Eleanor Roosevelt – My Day (1945)

241

October 4, 1945

NEW YORK, Wednesday – For a long time I have wanted to draw attention to the remarkable contribution made by the trained nurses of the United States in this war. Just lately I came across an article that gives some figures and facts which I think should reach as many people as possible. Over 100,000 of the 242,500 active professional nurses volunteered and were certified for the Army and Navy nursing service. There has been a larger number of war service volunteers from the nursing profession than from any other profession. This is not strange, of course, since nursing is naturally the field where trained women would be called upon to a greater extent than from any other field.

I think we should not forget, however, that when this large percentage of our trained nursing force was taken out of civilian life, the burden borne by those left at their usual occupations was increased by almost 50 percent.

Army and Navy nurses are still on duty in every branch of the service. As of June 30, 1945, 65,216 were still on duty with the services. It is interesting to note the sources from which these nurses were drawn – 64 percent of them came from institutions and hospitals, and that is why there has been the great need for volunteers in those same institutions at home during the war. Seventeen percent came from private duty, and anyone who has been forced to have a private nurse in the last few years can readily believe that and perhaps wonder why the percentage is not higher! Five percent came from Public Health; three percent from the comparatively new field of industrial nursing, and the remainder from scattered sources.

Awards and citations have already been bestowed on 964 Army and Navy nurses. I hope that some general recognition can be given to the nurses who served in the war, and that more of those whose jobs were hard and grinding, if not particularly spectacular, will receive some special recognition. For instance, I think of the nurses who moved into the concentration camps of Europe to care for the poor creatures who had spent such long and horrible days under very bad conditions. The working and living conditions must have been horrible for the nurses as well.

These women know better than most of us what war exacts in blood and pain from all young men, and they will continue to be reminded of it. In veterans’ hospitals and in civilian hospitals and homes, they are going to meet the aftermath of war as long as this generation lives. In that respect, therefore, they have a great contribution to make to peace. I hope their organizations will be strong and that they will act not only in the interests of nurses, but take their position as citizens of influence in the affairs of the whole nation.

242

October 5, 1945

NEW YORK, Thursday – On Tuesday evening I attended the dinner given to gain support for the Downtown Community School. This school, which started its career in Greenwich House on Barrow Street, has grown so rapidly that they have now acquired their own building on 17th Street, opposite St. Marks-in-the-Bowerie. The building was a hospital and adapts itself very well, they tell me, to the needs of the school, which includes a nursery school and more primary grades than they were able to have in Greenwich House. The basic concept of the school is that it shall really be a community school. It proposes to take part in the life of the community and include all the elements of the community among its students, thereby helping them to live and work in the future in a community. The part I like best is the fact that they expect to work with the parents as well as with the children, and this seems to me to make a great deal of sense in any educational adventure!

Yesterday I journeyed up to Springfield, Massachusetts, where I was met by two very charming young ladies who took me out to Mt. Holyoke. They were apologetic about the fact that I had to see the press and then, in half an hour, be ready for dinner, give my talk, hold a question period and attend an informal gathering with the students and a few of the faculty until about 10:30. This last gathering was the one I enjoyed the most.

As a matter of fact, there was really nothing to apologize about, for this schedule is what one expects on a one-night jaunt to any college; and I always find the contact with young people a revivifying experience.

Mt. Holyoke has a beautiful campus, and they told me of a custom established there which sounds delightful. One day in October before the hunting season opens, but if possible after a frost has colored the trees, the chapel bells ring out in the early morning. This is the signal that everything in the way of classes is cancelled for the day, and the girls can go climbing the neighboring mountains. They like it so well that these particular girls thought they would institute such a day wherever they were in the future.

The custom has many values, I think. For climbing to the tops of mountains can give one courage to climb over one’s academic difficulties. The early months of any semester present these difficulties sharply to most students, since the return to routine and study means a period of readjustment after a summer holiday.

The questions which the girls asked interested me very much. They showed that the modern generation is really thinking with great concern about the national and international questions of the day. Young people have a disconcerting way of asking direct questions about subjects their elders would be somewhat reluctant to bring out in the open. For instance, the Foreign Ministers Conference in London, which most of us have been trying not to think about, had to be brought out and really examined!

