Eleanor Roosevelt: My Day (1946)

July 6, 1946

HYDE PARK, Friday – Over the radio this morning, I heard them say that yesterday – in New York City, at least – had been the sanest Fourth of July that the police had ever experienced. It is rather a relief not to be awakened by firecrackers at dawn, and to wonder all day whether children are going to dash in reporting various kinds of accidents. Mine were never allowed to handle anything which could do real harm, but I can remember making plenty of noise as a child, and my children certainly made plenty of noise.

I doubt very much, however, whether any of our children were conscious of the real meaning of Independence Day, and I wish that, as a nation, we could adopt some kind of observances which would bring home to us all why we celebrate the day and would remind us of the names of the men who did so much to start us in building our freedom.

Yesterday, the maids from both my son’s house and my own went off in the afternoon for a picnic, so we combined and had one of our own. We cooked our own steaks over the charcoal grill and decided that it was quite the best meat we had had in a long time.

I had been a little nervous about our steaks, because they came from a cow not designed to serve as prime beef, but I must say that every bit of the meat put into our freezer has been good. And I have been grateful many a time for the things that we have grown on the farm this summer. Just now, we are a little swamped by peas, which we have been putting up in large quantities for use later on.

I wonder if the new OPA bill which is promised to us will overcome the President’s objections to the last one, and really be a bill which will safeguard the people’s interests. The way prices have jumped up in the last few days must have made those who hoped for self-control wonder whether one can ever control that instinct in human beings which makes them try to get all they can in the way of cash returns. Human nature seems to have one great failing – it concentrates on immediate results and forgets about the future.

I have heard a great deal from my farmer friends about the hardships they have endured because the price of milk was kept down, and I personally am glad if the farmers can get a fair return for their produce at all times. However, I must say that, on the whole, as I drive through the countryside, there is evidence that farm returns have not been bad in the last year. Barns and houses are newly painted and there is a general air of greater well-being.

Of course, there must be many cases where this is not true, but, by and large, the evidence points to a satisfactory prosperity in which we should all rejoice, because farm prosperity also means prosperity for the working man in the city.

July 8, 1946

HYDE PARK, Sunday – Yesterday was one of those busy days which this quiet country life sometimes brings! Among others, Judge and Mrs. Samuel Dickstein came up from New York City to lunch. They brought me a very lovely painting which I wish with all my heart my husband were here to enjoy. The artist, who gave it to Judge Dickstein, left a little legend pasted on the back. This tells that the picture was painted on order in 1870 for Mr. Edward Delano by an artist in Antwerp, Belgium, and that in 1872 he brought it home to “Algonac,” Newburgh, N.Y., which was the home of my husband’s grandfather, Warren Delano, whose brother, Edward Delano, lived with him when he was not traveling in different parts of the world.

It is a little mysterious to me how it found its way back into the artist’s possession, but I am certainly glad to have it, for as a painting I like it very much. I shall lend it to the library now and then, but for the most part I think I will keep it hanging here and enjoy it for a time at least.

I am most grateful to Judge Dickstein for bringing this painting up and for wanting it eventually to find its home in the library among the other family possessions. Other gifts which the judge presented to my husband are already in the library.

In going through some of my mother-in-law’s “stored away in the attic” possessions, which I am gradually unpacking, I found yesterday some of my husband’s father’s old English-made tweeds. I shall give these to the library also, because there is a date on the maker’s label inside the pocket. These handmade tweeds have been in existence more than 50 years! I wonder how many of the materials we are buying today will be found in old trunks, and still have good wear in them, 50 years from now!

I woke early this morning and was happy to see blue sky and the sun just coming over the trees and shining on my sleeping porch. It seemed a peaceful time to finish reading Howard Fast’s “The American.” As I closed the last page in the book, I found myself sorry to say goodby to Peter Altgeld. A truly American product, he developed slowly. He searched all his life for inner satisfaction and, finally, found that when he fought for other people he was fighting the only fight that was really worthwhile.

It is good for us to read this story of the control, through money, that was so completely in the hands of a few people in those earlier days. The government and the people in government positions responded in that era to the strings held by the men of great wealth. Human nature being what it is, and education having to take place all over again in every generation, it is well to read this record – so interestingly presented in this book. The people may not be as easily fooled today as they were then. But their freedom depends on their constant vigilance and understanding, and on their courage.

July 9, 1946

HYDE PARK, Monday – I received from the New York War and Peace Memorial, a non-profit corporation which is sponsoring rehabilitation and health centers as living war memorials, a rather interesting circular describing what they hope to do in New York City in memory of the men who fought in World War II.

It has always seemed to me that very beautiful memorials are of value in themselves because of their mere beauty, but if you can have something of beauty and at the same time make it serve the needs of the people who live in a community, I think you have doubled the value of your memorial.

This New York organization’s plan is for a new type of physical health center. The architect is to be Harvey Wiley Corbett. They hope that it will serve the needs of many convalescent servicemen.

The building will be 500 feet in diameter and will enclose an indoor beach surrounding a large circular swimming pool. The interior will be lighted by a sun of ultra-violet rays, with purified and air-conditioned atmosphere. In a congested area such as New York, this will mean a great deal to those who cannot seek rest and change away from their work.

I was discouraged on receiving word the other day that the trial of the Columbia, Tenn., Negroes was to be moved to a place where the tension and anti-Negro feeling is, if anything, stronger than it is in Columbia. The fear among the Negroes, to which apparently not only the civilian population but the law-enforcement officers of the state reacted, is very unfortunate. When once fear crops up between groups of people within a community, there is little hope of any real understanding and confidence developing between them.

