Eleanor Roosevelt – My Day (June 1940)

21

June 25, 1940

New York, Monday –
We went down to the station last night and saw the President and his party off for Washington with much regret, for the country is very lovely and it is possible to forget for a little while how horrible conditions are in much of the rest of the world.

I drove through the woods just as the sun was setting last night, a most mysterious magic hour. There was a soft light on the deep green leaves. A fat woodchuck scuttled across the road ahead of me. A little white-tailed rabbit ran along the road, too frightened to get out of the way, until I stopped the car and let him run to cover.

How can one think of these woods converted into a battlefield? Peace seems to be in the heart of them and yet, I remember some just like them outside of Paris and in the forests of Germany and England.

I motored back to my own cottage and slept on my porch, to wake to fog and rain this morning. Our drive to New York City was cold and somber all the way.

I went first to visit Mrs. Stephen Wise’s refugee home. The three houses she has taken over must indeed seem a cheerful haven to strangers landing on our shores. I wish we could receive everyone who comes to this country with the same spirit which Mrs. Wise and her colleagues have been able to create in these houses.

One thing seemed rather pathetic to me and that was the absence in the rooms of any personal effects. Only the children had left their mark with a doll or toy, and so few of these. My heart ached for what this represented in hardship and break with all former ties.

From there I went straight to my apartment to met two girls from Alaska, who came here to be present at Alaska Day at the New York World’s Fair. They had four days in Washington and told me it had seemed to them far too little, but they are now enjoying New York City.

They said Alaska seemed very far away from the European situation, but when it came to what the Russians and the Japanese were doing in the Far East, they felt very close to any troubles which might arise. The fact that a Japanese delegation was in Berlin today made more impression on them, I think, than the capitulation of the French.

It is quite evident from the news we read in the newspapers that the Germans have learned only bitterness and no wisdom from past history. They are exacting even more severe terms from their conquered enemies than were exacted of them. They go on the theory, I suppose, that only by completely wiping out the strength of a conquered nation can they be sure of remaining in power.

This is a rather hopeless attitude if you have any faith in friendly relations between nations being in the end the strongest of ties and the greatest protection against future war.

22

June 26, 1940

New York, Tuesday –
A country inn has moved into our vicinity in New York City. If there is any part of a big city that seems like a village, it is around Washington Square and, therefore, a country inn, looking for a home in New York City, would naturally gravitate to this part of it. The food is good and the atmosphere quiet, so I recommend this inn if you want a place to eat leisurely and chat peacefully.

When I wander around this part of New York City, I remember a very charming, gentle old lady, my cousin Mrs. Weekes, who once danced with Lafayette. She used to tell me how, in her early married days, her husband took the market basket on one arm while she clung to the other and was piloted through the busy streets to do her marketing in MacDougal Alley.

She was not accustomed to the great metropolis, so he never let her go out alone. Sometimes he did the marketing for her, for the head of the family was really the head of the family in those days and took some real responsibility about the housekeeping.

The rain spoiled my chance last evening to hear Mrs. Francis Biddle’s poem sung at the Lewisohn Stadium, but Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lewisohn gave us a great treat by inviting some of us to the Cosmopolitan Club to hear Mrs. Biddle read her poem. Mr. Ross played a little of William Grant Still’s music and Miss Louise Burge sang the Negro mother’s lament for her boy who had been lynched. It had all the simplicity of expression and all the depths of emotion so well expressed by the Negro voice.

This morning I started out early to attend a meeting of the United States Committee for the Care of European Children. I am thankful beyond words that it is going to be possible to do something for these European children, but my heart is heavy when I think of the tragedies which haunt the lives of many grown people.

Under the quota we have received a number of German, Austrian, Italian and Spanish refugees. People who have been marked people in their own countries because of their active opposition to fascist or Nazi regimes. They have left behind them, however, in France, Sweden and England members of their families, intimate friends, beloved political leaders and now cannot rest in safety because of the dangers which surround these loved ones.

Many of these people could help us greatly in the next few weeks or months, for they know how communists, Nazis and fascists work. They know how propaganda is spread, how young people are influenced. They are as good material as the political refugees who came with Carl Schurz, the German, or Kosciusko, the Pole, whose statues we have taught our young people to honor because of their love of liberty.

23

June 27, 1940

Hyde Park, NY –
Miss Dorothy Thompson is a fellow columnist for whom I have the greatest respect and admiration as a writer as well as a person. We do not always see eye to eye on all subjects, but today I want to quote a few words from her column which I hope will sink deeply into the minds of Republicans and Democrats, and people in general all over this country.

The part of her column which reads:

He will work and fight when democracy means work, and bread and human dignity and brotherhood. He will work and fight to make this country the most beautiful home for men that the sun ever shone upon.

Nothing truer than this was ever written. I have wanted to say something just like it for a long time. That is why I believe that in spite of much that is being said today, we must continue along the lines which will make life more worth living for the average man.

Even though we arm, even though it costs all of us something to change our conception of personal liberty – which to many has meant the right to unlimited material profits – still we must have more housing, better health services and jobs that ensure a decent livelihood to every family.