243

October 6, 1945

WASHINGTON, D.C., Friday – Reading the reports by Anne O’Hare McCormick and Herbert L. Matthews in the newspaper yesterday morning as I traveled back to New York City from Springfield, Mass., did very little to lift my sense of discouragement. A young Red Cross worker, sitting next to me, said: “It looks as though the difficulties had been largely personal.”

I rather think she was right. It is difficult to come to agreements on questions of importance unless the men dealing with them really have goodwill toward each other. The impression left on most of our minds, after reading reports of the press interviews held by Mr. Molotov, Mr. Byrnes and Mr. Bidault, is, I think, of three men each trying to justify his own ideas at the bar of public opinion at home and abroad. I wonder how well they will succeed.

It seems to me that we need to be reminded, all of us, that peace is no longer a question of something we hope to attain in the future. It is an absolutely vital necessity to the continuation of our civilization on earth. For that reason, I believe, something will have to jar us to the point of realizing that we now live in a new era; that when we talk about national defense as we did in the past, we are talking pure nonsense. Armies, navies, air forces, compulsory military service, all of these things have to be reconsidered in the light of a new era. It is comforting to read about doing things in the old way. It gives us a sense of familiarity with the world we live in, which had a rather severe shock when we first heard about the atomic bomb. But we had better not be lulled to sleep by any comfort of this kind, since it has no foundation in fact.

Congress can do all the things which President Truman suggested in the message which I read yesterday, and we can feel safe in controlling the secret of the atomic bomb until, somewhere else in the world, someone makes the same discoveries that we have made. The minute that happens – and there is no reason it should not happen, since the theoretical principles are known to all scientists – we will realize that we only won a race. We didn’t stop all scientific achievements for the future.

On the day this occurs, therefore, what goodwill our control be? I think we will feel a little insecure. We have to face the fact, it seems to me, that there is only one way in which we can be safe in the world of tomorrow. That is by universal education in the great art of friendship, and the universal conviction that living together in a peaceful world is to our mutual advantage throughout the world. The only way to begin on this development is to begin. We live in a world where trust and confidence have to be developed, and we develop it by our attitudes and our acts, both personal and national. Failures in understanding among nations and in goodwill cannot be accepted in the future. They are tantamount to self-destruction.

244

October 8, 1945

NEW YORK, Sunday – On Thursday evening I attended a solemn and beautiful ceremony which the Netherlands-Jewish Society held to commemorate the deaths that had occurred throughout Europe, but especially among the Dutch Jews. A message from Queen Wilhelmina spoke of her deep sorrow in the death of so many of her loyal subjects and of the pride she felt in the way in which all of them had banded together to defy the Germans, so that many Gentiles risked death to protect Jews.

Holland is one of the places where not only is there no anti-Semitism, but there has been no distinction between citizens. That is something of which to be extremely proud, and I wish it could be said in all parts of the world.

I took a late plane to Washington, afterward, in order to be on hand at 10 a.m. Friday for the annual meeting of the Southern Education Foundation. It is the first time I have traveled on a plane in months and months, and I felt a little queerly about it, as though I were doing something I still had no right to do. Mothers with babies, however, and many other civilians were traveling at the same time, so I soon settled down in comfort and enjoyed the smooth trip.

When the date was set for the Southern Education Foundation meeting, no one had known, of course, that the city of Washington would be celebrating Admiral Nimitz’ return. It was his day; the streets were filled with people, and the air was filled with planes. I was unable to leave the offices during the whole day, and the only part of the celebration that any of us on the foundation could see was the vast air formation as it flew over Lafayette Square. I rejoice in every honor paid Admiral Nimitz and the officers and men under him, for without their fine work the victory could not have been achieved.

I caught the five o’clock train home, but was very grateful for the Washington share-the-taxi arrangement, as otherwise I think I would never have reached the station. I was fortunate enough to find a taxi with a gentleman who was going to be dropped at the Greyhound bus station. This enabled me to arrive at the station in ample time to buy a ticket and get a seat on the train. The train was crowded with military men and women going on furlough. A boy behind me was going home to get married. A man across the aisle, not in uniform, was going to see his child in Wilmington make some grade in the Girl Scouts, and he asked me to sign an autograph for her. It was a friendly and happy crowd.