Throughout this whole case, I have been wondering why we could not understand that, among the men in this community, there were numbers of Negro veterans. They have fought in the war. They often felt, during their war service, that there was discrimination against them. And to come home and face the difficulties of readjustment and of finding a job is as difficult for them as for the white men.

They undoubtedly feel that the public owes them a certain amount of consideration. They left jobs in many cases and went to war feeling that they were defending other people as well as themselves, but that the other people were not always treating them and their families with consideration and fairness.

This trial, therefore, should be conducted under the most favorable circumstances. Every fact should be carefully checked and verified. To move the trial now to a place where tension is greater seems to me to bode no good for the prisoners or for the people of this country who desire peace within our own land.

July 10, 1946

HYDE PARK, Tuesday – Leaving the country at 8 o’clock yesterday morning, we reached New York in ample time for me to do an errand before going to the closing ceremonies at 99 Park Avenue, headquarters of the New York City Defense Recreation Committee. I went to the opening five years ago, and I remember well when Mrs. Anna Rosenberg, founder of the committee, started getting the organization together, interesting the Mayor and talking to all the people who eventually made it a success.

The people who worked at this recreation center for the servicemen who came into the city did a tremendous job, but I think they must have been repaid a thousand times over by the enjoyment which they brought into so many young men’s lives. However, the staff at headquarters could have done little without the cooperation of innumerable other people, primarily people in the entertainment world.

Mrs. Rosenberg knew this, and so John Golden, the theatrical producer, who had done a similar job in World War I, was urged to get into harness again. Under his leadership, every type of entertainment in the city extended hospitality to the men of the services, either as they went out to distant parts of the world or as they returned. Many a boy will never forget this center, which gave him information which he needed and made it possible for him to enjoy his last day or two in his own country.

Mayor O’Dwyer must have been glad to get this building back, since buildings are scarce, and I think everybody present yesterday was glad that it was possible to turn it back to him for peacetime purposes. A pledge was given by Mrs. Rosenberg and Mrs. Julius Ochs Adler, chairman of the committee, that the organizations that had worked so hard together during the war would continue to serve the men in the armed forces during peacetime. Secretary of War Patterson, who gave a very fine address, said that these services were still much needed, as there are 1,500,000 men in the Army at present and there will be 1,000,000 still in the Army a year from now.

My niece and a young friend of hers, who have been staying with me for a week, came to town with us and spent the afternoon window-shopping. They assured me that they had been into the Public Library at 42nd Street and into every shop on Fifth Avenue in that neighborhood!

In the evening we went to the Radio City Music Hall, which is really an exciting place to visit for the first time. I enjoyed the movie, “Anna and the King of Siam,” very much indeed. I think Irene Dunne makes it seem quite reasonable that Anna could “get away” with her outrageous behavior toward the King and finally win his regard, admiration and affection.

As for the rest of the show, it seemed to me that “The Strange Interlude,” as done by the Arnaut Brothers, was one of the most amusing things I had ever seen. I had never heard either a cock or a hen converse in quite such eloquent tones, but they were completely understandable and I was quite sure I could translate what they were saying to each other.

Altogether, yesterday was a full and busy day, and now, after another early start, we are back in the country awaiting a small and cozy party of 160 young people!

July 11, 1946

HYDE PARK, Wednesday – On the Fourth of July we celebrated our independence, but this year a ceremony took place on that day in the Philippine Islands which gave a special point to our own celebration.

From the time Admiral Dewey took these islands from the Spanish, a conflict went on within the United States as to their final disposition. There were people who felt that, having taken them in a war which, like all wars, had cost us a certain amount, we were entitled to develop them and to get some return on our investment. There were others who felt that, when people wanted freedom, we were obligated to help them to obtain it. And besides, in the last World War, it looked as though our investment had been amply repaid by the loyalty and goodwill of the people of the Philippines.

These people had long asked for ultimate freedom and we had promised it. And when the date finally was set, I think the majority of us in the United States felt a pride that we were able to give a people their freedom, and hoped that we would help each other in the future so that our economic interests would fare as well under this new situation as they had in the past.

Hard times are not over in the Philippines. The birth of a new nation and the development of self-government is never an easy process. But I hope we will continue to help, for the war has taken a heavy toll both of the people and the material possessions in these islands. For ourselves, I think the sense that we have fulfilled a promise will always add to our appreciation of our own Independence Day.

I have had one or two personal experiences lately in regard to the admission of girls into colleges, particularly co-educational colleges, which make me wonder whether we shouldn’t begin a campaign to prevent the young women of tomorrow from losing the opportunity for higher education. The pressure of returning veterans has forced many colleges not only to add to their facilities, but to cut down on the number of women they are able to take in.

Miss Margaret A. Hickey, president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, noted this fact at the opening session of their convention in Cleveland. While no one suggests that veterans should not have priority, it begins to look as though the result were going to be a lack of opportunity for young women. This would certainly mean that these young women would not be prepared to take their share of responsibility in facing the economic and political problems of the next few years.

I think this is a very serious situation for the colleges. And perhaps consideration should be given to providing for girls the kind of quarters that would be available to unmarried veterans. A breakdown in the higher educational opportunities for women, even though it may last only a few years, would have very serious results.

July 12, 1946

HYDE PARK, Thursday – I have been asked by Americans United for World Organization to mention the fact that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has appointed a subcommittee to consider the United States’ acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction of the new International Court of Justice, which was created by the United Nations Assembly at their organization meeting in London last winter.

