going on on the stage. Not long ago, while giving a play at one of the servicemen’s centers, one of the boys who was not part of the cast spoke up from the audience. It started a controversy and the actors entered into it, and I gather it brought out much interesting talk. The only thing they didn’t tell us last night was whether the actors persuaded the man in the audience that their point of view was the right one!

Much help from the Theatre Group in the way of writers, musicians and actors has been extended to the four moving spirits of the organization: Donna Keath, who is the chairman; Perry Miller, the executive secretary; Berrilla Kerr, production manager; and Elias Goldin, the treasurer. They do not receive salaries, but they would like to be able to have an office of their own and a couple of people on salary who could devote all their time to spreading this activity throughout the nation and establishing it on a firm basis in headquarters in New York City. They raised some money last night, but I hope many more people will be willing to help them.

The drama can make situations real to people in a way that is hard to do through the written word, except to people who are accustomed to learning that way. Perhaps these scripts produced on the stage will also be given over the radio.

Mr. Fredric March told me last night that he had given one of the plays, titled That They May Win, by Arthur Miller, over the radio. Mr. March was one of the contributors last night. It is a great credit to these young people in the theatre who want to do this job as citizens through work in their own profession, and I wish them the best of luck.

98

April 22, 1944

Washington – (Friday)
Yesterday was a busy day because, as usual, there seemed to be plenty of work waiting on our desks when we came in. Some young people came to lunch. Among them was Sgt. John Carey, a member of a Marine Corps dive bomber crew, who is back here on furlough after many months in the Pacific. I noted four stars on his service ribbon, but he was as modest as could be and glowed with pride over the achievements of his older brother, Mr. James B. Carey, secretary-treasurer of the CIO. It was a kind of mutual admiration society which was pleasant to see.

At 2:30, I went out to Walter Reed Hospital to attend a discussion group meeting which has been started out there by the patients. Mrs. Bradley Dewey, wife of the rubber director, is in charge. Those who are in bed in the wards can listen over the loudspeaker connections and they can send in questions. These were of a general nature and covered many subjects yesterday, but I think that as they go on, they will find it necessary to take up one or two subjects each day, and will have people there who know those particular subjects very well.

I found myself promising to look certain questions up and get detailed answers for the meeting next Thursday. I am happy to see this being done in the hospitals, because in hospitals men have time to think about the problems of the future, and that is where they should also be able to obtain exact information on any points affecting them personally.

Last night I went to the final meeting of the Inter-American Commission of Women at the Pan-American Union Building. It was an interesting meeting and one which showed very clearly that the women of the Americas can work together and accomplish real results. All those who had attended the conferences felt that women should be included in the groups now making plans for the future. If that does happen, I know there will be an increasing flow of information to the women of our various countries which will heighten our mutual sense of responsibility for the future.

I am interested to find that St. Louis University is now sponsoring an activity which may be of interest to a number of people who are completely homebound. The university departments of marketing and the school of commerce and finance have set up as a permanent activity, the checking of radio programs by homebound people throughout this country. After the war, it is hoped to make this a worldwide operation. An activity of this kind should give work and interest to handicapped people and should mean an improvement in radio programs in regard to accuracy and presentation.

99

April 24, 1944

Washington – (Sunday)
Friday I had the great pleasure of having some very old friends lunch with me. They were Mrs. Edward Macauley and Mrs. Frank Polk, and in addition, Mrs. Richard Bissell, the new director of volunteers for the Red Cross who had just returned from a long trip throughout the country, and Mrs. Robert Magidoff, the Russian wife of the American NBC correspondent in Moscow. Many of you probably listen to his broadcasts every morning.

Mrs. Magidoff has been all over our country speaking for Russian War Relief. She has addressed small audiences and big audiences, labor audiences, rotary clubs, groups of young people and women’s clubs. Her English is remarkably good, with just enough foreign accent and construction to keep people’s interest fixed upon what she says in order to be sure that one has grasped her meaning.

Mrs. Magidoff was very interesting in her observations on the difference between the psychology of the Russian mother and our own mothers in their attitude to the war. She recognized the fact that having a war on your own territory clarified many things which are difficult for us to understand and certainly difficult to sacrifice for.

She stressed one point that I think very interesting. She said that Russian teaching, from school days on, makes people conscious that they have to think of other people. They are taught that their own interests as individuals are not of paramount importance, but that their neighbors must be considered. This has an effect on the manners and customs.

You would not feel free to whistle, for instance, as we do in public places, without asking your neighbor if it annoyed him. In my childhood no gentleman smoked without asking the ladies if they objected, but that has become unnecessary since so many ladies smoke. We still teach our children to stand up when their elders come into a room, but we would rarely say, as I understand the Russians do, “Citizen, you are not alone.” And yet that reminder might be valuable to us in many ways.

On Saturday I gave a luncheon for the Prime Minister of New Zealand and Mrs. Fraser. It was a great pleasure to see them again. They were so kind to me when I was in New Zealand, and Mrs. Fraser travelled with me practically all the time I was there. They are both the kindest people, and have the simplicity that stands out in great people wherever you meet them.

Saturday afternoon I had a tea for the members of the Navy Wives Clubs on America. The members are doing a great deal for each other when they must move from place to place, and through this club, they can almost always be sure of finding a friend wherever they go.

At 6:15, I broadcasted for the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission and in the evening, I went out to the Washington Sanitarium to speak to the Nurses’ Alumni Association.

100

April 25, 1944

Washington – (Monday)
Sunday afternoon proved to be quite busy. At one o’clock, over a hundred capitol page boys came to lunch. After lunch we saw some movies of one of our carriers, and then they stayed on for another movie and a visit through the White House rooms.

I went out a little before four, to receive with Mrs. Robert Patterson at a tea which the “Jangos” gave in her house for the WAC officers in Washington. You might like to know about the Jangos. Those letters stand for Junior Army-Navy Guild Organization. These are the wives and daughters of junior officers and they have banded themselves together to do a great variety of war work, helping the hospitals here and filling in wherever they see a chance for being useful. They are young women with families, and therefore they are not able to do full time jobs. But they keep usefully busy.

The tea yesterday was a great success, and they did all the work of looking after the guests and seeing that they were fed and made to feel at home.

Afterwards, I stopped to see an exhibition of paintings by Miss Alice Barney at the Arts Club, and then went to the Foundry Methodist Church and met with a group of their young people.

We had a rather late supper, after which we were shown the Army movie, The Negro Soldier in the War. It is a very moving record of achievement, and I hope the Negro soldiers will feel that it is a recognition of their outstanding service. It should bring one very evident fact home to all of us – the fact that this war is fought by all Americans and not by any group of them, and that it will be better fought if we fight it together as Americans and not as divided groups.

At noon today, I went to the Woman’s National Democratic Club to speak on the Caribbean trip.

I am so glad to be able to agree with Mr. Pegler on something he wrote in his column which appeared here on March 24. I heartily agree with him that in the case of a simple person like myself, there is no reason whatsoever why there should be any accompanying cars on any trips which I take within any city or in any part of our country or abroad.

I shall be most grateful to him if he will keep on telling the various people who meet me and go about with me that one car is all we need and that escorts of any kind are absolutely unnecessary. I have been contending that for a long time and it is a joy to find an ally who may command more cooperation than I have obtained in the past. I am so grateful to Mr. Pegler for bringing this point to the attention of all, so they will feel no obligation in the future to make their welcome elaborate.