Equipment on trains shows what a strain the railroads have been under. In our car the lights grew dim and, after leaving Baltimore, went out entirely. Consequently, I found the trip very restful. I would have felt obliged to read something, since my bag was full of material that should be gone over. Instead, I sat in the darkness with folded hands and looked out at the passing cities and the occasional lights in the countryside, and I thought what a fortunate people we are!

245

October 9, 1945

NEW YORK, Monday – The American Association for the United Nations, Inc., has organized a United Nations Youth Group. On Saturday morning they met at 45 East 65th Street, and I went in to talk to them for a few minutes. There were young people from public and private schools in New York City, members of the Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls, the YMCA, Boys Clubs, Youth Builders and similar organizations. It was an alive group and the questions came easily. They were provocative questions showing that the young people feel they have a responsibility and are very anxious to find ways of bearing an actual part, even as pre-voters, in the world of today.

I enjoyed my few minutes with them, and went from there to the Women’s Trade Union League luncheon. Here they had spent the morning discussing the position of women in industry, with special emphasis on their labor union problems.

Women find themselves, in many cases, a minority group and are isolated in just the way that certain nationality and religious groups are. My particular subject was “Women As Citizens,” and as all women are now citizens, that is one place in which they need not function as a minority group unless they allow themselves to be pushed aside. It is necessary for working women in this country not to forget that, important as their special problems are to them, the problems that are before the whole nation are even more important – since no special problems can be settled except in the context of the whole problem which faces the country.

For instance, women may want to work, but unless there is full employment they will not obtain jobs. They must therefore be primarily interested in what is done in our national economy to provide work for all those who want work. They may have a special interest in their homes and in their children. But if war comes, they have to conform to the requirements of service for young people and of home conditions which govern the country as a whole.

In this field of citizenship, women do not have to function as minority groups. If women want to take part in their local, state and national governments today, they can do so with complete equality. The only thing they have to do is to prove that they can obtain the votes. That means that they will not only have to vote themselves, but will have to see to it that the other women in their localities also vote. They will in addition have to talk about the matters which affect them as citizens, and not just about their own special interests. Their responsibility is just as heavy as that of the men.

246

October 10, 1945

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Tuesday – On Sunday evening I attended the annual dinner given by Freedom House, when their award for this year was presented to General Eisenhower. Since he could not be there in person, he asked that it be accepted for him by a private first class of his army who held certain battle distinctions. Pfc. Harold G. Taylor, who accepted the award with great dignity, is a native of Delmar, near Albany, N.Y. He is only 20 years old, but has all the coveted decorations. I enjoyed talking with him, and kept wishing that his family and his neighbors could be there. They are all proud of him for his battle achievements; but his simplicity and poise in the face of such a large audience, and when he was carrying out such an honorable assignment, would have added to their pride. On this evening he was the symbol of all our young American soldiers, and I, too, felt proud that they had such a good representative.

I read a report the other night made by the Salvation Army on its work in World War II. I wondered how many people realized that this organization, which functions all over the world, of course, had its first baptism of fire in the retreat to and from Dunkirk. Only two of the score of Red Shield canteens returned from Dunkirk to England, so that the Salvation Army began to chalk up its first casualties at that time.

Salvation Army mobile units, or “invasion canteens,” have rolled down the ramps of LST’s along with the jeeps and trucks and tanks. Their mobile caravans have today traveled a distance approximately equivalent to going four times around the world. These mobile canteens often were equipped with libraries, radio sets, a film projector and films, a record player and facilities for serving 4,600 men.

They did not forget their religious services, but neither did they forget that mere man must be fed and warmed and sheltered before his spirits can rise to consider spiritual things.

I read a book not long ago by an eminent divine who seems to feel that one of our major troubles is the fact that we think too much about attaining decent standards of living for our people, and too little about salvaging their souls. For me the two have always had to go hand in hand, and I think that is one reason why I have always appreciated the work of the Salvation Army. They are usually as practical as the Catholic Church: both of them know the weaknesses and strengths of human beings.

