February 16, 1945
NEW YORK, Thursday – On Tuesday afternoon I took the train to Baltimore, where I spoke to 400 cadet nurses on some of the phases of overseas work. They were a wonderfully attractive group of girls, and many of those who were graduating were headed for overseas service.
They have a number of foreign students there too, being trained as nurses. I talked to a nice girl from Puerto Rico who intends to use her knowledge to improve the health of the people on her home island. She belongs to a family of twelve and has several brothers in the service, so she wanted to do her share. There was a girl from Trinidad, one from Brazil, and one from Guatemala, and I imagine most of them will go back and teach in some home hospital in the future.
One amusing little incident was a telegram which came to me from the medical students saying they had wanted to attend the meeting, but that the nurses had ruled them out. This was one occasion on which the ladies had something which they evidently wanted to keep all to themselves. But I did see two or three young men on the outskirts of the group as I made my way out, so some girlish hearts must have relented at the last minute!
It was nearly one o’clock before I reached New York City.
Yesterday morning Mrs. Dorothy Bellanca came to see me, and then I spent from about 11 to 3 o’clock at the meeting and luncheon given annually for the United Jewish Appeal. It is very remarkable what the Jewish community is trying to do for the unfortunates all over the world, and I came away with a sense of gratitude and inspiration. There are not many of us who give so generously that we make an actual sacrifice and perhaps even have to ask the family as a whole to share in that sacrifice.
After the meeting I strolled around for a little while to get some air before attending another meeting on Wiltwyck School, and finally I paid a visit to a member of my family who has been ill. I got home just in time to have a few guests for early supper, and then dropped in to see some other friends staying nearby, who are leaving shortly for England.
Today I have a number of appointments and will attend a luncheon given by The Tuition Plan to consider the future of education. This is certainly a broad subject and one in which I am deeply interested, but I have begun to think that education can hardly be considered by itself alone. That is to say, one can hardly consider institutions and curricula as being the sum total of education, and when you draw together all the different factors affecting the education of a child you have to cover a pretty wide field.