The members of the subcommittee are Senator Elbert D. Thomas of Utah, chairman, Senator Carl A. Hatch of New Mexico, and Senator Warren R. Austin of Vermont. Hearings have been tentatively scheduled to begin in the near future. I am wondering whether Senator Austin’s appointment as our permanent member of the United Nations Security Council will mean that some one else will have to be placed on this subcommittee.

In any case, it is of great importance that we, as citizens, let this committee know how we feel on this subject. Personally, it has always seemed to me ridiculous to set up a world court and then not accept compulsory jurisdiction. I wonder how our own courts would function if individuals were able to announce that they did not wish to appear before them. It seems to me that it is essential for the peace of the world that all of us accept compulsory jurisdiction.

It is also essential that the best men, from a legal standpoint, who can be found throughout the world should be members of this court, for no taint of personal prejudice or of interest in any one nation, not even their own, must ever affect the judgement of these men. Only men of such caliber can build confidence in the court and justify the willingness of all nations to accept their decisions.

I am delighted to find that the conversation which Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Gould and I held one winter afternoon in my New York apartment, and which was published at the time, has had a good result. It has brought individuals, groups and communities to the point of adopting not only individuals in Europe who have suffered from the destruction of war, but also whole towns and villages.

One American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Girard Hale, have adopted the little French Village of Maille. This village was devastated by the Germans, and a portion of the population were killed. Mr. and Mrs. Hale are sending regular shipments of the things which they have been notified are most needed, and they hope to put the village back on its feet.

The Belgian Relief organization reported to me that Beaumont, Texas, has adopted Beaumont in Belgium. And another community has adopted another Belgian town. I hope this will be done for towns all over Europe, since I think it will do more to cement friendly relations and create a love for our country among Europeans than anything else we could do.

July 13, 1946

HYDE PARK, Friday – It was a shock which brought with it a real sense of personal loss when I heard of the death of Sidney Hillman. He was one of our citizens who, having come here from a foreign country, had absorbed the love of freedom and an understanding of democracy, so that he brought real statesmanship to the labor movement. For the people in his own union, he always worked unselfishly, with a broad vision both of the needs of labor and of the responsibility of labor to the community as a whole as it gained power.

Mr. Hillman was a good negotiator and knew how to conciliate different factions. And his European background gave him an understanding of international problems which was valuable in labor fields and valuable in his service to the United States Government.

Yesterday I had a few guests to luncheon, and then took them over to the Wiltwyck School, where we saw the boys at their craft work. Some little boys who had come there in a very cowed frame of mind were painting happily in a big, light room. I could not help feeling again a sense of satisfaction at the evident contentment that reigned among them.

In the evening, five members of the Gold Star Wives of World War II came here for supper, and then we went to Poughkeepsie. The Lafayette Post of the American Legion had given them permission to use a room for a meeting. It was a very small meeting, though the casualties among servicemen from Dutchess County were pretty high.

I do not know whether the organization will be able to build a local chapter which will be of value to widows of World War II, but I enjoyed meeting the few young women who were there last night. And I think it may be a help to them to get to know other young women who have many of the same problems and the same hopes for the future.

They discussed some of the bills in Congress which affect the widows of the war. And Mrs. Edward H. Jordan, national president of the organization, who has just come back from a trip abroad during which she visited many of the U.S. cemeteries in Europe, gave them a description of how the work on these was proceeding. I think she left them with a great sense of confidence, for she told them of the interest which the men in charge had shown, of the thoroughness with which the work was being done, and of the kindness of all those concerned.

She described the ceremonies held on Memorial Day in one of the big cemeteries in Holland, which 40,000 people attended. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney and Princess Juliana of the Netherlands were both present at ceremonies at two large cemeteries during the day. And other important people attended the ceremonies at other cemeteries.

It is a comfort to know that these graves are well cared for and not forgotten, and that, in the Pacific as well as in Europe, this care is assured by our own government.

July 15, 1946

HYDE PARK, Sunday – I was particularly glad yesterday to learn of the forming of the new Council of American Business, Inc. This seems to be a group of progressive businessmen, from all over the United States, who want OPA controls primarily to prevent inflation. They seem to remember history, and in the letter which I received they quote facts going back to the period after World War I, when we tried combating inflationary pressures with a free price system.

They remind us that, in 1920 and thereafter, we did not achieve a balance between supply and demand because the demand did not hold up to the supply, since the public could not buy goods at the peak to which inflation had carried prices. A so-called balance was finally achieved by the falling off of demand to such a point that a third of our factory workers lost their jobs and the farmers were producing far more than they were able to sell. The annual average farm income dropped from $1,360 a year to $460 a year, and 453,000 farmers lost their farms through mortgage foreclosures. By 1921 the manufacturers of the nation went into the red to the extent of $55,000,000 – after making, in 1919, $5,896,000,000.

These are some figures we had better think about. Sometimes history is instructive.

As I listened over the radio yesterday morning to the provisions of the new OPA bill, it seemed as though it would have less meaning than before. Under this new bill, for example, rent control would be exercised only in such states as had not set up state machinery to control rents. Since there are very few states that have passed their own rent control legislation, it would seem more sensible for the whole problem to be handled on a federal basis.

I was glad to see that as ceilings were being taken off dairy products and meat, they were also going to be taken off grain. It would be impossible to ship grain to the famine countries if we control the price of grain, yet remove all price control on meat and livestock and dairy products. The demand for grain to be diverted for food would be greater, and the prices in the United States will promptly go up and translate themselves into higher prices for meat and dairy products. The balance between the supply of all products and prices and our real needs is essential to prevent world famine.