247

October 11, 1945

NEW YORK, Wednesday – The National War Fund had a very good meeting in Bridgeport, Conn., Monday night. Governor Baldwin and Mayor McLevy were there and, judging by the speakers who were present, labor and management were working closely together. Everyone recognizes that to raise the very large sums of money needed this year requires a special effort. The local Community Chests will need greater support than usual, because of the reconversion period. The various foreign relief agencies in the fund must be supported because UNRRA is limited by law as to where it can go and what it can do, and many gaps must be filled. The USO services at home and abroad must be increased.

They have a servicemen’s center in Bridgeport which I should like to see duplicated in every city of any size throughout the country. They give tangible help to the men coming out of the service who need advice of any kind, or help in obtaining employment, or information as to their rights under the GI bill.

It was late when Miss Esther Lape, who had driven over from Westbrook to meet me, finally got us home; but a good night’s sleep lay before us and the drive back to New Haven Tuesday morning was a great treat. Gray early morning clouds gradually cleared and the colors came out, brilliantly red and yellow, everywhere we looked.

The lunch at New Haven, sponsored by the Connecticut Federation of Democratic Women’s Clubs, was also attended by the heads of a great number of other women’s organizations of the state. It was really a nonpartisan meeting, since peace was the subject under consideration and that is of interest to everybody, regardless of party affiliation.

President Blunt, of Connecticut Woman’s College, came back on the train to New York with me and I enjoyed the opportunity for a little more talk with her.

On arrival here I spent a little time in the office signing mail, and then Miss Thompson and I started out to get a taxi to come home. We not only couldn’t get a taxi, but we couldn’t get a bus for a very long time. It seems to me that New York City is more crowded and congested with both people and traffic than I have ever known it. I should think there would have to be, before long, new regulations about parking and some new arrangements made for taking up the excess truck traffic, which at present makes getting around the city practically impossible during crowded hours. It is understandable that, as a result of the war, there should be a shortage of taxicabs and that many of the taxis are in poor condition; but I hope that here, and in other cities like our own, one of the first needs the automobile manufacturers will meet is the demand for new taxis. I have seen people standing at the railroad station with heavy bags, waiting for long periods of time to find some way of getting home.

248

October 12, 1945

NEW YORK, Thursday – There is a great deal of urging on the part of military leaders that we have universal military service from now on, and a number of people have written me asking how I felt on this subject. I think that before we make any decision we should take into consideration the change brought about by the atomic bomb. When we see some people contend that we need exactly the same kind of strength which we needed before this discovery was made, I wonder whether they have lost all imagination and elasticity of mind.

Discovery of the atomic bomb has made many forms of defense obsolete. I believe we should stay a strong nation. I believe that training and discipline and responsibility would be good for all, boys and girls alike. But that it should be the same kind of training which has been envisioned in the past seems to me highly unlikely.

I think, therefore, that before one gives any blanket endorsement to universal military training, one should ask several things. What are the final forms which scientists and military leaders believe necessary to keep this nation safe?

What is the best type of preparation which our people as a whole need, and how can it best be obtained? Do we need, as well as universal miltary training, some type of universal training for better understanding of each other throughout the world? Do we need a better group of people to be our representatives, not only in the diplomatic service, but in the field of trade and in the development of communication and interchange of travel?

Undoubtedly there will have to be a greater interchange in the educational field. How are we going to make that of maximum use to our country and the other countries of the world? How are we going to improve agricultural development? And are we planning to train an ever increasing number of people who will have a rounded picture of the world’s economic situation and serve as guides and advisers in the whole program of friendly world relations?

These are all questions I want considered before any universal military training bill is settled upon for this rising generation.

Last night I went to Trenton, N.J., to speak for the Trenton “Committee on Unity.” More and more cities are getting up committees to create better understanding among the citizens and to try to obliterate the misunderstandings which create racial and religious tensions.

If only we all would realize that every time we allow ourselves to have an unkind and bitter thought about another human being we add to these tensions and put another nail in the coffin of world peace. I think we would make a far greater effort to develop friendly understanding and equality of opportunity for all people in our own communities.