I do not claim that anyone has found the perfect solution, or the things that have been done cannot be improved, but I know we must keep on trying. I feel deeply that we must not slacken our efforts and whatever we do must be done with the ultimate objective always before us.

I am much interested in some of the news reports which state that Mr. Gene Tunney is leading some two hundred young people to the convention of the American Youth Congress in Geneva, Wisconsin. I have only one hope, and that is that this opposition will show real wisdom in being sure that their delegates have proper credentials and meet the rules for representation on the floor of the Congress.

In this way they can avoid the disappointment in their efforts to present their point of view. Why does not Mr. Tunney publish in the papers, since he seems to be able to obtain publicity, these rules and the manner in which these two hundred delegates will be chosen?

All of this small group of vocal young people who are for and against many different ideas, will be watched by both sympathetic and unsympathetic people during their annual convention, and will be given, I imagine, a good deal of publicity. Therefore, it behooves all of them to behave with restraint and fairness, to have the wisdom to find out what the necessary requirements are, and to live up to them on every occasion.

24

June 28, 1940

Hyde Park, Thursday –
The weather continues to be the strangest June weather I have ever known. Yesterday began with rain in a downpour, a thunderstorm, then the sun, and suddenly another storm; so I was indoors most of the day with a fire burning on the hearth. This was just as well, for the accumulation of mail was tremendous because we had been away in New York City for two days. Miss Thompson and I worked just as hard as we could every minute.

Strange though it may seem, Wednesday was the first full day that I have been in my cottage since I came up here, except for the two days when the President was here, and those are always busy times at the big house.

Going to New York City, as I have been doing for part of the day very frequently, does break into this quiet country existence, which from a distance one contemplates but so rarely realizes. I think I shall make it a rule after July 1 not to spend more than one day a week in New York City, but the gods alone know whether I shall be able to abide by that rule.

I was given a rather interesting book the other day called Cavalcade of the Rails. There is something really very exhilarating in the story of the building of our railroads and of the men who accomplished such gigantic tasks. These men were great personalities and I am glad to have known some of them.

The thing which always interests me in the tale of the various undertakings which have contributed to making us a great nation, is that fact that in almost every case a great many people took tremendous chances of success and failure. They gambled with their possessions and their lives. The spirit of adventure was with them from youth to old age.

Today the challenge before us is very different, but if we could see it from that same spirit of adventure, I think we would make more rapid strides than we have been making.

The years of depression have made us less sure of ourselves, oversuspicious and overcautious perhaps. Take, for example, our attitude toward the acceptance of any foreign political refugees. The first to suffer from oppression abroad were the German-Jewish people, but many other nationalities have followed in their wake.

These people love liberty and value it, and have had experiences which may be of value to us in recognizing the propaganda methods used by totalitarian dictators. We must, of course, use caution, but we need not be cautious to the point of going back entirely on our traditional hospitality to political refugees.

Human life is precious, human intelligence of a fine order is rare enough to make us want to preserve it. I sometimes wonder if we could not safeguard ourselves and at the same time show some of our old time generosity towards human beings who today are in great misery and danger.

25

June 29, 1940

Hyde Park, Friday –
We had a most interesting time yesterday morning on the roof of the Educational Alliance Building, at 197 East Broadway, New York City. Even before we reached the roof, I was conscious of the vivid stream of life that always pulses in that particular building.

Crowds were standing out on the sidewalk and some big busses were loading groups of young people on their way to camp. One summer camp houses mothers and daughters, the other takes boys. Two weeks of country life there make a vast difference to these East Side youngsters.

Several hundred young people were sitting on the roof ready to go off in search of jobs. Job hunting in pairs is a new technique. It is easier to do when you are covering stores and factories in the neighborhood, with the idea of soliciting jobs for the whole group, for you are talking for all and not yourself alone.

Cooperation is proving successful. They are getting jobs, though not as many as they would like. Still to meet together and talk it over, to give each other pointers as to how to meet the employer and impress him, all helps to keep up hope – and hope is the basis of morale.

They are going to have an essay contest in a short time on “Why I Am Unemployed.” It will be interesting to see what reasons they give. Perhaps it will enlighten some of the rest of us who search for hidden economic reasons and wonder what has happened to those jobs which every youngster could look forward to thirty or forty years ago.

We drove up the East Side Parkway and I could not help thinking what a change there is today in that waterfront. Space for many people to sit and cool off on a hot summer evening and for games of every kind, with high nets to protect the onlookers from the balls. This is better social planning than we used to have, and both the Mayor and Mr. Robert Moses deserve our thanks.

I was back in the country about 4:00 in ample time to welcome my niece and nephew, Eleanor and Henry Roosevelt, and a young friend of theirs. They are spending a few days with me. They had a swim, but it hasn’t tempted me as yet, because the weather stays so cool, so we older ones went for a walk before dinner. Then I caught up on the mail.

After dinner, we listened to the news and the balloting at the Republican convention as it came over the radio. There is something a little unreal to me about all this political activity when the world seems toppling into chaos. Political memories seem to me so short. Votes and attitudes of yesterday are forgotten today.