July 16, 1946

NEW YORK, Monday – There are certain advantages to getting old! You notice so many more everyday things that give you pleasure. For instance, walking through the woods at Hyde Park with Fala every morning is a test of whether the mosquitoes are going to eat us up or whether we can keep them under control by keeping in constant motion! In spite of the pests, I have enjoyed the ever-increasing variety of wild flowers.

I was taught nothing about nature when I was a child, so mine is a perfectly uneducated enjoyment. I could not tell you the names of any wild flowers I see except the daisy and the black-eyed susan, but I keep seeing and enjoying the new varieties daily.

The little orange-colored lizards which, after a rain, used to appear in such quantities in certain parts of the woods have almost vanished. Only occasionally now does my eye light on a bright spot of orange, and I see the little raised head apparently listening for our passing. They seem so defenseless, these little lizards, that I wonder that any of them survive to propagate their species. They always provide a little bit of brilliant color, though at certain times the bright orange will turn to a duller, brownish color.

On Saturday, we had the second of our picnics for the boys from the Wiltwyck School. About 37 came, and I think we managed to fill them up on hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, and ice cream.

Late Sunday afternoon, we had to come to the city, as I had promised Prof. Henri Laugier, assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, to speak at a Bastille Day celebration Sunday evening. The meeting was under the auspices of France Forever, an organization made up of French people who were here during the war and of Americans with special ties and interests in France.

Most of the French members, except officials stationed in this country, have now gone back home to help in the rehabilitation of their country, but those who are still here came to the celebration last night. There was great warmth of feeling and response to the very beautiful addresses made by the French representatives. Mme. Marcelle Denya of the Paris Opera sang the French and American national anthems. And then a March of Time film, “The New France,” was shown.

I thought this a particularly valuable film because it shows the devastation in France and what has to be rebuilt, and yet it also shows that certain French luxury goods, like perfumes and wine and expensive clothes, are coming into this country again. The French need to establish dollar credits over here so they can buy essentials for their rehabilitation program, and they are making sacrifices at home to produce for export. I kept thinking how fortunate we are in this country, with nothing destroyed and only shortages which can be remedied so easily if we use intelligence and goodwill.

There has been friendship between France and ourselves since Lafayette came to help our forefathers in our Revolution, and I hope goodwill can always exist between us.

July 17, 1946

NEW YORK, Tuesday – I received a letter recently from a mother in St. Louis who felt, as I did, a certain relief at our sane and quiet Fourth of July. She also has sensed, however, that some kind of general observance should be established to emphasize the meaning of the day for our younger generation. She writes:

“If something is not done, the Fourth of July will just become another midsummer ‘holiday’ devoid of any definite meaning, and the only time the children will hear and learn of the significance of this day will be in the history class, and sometimes things learned in the history class are soon forgotten.

“So this is my idea: Why not every home, and I mean every home, in the United States, on the Fourth of July, display the American flag? This idea at first may not seem too convincing but can you visualize looking down street after street in every city and town and see ‘Old Glory’ flying from every home? Could this be accomplished, it would not be necessary to repeat the glorious story of our forefathers year after year. This sight would leave an indelible mark on the minds of all.”

This word picture is really very impressive. Nevertheless, I think I would add a little to it. I would like to see people gather together in their communities and sing some songs. For instance, school children could sing the Ballad for America. And they could have some one talk to them about the people who made our history, what they stood for when the Declaration of Independence was written, and how the tradition has been carried forward from that day to ours.

It could not all be done in one speech but, over the years, every child in every community could get a realization of the flow of history and the leadership of great men. And they could be proud of their country and their inheritance. It would make each one more determined to live well and contribute in some small way to the growth and the honor of the nation in which they live.

I cannot help feeling that most of us today need a little more confidence in our own country and in our individual capacity to meet our problems at home as well as such problems as arise from contacts with other nations. If we were weak materially or spiritually, we might be afraid to try to understand the fears and prejudices and needs of other nations, and then we would hide our fear under threats of force. However, we are strong and we can afford to be conciliatory, though we can never afford to compromise our principles and our ideals.

We have determined that our nation shall be a united nation and that we shall never give up our ultimate objective. The sooner other nations of the world determine that they, too, have an ultimate objective and that it is to achieve the international understanding which will bring world peace, the better it will be for all of us. If we never give up that ultimate objective, the world is bound to move forward along peaceful lines.

July 18, 1946

NEW YORK, Wednesday – Sometimes I wonder whether the members of Congress give the people of the country credit for the intelligence in watching public affairs which they have shown over and over again in their votes.

As I read a comparison, the other day, of the old OPA bill which the President vetoed and the new one which the Senate passed and which is now being considered by Senate-House conferees, I could not help wondering whether this question of price control and inflation meant to some members of Congress just an opportunity to put the President in a hole! It should occur to them that it affects the pockets of practically every citizen in the country.

Philip Murray, CIO president, was right when he said that the housewives were the ones who would elect or defeat Congressmen on this issue. If prices go up even a moderate amount, a great many people are not going to have the wherewithal to buy the things they need. Many of us have already seen a change in our food bills.

We have read enough in our papers about inflation in other countries and what it does to the standard of living for the little man, so that most of us, I believe, backed the President wholeheartedly in his attitude when he would not sign an unsatisfactory bill. If he is now given an even more unsatisfactory bill and vetoes it, we are not going to turn upon the President, but upon those who so openly show their disdain for the intelligence of the voting public.