249

October 13, 1945

HYDE PARK, Friday – Today I want to talk to you about something which came to me the other day from a member of a USO entertainment group that had been in both Italy and Germany very recently.

These entertainers are young. They have perhaps a better opportunity than even the officers have for reaching conclusions about the situation as it really exists for our soldiers overseas. They see both officers and enlisted men informally. They hear much talk among the men which would never occur when officers were within earshot, and some talk among the officers which would perhaps not be as free if enlisted men were present.

The conclusions which this individual reached were that both officers and service men in Germany were the victims of a well-organized underground propaganda carried on through the German girls. For instance, it is quite usual for a German girl to throw herself upon the sympathy of the Americans because “she is a refugee from Russian-held territory.” In subject ways, she sows seeds of hate against the Russians; against the Jews; against all our allies. She points out that “only the Germans have plumbing comparable to what you have in America.” She asks, “How could we look with anything but contempt on the French? In France, dirt and decadence reign.” She is not quite so bitter about the British. But, of course, “you Americans are better than the British,” and so it goes until we almost forget that we fought the war with allies whom we found to be loyal and honest and good soldiers.

We liberated people who, because of the Germans, have sunk to physical conditions of dirt and malnutrition which would lower anyone’s morale and will take years to wipe out. We almost forget that the Germans are our enemies; that they brought about all this destruction and horror and death that we see in Europe, as well as the losses among our own men. Of course, say our boys, “the girls are not responsible, because we know our girls at home would not be responsible for bringing about a war.”

Last but not least, our economic advisers – looking primarily to the interests of the industrialists of this country, backed by a similar group of industrialists in England – are saying that we should reestablish the industries of Germany so that Germany may live.

Anyone who looks at the German people knows that they have suffered less than any people in Europe. What are we doing? Are we planning to make them strong again so we can have another war? Small wonder the Russians and some of the other European people are frightened by our attitude. Will we never learn the lessons of history? Not the Russians, but the Germans have brought about the past two world wars.

250

October 15, 1945

HYDE PARK, Sunday – This is Sunday, and I think that on this day, above all others, most of us think of what we can do to bring the people of our nation to an understanding that peace, democracy and real unity among the peoples of the world depend on our willingness to accept the fact that all of us, regardless of race or creed or color, belong to one human family.

Some of us may feel that we have developed beyond others, due to circumstances of birth or native ability. This is not incompatible with a belief that we must have equality of opportunity throughout the world, and that when people achieve a high level of success they must be given recognition for that success, regardless of their background, racial origin or religion.

In this recent controversy centering, again, around the granting of the use of the hall owned in the District of Columbia by the Daughters of the American Revolution for a concert by the gifted pianist, Mrs. Hazel Scott Powell, I do not think one can hold the Daughters of the American Revolution alone responsible. There is an agreement among all theatre owners in the District of Columbia as to how their theatres shall be used. Only the public can make the theatre owners change that agreement.

It is sad that in our nation’s capital, where the eyes of the world are upon us, we should allow discrimination which impedes the progress and sears the souls of human beings whose only fault is that God, who made us all, gave their skin a darker color.

One might hope that an organization such as the Daughters of the American Revolution would have the courage to stand alone, if need be, and break this agreement which, though it may be unwritten, is nevertheless binding. They should be very sure of their own position and their own background, and they must be conscious of their Revolutionary ancestry, who came as immigrants to this country to escape discrimination in other lands.

It would be a rather glorious crusade for this organization to lead. To advocate human rights and insist that those who attain the highest artistic standards are to be judged as artists, and not discriminated against because of race or creed or color, would be in keeping with our Revolutionary traditions. They could so easily lead, and leaders are sorely needed today. Only those who are secure and who have convictions such as our forefathers had – that men have a right to stand on their achievements – could make this fight and give heart to others to join with them. Who could do it better than the daughters of Revolutionary great-grandfathers?

251

October 16, 1945

NEW YORK, Monday – I have had three days in the country, and have driven up the lovely Hudson Valley and back again, drinking in the beauty of the changing colors. I could have sung a paean of joy every morning as I walked my little dog, Fala, through the woods. The wind blew the gay yellow and red leaves down from the trees with a sighing, rustling sound; but it is still gay, not like late November. Nature is very much alive and is not putting its creatures to sleep as yet for the winter months. Even the birds fly southward as though they liked the snappy air. To come in the house to an open fire and cup of tea, and the visit of some friends, is a very satisfying thing.

I must again through this column thank the many kind people who have sent me good wishes on my birthday. To be remembered is very pleasant and I know that this year many people wanted to be especially kind and thoughtful, and I deeply appreciate it. I don’t suppose any of us likes the disabilities which come with growing old, and, at 61, I have my share. I keep losing my glasses and then finding them in quite obvious places! I occasionally use a hearing aid for special purposes: I know that it makes a great difference in my own enjoyment, and also must make it easier for other people who are with me.

All of life must slow up to some extent as the years go by. But, as far as I am concerned, the slowing up on the things which do not require physical prowess has not as yet been very noticeable. When I warn my family and friends that shortly I am going to sit by the fire with a nice little lace cap on my head and a shawl about my shoulders, and knit baby things for the newest generation, they look at me with some incredulity. The day will come, however, and when it does I think it will be rather pleasant.

Perhaps because I have grown older, I think more often of the difficulties which face the children and the old people in countries across the seas. I wish all of us would urge our government to give its utmost help and keep our pledges scrupulously to UNRRA, for that organization is the manifestation that the government of our country really wants to help the suffering people throughout the world.

I hope that all of us will subscribe what we can to the National War Fund and to the various special appeals from the countries which have stood so valiantly during the war, side by side with us, but which are now in desperate need. The children and the old people will suffer the most, and I should like to think that the United States will be remembered in the future not only as the nation which fought and helped to win a war, but which gave generously to help people back on their feet when that war was over.

252

October 17, 1945

NEW YORK, Tuesday – Yesterday I attended the Democratic Women’s rally in Brooklyn. Mrs. William H. Good presided and many of the local candidates spoke, and the members seeking election on the Council were also presented. Most of the people present were party workers, I imagine, but Brooklyn must have a tremendous number of active workers, for the room was filled and women stood during the whole time that I was there.

I am always sorry when I hear that registration is low at times when such an important election as that of the Mayor of New York City is at stake. Mr. Kelly, who is a wise person, said that it required a crusade to get out the number of registrants that were on hand in last autumn’s campaign, which means, I suppose, that we are more interested in national representatives than we are in local representatives. Yet that goes against all the things which I have believed in the past! I have always thought that we had to awaken the interest of people through happenings in their own localities which they could directly connect with their own lives. Yet here, in a matter which affects so many people as the election of a mayor in our city, we apparently find people taking very little interest. Perhaps we are just contradictory!

In the evening I went up to Harlem to a very small meeting at the YMCA with a few people who are anxious to face the problems of their community and do what they can about them.

It was interesting to hear what some of the teachers and workers in community centers said about the difficulty of interesting the older people in local activities for the benefit of children or for the benefit of the community as a whole. In one case, where 194 families were personally visited and asked to come to an important meeting of community affairs, only 12 came. Then the young people of the community center visited the same people and urged their attendance at a meeting called by the younger element themselves. The same 12 mothers came to the meeting. Of course, it is easy to understand that the conditions under which most of these Harlem mothers work make interest in civic affairs very difficult. But there was one encouraging note about a neighborhood association which actually had been formed and was working successfully in one area.

I had a visit the other day from Mrs. Bernard Gimbel of the American Women’s Voluntary Services, Inc. She came to tell me of a new activity among the American children, who are being asked to fill AWVS Friendship boxes. They take an empty wooden cigar box, decorate it to suit their own taste, and fill it with a variety of small items. Certain things, however, must go in – namely, pens, erasers, note books, paper pads, crayons, foreign language dictionaries, small rulers, etc. The articles may be old or new, as long as they are in condition to be used. Then the boxes are sent with a letter to a child abroad, the sender being allowed to select the country and the age group to which the box is to go. In working out the whole project, a great many activities can be given to the children, so that many different ages can participate in it. From my point of view, it is excellent training in awakening interest and friendship among nations.