At last the British loan is through Congress and has been signed by the President. But what months have gone by in which we were not making friends but losing them!

I almost think that the laggard way in which our public business has been conducted is as distasteful as too much haste would be to the American who wants careful investigation but prompt action, where his interests are concerned. Two of the reorganization plans which the President has been asking for went through, but only a few hours before the time expired when they could be passed. The third plan was to set up a national public housing authority, and if there is any one thing which the little man in this country is concerned about, it is housing. Again Congress has dawdled and ignored the people’s interest.

I was standing by my cottage door a few days ago when a young man with a discharge button came up in a car. He and his wife and little girl got out and stood before me saying, “We are desperate for a place to live. We applied to your superintendent, hoping you needed someone to work for you and would have a house for us to live in. Do you know Mrs.___, who owns two houses in Hyde Park village? There is no running water in them and they haven’t been occupied for several years, but if we could contact her, we would like to persuade her to let us have one. We are sure we could make it livable.” They were nice young people who had probably been brought up in comfortable, decent homes.

I think we owe it to these returning veterans to do everything possible – in the nation, in the state and in the city – to see that the machinery is set up and working in harmony to produce homes for them. It will take all these agencies if we are to accomplish the goal of enough houses for our people in the next five years.

July 19, 1946

NEW YORK, Thursday – I was somewhat saddened this morning when I saw in the paper that Gen. Draja Mihailovich of Yugoslavia had been executed. The man next to me in the subway pointed it out to a friend and said, “That’s the Russian way of handling things. He wasn’t a traitor to his country. He fought the Germans at the start, but he didn’t agree to the kind of government the Yugoslavs now have, and that’s what happens to the opposition.”

I think he pretty much voiced a feeling which troubles many people. We who live in countries where we are free to oppose the existing form of government, so long as we do not advocate violence, fear this means of handling political opposition. In the United States, in Great Britain, in France and in many other countries, you can speak your mind about the public men in power. You can advocate changes in your government without fear that the party in power will hale you into court and then shoot you at dawn.

You wait and you use your persuasive powers, and sometimes you win the next election and sometimes you lose, in which case you go on waiting. Until people throughout the world learn that changes can be brought about peaceably through persuasion and discussion, so that revolutions on the one hand and the use of force by the party in power on the other are unnecessary, there is no security for any opposition.

We will have great difficulty bringing about a meeting of minds between peoples who have such different ideas of what political freedom means. I can represent my government and, if I disagree with any stand they wish me to take, I can resign, but no one will put me in prison or punish me in any way. That is the only way, it seems to me, that one can have political freedom.

If one lives in fear of reprisal by the party in power, then there are bound to be undercover efforts to overthrow the government by force, since human beings are so made that they cannot help disagreeing with each other, now on one subject and now on another. Until the democratic nations of the world really live by the will of the majority, one cannot say that one has a democratic form of government. The will of the majority also must be ascertained without holding any threat over people’s heads.

Here in our country, there have been times when efforts were made to influence public opinion in an election, and in some elections, even recently, some efforts have been made to threaten people. For instance, I can remember a case when a large group of workers, immediately prior to an election, found in their pay envelopes a note which said: “If Candidate___ is elected next Tuesday, this plant will have to close and you will have no job.”

There have been other times when people have been promised certain benefits, and their sense of greed may have overridden their sense of obligation to a free citizenship – temporarily! By and large, however, our people have grown to know that neither threats nor promises carry much weight. A plant will not stay closed if it is worthwhile for the manufacturers to open it. If people should receive some temporary benefit by voting a certain way, they may find other reasons to regret their action.

I think that, year by year, our votes are getting more representative of what people really think, with no strings pulled by anybody! If we believe in democracy and if we are going to get on in the world peacefully, this is what must happen to create confidence amongst us the world over.

July 20, 1946

NEW YORK, Friday – Ever since last Tuesday morning, I have been spending a good deal of my time in the Harkness Pavilion at the Medical Center, or in the subway going back and forth.

However, I have sandwiched in seeing a few people at my apartment. For instance, yesterday a young member of the Siamese Government came to see me to bring me the respects of his Prime Minister and the assurances of their appreciation for what my husband had done for all small nations. This representative from Siam was a very alive and alert young man and I could understand why he had been a useful member of “Intelligence” during the war.

It seems to me as though I have spent a good deal of my life sitting around in hospitals waiting for other people to have operations, seeing them off to the operating room, and then waiting for their return. The first day, spent waiting for a gleam of recognition from the patient, is trying because you know that, under the best of circumstances, nobody cares who is around during the first few days after an operation, because the discomfort is so great! The patient’s thoughts are completely centered upon what can be done to relieve the immediate pain.

My secretary, Miss Malvina Thompson, who has been with me for so many years, was operated on yesterday morning, and I left the hospital in the evening feeling relieved that she was at last on the road to recovery.

I told the surgeon that I had never had an operation, and then remembered afterwards that, many years ago, so long ago that it had receded completely into the background of my memory, I had been operated on! It was done in my own home, a tiny house on 36th Street. One of the bedrooms became the operating room.

Only two things now stand out in my mind. First, that I returned to consciousness to hear the doctor inquiring of the nurse whether she could feel my pulse or whether I was gone! Later, I remember saying that the pain of the next few days was far greater than any I had ever experienced in having a baby, and that I didn’t think it was worthwhile because you didn’t have anything to show for it afterwards!

It was winter and, for some unknown reason – perhaps just because I wanted to make every one as uncomfortable as I was – I insisted that both my windows had to be kept open all the time. The nurse and my poor family had to look after me while attired in fur coats. In retrospect, I think I was a far more inconsiderate person and much worse patient than any others I have had to look after since! I imagine it is just as well that my life since then has been so uneventful as far as illnesses go!

Harkness Pavilion is one of the nicest hospitals I have ever been in. There is no hospital smell. The food “is good” and they have been considerate enough to provide an excellent restaurant where visitors who spend long hours there may get a quick and satisfactory meal.

As I see patients wandering around the corridors, I think I am particularly sorry for the men, because they do hate the recuperating period. Physical weakness is something few of them can accept with grace.

July 22, 1946

NEW YORK, Sunday – Among several things in the newspapers during the last few days that have interested me greatly, the most thrilling was the story of a new artificial arm developed by Samuel Alderson, research physicist, in the International Business Machines laboratory, at the instigation of Thomas J. Watson, IBM head.

Early in the war, I saw the latest things that the Navy had developed at a hospital in San Francisco. It seemed to me that artificial legs were far less of a handicap than arms. You could learn to walk again even if you had two artificial legs, and I have seen people who, after sufficient practice, could get up and down stairs and walk on a level without using a cane. But an artificial arm – that seemed to be a very great handicap.

This new development will apparently give control of every section of the arm, which is worked by a tiny electric motor. The newspaper story said that heavy labor would not be possible with this new device, but that ordinary things could be done and a man could handle freely anything weighing up to five pounds.

The arm is equipped with cables, hidden inside, which act as do human muscles. The different functions – elbow bend, wrist motion and finger grip – are controlled by gears which are thrown into position by shoulder movements.

I think the development of this mechanism will do a great deal for the rehabilitation of many wounded men, and I am not surprised to find that people like Representative Edith Nourse Rogers, Surgeon General Norman T. Kirk and, finally, Thomas J. Watson have been pushing the research that led to it. When Mr. Watson heard about Mr. Alderson’s experiments, which had been begun during the war, he invited him to continue them at his laboratory in Endicott, N.Y., and set aside funds for the project. He must have a great sense of satisfaction in this final, successful achievement.

I noticed, too, in the paper that the medical director of the Associated Hospital Service made a plea to all doctors not to send patients to the hospitals, which are already overcrowded, unless they are suffering from serious ailments which cannot be treated at home. The nurse shortage is great. Even for patients who must be carefully watched, it is difficult to obtain proper care, so I think this request was entirely justified.

I realize, however, that the housing shortage and the fact that it is almost impossible to get a trained nurse to care for someone at home, plus the difficulty in obtaining even maid service, make the whole situation more difficult, even for minor illnesses, than it has been in the past. Visiting nurse services have helped to solve some of these difficulties in cases where the patient needs only intermittent care. However, for many illnesses which may not be very serious in themselves, nursing is vitally important to prevent complications. If no member of the family or no friend can be found with enough experience to do this job, hospitalization is the only safe answer. It seems to me, therefore, that the solution of overcrowded hospitals lies in consideration of these new problems which face the modern home, and that an effort should be made to organize new types of service to meet these conditions.

July 23, 1946

NEW YORK, Monday – In the papers last week, there was a nice photograph of Mrs. James F. Byrnes and Mrs. Chester W. Nimitz busily canning. I hope it reminded a great many people that one of the best ways to help the food situation throughout the world is for every one who can do so to have a garden, and to put up anything they can’t eat now, so they can enjoy it next winter.

Of course, if you happen to have a deep freeze, you already know the joys of taking out your vegetables or your fruits and using them all through the winter and spring. Many things are far better put into the freezer than preserved in any other way, particularly now when there is such a shortage of sugar, for one can do so much better in the deep freeze with less sugar.

I have only just finished using up peaches which I put into the deep freeze last summer. I can vouch for the fact that they made very good peach shortcake! The things, however, which give me real joy are those which I have grown myself. I find that peas and beans, beets and carrots, put straight from the garden into the deep freeze, come out just like fresh vegetables. During these two or three weeks while I am away from Hyde Park, everything possible is going into my deep freeze, since I cannot be home to eat part of it now.

I did drive up to Hyde Park late Saturday afternoon with three guests, and we enjoyed our country produce for dinner. On Sunday, Mr. David Dubinsky, president of the Ladies Garment Workers Union, and Mr. Gleb W. Derujinsky, the sculptor, went with us to lunch at my son’s house. Then we went to the library to discuss the gift which Mr. Dubinsky’s union proposes to make—a bust of my husband by Mr. Derujinsky. Two of my sons and I have seen the bust and like it very much, so we are extremely grateful for this gift to the library from the Ladies Garment Workers Union.

I drove back to New York soon after lunch and spent an hour or so visiting Miss Thompson in the hospital. I found her feeling much better. In fact, for the first time since her operation, she seemed interested in what was going on around her, and I hope that, by this afternoon, she will be feeling even better.

Fala was delighted to see us on our arrival in Hyde Park, but was completely disgusted yesterday when he saw the bags being packed into the car for our departure. A little dog’s joy is a great pleasure, but his dejection is very baffling, because there is no way to explain why you don’t take him with you.

I had taken my guests over to the library and big house in the morning, and Fala went with us. The visitors there always seem particularly thrilled to see him. One of the guards told me that many people ask where he is and how he is and seem disappointed that he is not always at the big house where they can see and pet him!

July 24, 1946

NEW YORK, Tuesday – Talking of Fala yesterday reminded me of a very nice story. One day when I was to be away from home, I sent him to be plucked and have a disinfectant bath. When I went for him, the veterinary told me that a couple had driven all the way from Philadelphia to see him. Not finding him at the big house or at the cottage, they went on to the veterinary’s, where they spent half an hour watching him. They left saying that their trip had been entirely satisfactory!

I think the widespread interest in Fala shows how many people in this country really love animals, and the love of animals is one of the reassuring traits in human nature! If you like animals, you usually like children, and if you are kind to children and animals, you are usually a very decent human being.

I think many people were shocked to read about the bomb explosion in British headquarters in Palestine. I am deeply disturbed by the violence which has been going on there, since I think that the leadership must be in the hands of hot-headed and misguided people.

Violence of this kind kills innocent people, and enough innocent people have already died in this world. More innocent Jews have suffered than any other people, so why they should carry on this same kind of senseless performance is difficult to understand, except that it seems to be a trait of human nature to want to retaliate in kind, no matter what the consequences may be.

Violence can only make a fair and reasonable solution in Palestine more difficult. It injures the cause of the whole Palestinian group of Jews, and yet I am sure it represents the activity of only a few. I know well what the Jews have suffered and I am not proud of the way in which so-called Christians have acted during these past years, but ever-increasing violence leads us nowhere.

Peaceful solutions in the troubled spots of the world are difficult to arrive at, and require great self-control and great patience, but I think we must strive to encourage the representatives of all nations to exert these rather unusual qualities or we will find ourselves again embroiled in war.

The Chinese situation is another baffling continuation of war under the cloak of peace. I am sure that Gen. George C. Marshall has labored as hard and as well as any representative of a peace-loving nation could. However, Mme. Sun Yat-sen’s statement was disquieting. Granted that she is considered more radical and closer to the Communists than the rest of her family, still the mere continuation of so much friction between two groups within a country which has so long been torn by war shows that they are still not settling down and trying to create a unified government.

Word today that two of China’s teachers, members of the Democratic League, which is the new middle-of-the-road party in China, have been killed adds to this feeling of lack of stability in a very old and civilized nation. For the sake of the rest of the world, the warring elements in China should find a way to work together.

No one can force us into war with Russia or with any other nation against our will, but difficult situations can be created which will make the work of reconstruction and unification infinitely more difficult for all of us the world over.

July 25, 1946

NEW YORK, Wednesday – Yesterday evening, I went with Mrs. Morgenthau to a preview of a film on a section of Africa under British control. The color photography was beautiful, and it was extraordinary how well the natives did their parts since, in the whole film, I think there were only one or two professional actors.

I find that I am a very poor judge of whether a film has general appeal. Often I fail to see the reason why it appeals to one particular group or is very much disliked by another. In front of me, last night, sat two young men who thought that this film would have to undergo considerable changes before the public would really take an interest in it.

It certainly showed the best type of British colonial official, and it brought out the problem of tropical diseases and the efforts made to cope with them. I doubt, however, whether there are many countries under foreign rule where treatment such as was pictured in this movie is universal. Where there is one really good administrator who takes a sympathetic and understanding interest in the colonial peoples in his area, I fear one might find at least two administrators who looked upon these people and their development as secondary to what could be gained materially by the mother country through exploitation of the people and the resources of the area.

I remember long ago visiting a prison camp in this country and feeling that I would almost rather encounter one of the criminals on a dark night on a lonely highway than to be at the mercy of the boss of the camp. Complete control over defenseless human beings seems to give too much power to the ordinary person, and he sometimes becomes rather arrogant and cruel. Ruling over people who cannot defend themselves is in somewhat the same category as dealing with prisoners, and it requires exceptional human beings to carry it through for the real good of the subject people.

I had a succession of visitors this morning. First of all, one of the very devoted and interested young people in the National Mental Health Foundation came to tell me of the progress they had made. This group, many of whom worked in our state institutions for the insane during the war, are dedicated to improving the mental health of our nation and especially the treatment of the poor people who find themselves in our mental institutions.

No one in the whole group is receiving a salary of more than $150 a month, so this is truly a labor of love. Many articles about the work they have been doing and about the conditions in our institutions are appearing in magazines and newspapers, so I hope that they will manage to create an awareness about these problems on the part of our citizens generally.

Often, mental illness, like other illness, is preventable and curable. And we do not have to feel that it is something which has to be hidden and which dooms one to separation forever from society as a whole.

July 26, 1946

NEW YORK, Thursday – Most of us listened to the radio with great interest yesterday when the under-water atom bomb was tried out in Bikini Lagoon. The damage seems to have been considerable, and I cannot help feeling a little sad at the sinking of the aircraft carrier Saratoga. Her fame will live in the annals of the Navy, and I suppose it is a perfectly good end for a valiant ship. However, I would have liked to see her permanently on exhibition in one of our Navy yards, so that her story could be told to the young while they actually stood on her decks.

Finally, last night, the OPA bill was passed. I hope its passage will insure a curb on inflation. Anybody who keeps house does not need to be told that prices are rising too rapidly and, while it may be true that meat is more plentiful, it is also true that it is much more expensive and beyond the reach of people living on moderate budgets.

Food plays a big part in the health of the nation. We can produce enough food to give everyone of our citizens an adequate diet, but many of them never really have a decent diet. Though this is partly due to lack of knowledge, it is also partly due to economic conditions.

We have a big job to do in our schools, where children should learn what a balanced diet means and what foods constitute a balanced diet. It seems to me it should be the aim of every school in the country to teach its children the rules for sanitary living and for healthful eating. A child should learn, for instance, the value of uncontaminated water and how it can be obtained. In other words, in our schools we can do much to preserve the health of the nation.

The next step, of course, is to provide proper medical care for everyone, regardless of ability to pay. The other day, I received a pamphlet called “Health Can’t Wait,” by Leon Pritcher, M.D., and Frank Scully. Two statements in that pamphlet stand out and show that, wherever you live, human nature is much the same.

One of them reads, “The British Medical Association is collecting a fund of 1,000,000 pounds to fight the enactment of this measure… The British Medical Association versus the British people!”

The second is: "The American Medical Association is following the pattern of its British prototype, soliciting a ‘war-chest’ to fight the U.S. Government. Here, too, we have:

"The American Medical Association versus the American people!

“The ‘Guardians of Health’ determined to preserve sickness!”

I am not a proponent of any particular method of government provision for medical care, but I have never been able to see why we have been willing to tax ourselves for education and not for health. Unless children are well, they cannot take full advantage of their opportunities for education.

July 27, 1946

NEW YORK, Friday – The continuation of civil war in China is certainly a discouraging thing to read about every day in the newspapers. Ambassador Wellington Koo’s statement from Washington, in answer to Mme. Sun Yat-sen’s appeal to the United States, was the statement of a very excellent diplomat. However, in most of the newspaper articles I have read, the point of Mme. Sun’s statement seems to me to have been ignored.

As I see it, she feels that China cannot be unified until there is actual representation of all parties in the government, including the so-called Communist group. As I understand it, the Democratic League is the middle-of-the-road group which forms the connecting link between the right and the left. The point that all shades of thought must be allowed to have representation seems to me absolutely reasonable, and is an essential preliminary step for a peaceful China.

It is a sign of political maturity to be able to live with your opposition and work out your problems in a peaceful manner. Years ago, I remember, the delegations from north and south China travelled to the 1919 peace conference on the same steamer, in spite of the fact that north and south China were carrying on a civil war.

Traditionally, we in this country have a great affection for and interest in China and its people. But I think a good many of our people are beginning to hope that military occupations, outside of conquered countries such as Germany and Japan, may give way as rapidly as possible to such civilian aid as can be of value only when nations are at peace. There is so much work to be done in China, to help the average human being to raise his standard of living, that it seems an utter waste of time for the Chinese to be fighting each other because they cannot agree on some form of representation in their government which will give a voice to all shades of thought—a chance to be heard without bloodshed.

I woke this morning to the most wonderful cool breeze and, if the weather could just continue as it is today, I would recommend New York City as a really invigorating summer climate! On the whole, I think we have been lucky this summer. I have spent most of the last ten days in the city, and the weather has not been unbearable at any time.

Out of my apartment windows, I look on the tops of the trees which give shade to Washington Square, and I know that this little bit of green helps to reconcile me to the bricks and mortar of the city. The older I get, the more I realize that cities—big cities particularly—are an unnatural man-made type of existence!

Instead of increasing the size of our cities, we should make them places used largely for work and entertainment, and should try to live where we can have some open green space around us. New ways of travel are going to make this increasingly possible, and I think the day is not far distant when the roofs of buildings in the city will be used as landing places for commuter aircraft.

July 29, 1946

HYDE PARK, Sunday – In our family we have always said there are two kinds of anger. One kind you have to fight and conquer, since it shows weakness. The other kind is righteous indignation, which can be indulged in with a clear conscience.

For the last few days, when I’ve not been sad, I’ve been seething with righteous indignation. Ever since I read of the horrible murder of two Negro couples in Monroe, Ga., by a group of white men, I have been indignant that any people could make me feel so ashamed.

My grandmother came from Georgia. I have always had an understanding of the problems facing Southern white people on interracial questions. But cold-blooded murder of two men and their wives holds our nation up before the world to ridicule and shame. The murderers, I am sure, call themselves Christians and good citizens of a democracy. How can we talk about democracy when groups such as this mock the principal on which it is founded?

You can have no real democracy when the people in your midst, whatever their race or color or creed, and whatever their crime may be, cannot be sure of a fair trial and even-handed justice. No one wants sentimental kindness, but all men under whatever government they live want freedom and justice. There is no freedom when one group of individuals can strike fear into the hearts of other individuals and use violence against them.

I hope neither the federal nor the state authorities will rest until these men who besmirched the honor of our nation and of our democracy have been brought to trial. I do not want them killed, because you cannot bring back the dead by adding to their number. But I want these men held up to ridicule in their own environment as men who do not understand how to uphold democracy or live in a democratic community. I want them obliged to make what restitution is possible to those who live and whose loved ones have been killed, and I want them placed where they must be harmless.

People who can think that such actions are right are dangerous in any community and, since they cannot control themselves, they should be permanently restrained by their government.

The most heartening thing I have seen even in these gloomy days is a group at the Fieldston School. James Loeb came on from Washington to tell them how Congress functions and give them the background on a number of well-known figures. When I visited them Saturday morning, a spirited question period was going on as they sat on the lawn.

This is a serious group of young people and since they visited Hyde Park, they have had an opportunity to grow. They have lived in close companionship for almost four weeks. They know each other not only as people but as individuals. They have played and worked and argued together. I think they will go back to their communities and act like yeast, for ideas and emotions have stirred them.

After leaving them, I spent a couple of hours with Miss Thompson and then reluctantly said goodbye. She is doing so well, has visitors and will soon be back at home again. Nevertheless I have to go and yet I am glad to be joining my son Elliott and his family at Campobello Island even for a few days. I shall enjoy the drive, if the weather is as fine as it has been here the last two days, and so I am off.