Eleanor Roosevelt – My Day (Mar. 1941)

21

March 25, 1941

Georgetown, SC, Monday –
Saturday morning, I spent an hour at the National Gallery of Art looking at the early Italian primitives. What a marvelous collection! It seemed to me I had never seen so many priceless treasures gathered together in one place. Mr. David Finley and his staff are particularly happy over the fact that they have had between eight and nine thousand visitors daily. So, beauty does appeal to the American public.

In the afternoon, I went to the concert at the Library of Congress to hear the Budapest String Quartet, which was a joy.

A few friends from New York City spent the weekend with me and on Saturday evening we saw the movie taken from Christopher Morley’s book Kitty Foyle. Ginger Rogers certainly makes an attractive and charming young lady in the principal part, and I do not wonder the gentlemen fell for her charms.

On Sunday afternoon, I went to tea at Mrs. Florence Kerr’s with the regional directors for the WPA community service projects. As usual, I was impressed with the amount of valuable service which the bulk of the WPA projects render in every possible field of community life.

This morning my car left bright and early to meet us in Georgetown, SC, and at noon Miss Thompson and I flew down to stay there for the night with a friend. Before we left, Dr. Martha Eliot, of the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, came to my press conference this morning to tell a little more about her trip to England.

There seems to be one more fund appeal which cannot be ignored. It is the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund of the U.S.A., Inc. Their offices are at 515 Madison Ave., New York City, and they are helping the needy dependents of RAF pilots, gunners and observers, who are killed or disabled in the performance of their duty.

I think all of us have been stirred by the extraordinary services of the RAF, and you will perhaps be interested to know that the royalties from the books written by Lawrence of Arabia, were willed by him some time before his death to this fund, which was founded in 1919. He, himself, enlisted as a mechanic in the RAF and was known in the service as Aircraftman Shaw.

One interesting thing about the fund is that neither in England nor in the United States, does a penny raised go to overhead. The necessary administrative expense is carried by the small group of people who were instrumental in setting up the fund.

Perhaps, because I like flying so much, I often think of that particular branch of the military services. I know that even in peacetime pilots worry about the care of their families in case they “go west.” The men who fly daily and nightly across the enemy lines may meet death almost any time. All we can do is to give them the assurance that those they leave behind will be well cared for.

22

March 26, 1941

“Hobcaw,” Georgetown, SC, Tuesday –
We left Washington yesterday in the rain, but gradually the sky above us became blue and we were flying over those white, fleecy looking clouds which make you wish you were in an open plane and could jump down into them! They look like the most delectable kind of feather bed and always remind me of the enormous feather bed I once slept in in Oberammergau, years and years ago.

It was my first experience with the genuine article and I was a little appalled by it. But I found it warm and comfortable and decided that like so many other things in life, it was only because it was new that I doubted its acceptability. Our hair or cotton mattresses with plain wool blankets, must seem strangely hard and uninviting to the uninitiated!

Even the fleecy clouds left us before we reached Charleston, and we could see clearly the alternating open fields and woods below us. In Charleston, Mr. Bernard Baruch and his daughter, Miss Belle Baruch, met us and we reached “Hobcaw” in time for a cup of tea and a stroll around the grounds before dinner.

For a long time, we sat on the porch and watched the squirrels. A little black spaniel, though he seemed to be fairly well trained, was safely shut indoors and then the peanuts were thrown out to attract the gray squirrels.

First one ran down the big live oak tree in front of us, and sat up looking around until the sound of the nuts falling on the porch made him draw nearer. Gradually, from every tree, more squirrels appeared until eight or ten darted up and seized the particular nut he had seen, or chased one of the others away.

Even if there is plenty for all, apparently the rather human trait of wanting what your neighbor has is strong in the animal world also. The little squirrels wanted each other’s peanuts, even more than they wanted those lying on the ground which they could have for the taking.

Moss waves from the branches of the trees. Those through which we approached the house and immediately around it, are some of the most beautiful old trees I have seen. Even though we drove through some swampy land, this place seems to me a friendly, cheerful place, lacking that eerie quality which I find often prevalent in Southern landscape. Eeriness is interesting, but it is pleasanter to live in an atmosphere of warmth and cheer.

The sunset was beautiful, setting across the marsh. Since this is a game preserve, on our way back from dinner at Miss Baruch’s house, we saw a deer with shining eyes, on the right side of the road.

This is a peaceful place and I can well understand that a busy man would find not only relaxation, but an opportunity to rebuild depleted energies here and to start out again with a sense of having drawn strength from close proximity to the calmness and wisdom of nature. In this hospitable house, how many guests must have gone back to work grateful for this experience.

23

March 27, 1941

Charleston, SC, Wednesday –
The sun is playing hide and seek with us today and I am not very sure that the drive to Valdosta, Georgia, is going to be in fair weather.

We reached Mrs. George Huntington’s home in Charleston, yesterday afternoon, driving over after lunch from Georgetown.

I enjoyed my morning in “Hobcaw” very much. You will probably find it hard to believe, but I have never gone crabbing before, and so hauling up live crabs and trying to catch them in a net, was a new experience. I must say I was rather annoyed when several of them flopped out of my net and back into the water. The boy who was directing, and who most expertly not only scooped the crabs in but washed them off with one gesture, had a most amused expression on his face as he watched my awkward attempts to copy him.

I always enjoy watching the way people do things in which they are expert. While winding up my own line, I watched the way this boy wound three while I did one, and wondered how long it would take me to learn that quick movement of the wrist that made those lines fall into a pattern which would easily let out again without tangling.

We also spent a little time watching Miss Belle Baruch show her beautiful horses. She has schooled them herself and trained them so they obey her voice and are perfectly familiar with what she wishes them to do. One young one was full of pep and cavorted around, putting his head down and kicking up his heels in pure joy of living.

However, when she started him, riderless, on the real business of going over the jumps, he obeyed orders without question. At the end of his performance he trotted up at the word of command to receive his lump of sugar.

In driving around the City of Charleston yesterday, I passed the Dock Street Theatre, which is one of the interesting buildings erected by WPA. The theatre is charming and a real effort has been made, I understand, by certain people to revive and present old plays. I have been told by several people that they have been charmingly done, but that the support is not really sufficient to warrant continuance of the effort. Audiences just do not attend, and so it may be necessary to close the doors of the Dock Street Theatre.

This seems a sad waste. It is hard to understand why, in this city of great culture and taste, such a program as has been carried on is not successful financially. Of course, the support must come from visitors, on whom so many things depend for maintenance. I think that the visitors here have such respect for their hosts that they would follow their lead. Charlestonians could make a success of this theatre if they would.

24

March 28, 1941

Valdosta, Ga., Thursday –
The sun has not been very kind to us. Yesterday, Miss Thompson and I walked around Middleton Gardens in the early morning bemoaning the fact that no sunlight danced upon the water, or played through the leaves of the trees. However, nothing can really spoil the beauty of those gardens and we enjoyed our walk and came back to thank Mrs. Smith, who had invited us into her house.

I always think that it must seem very odd to have strangers wandering around your garden. But she told us that though they marked with care “private residence” outside the house, people come in if they leave the doors unlocked. One morning the maid heard some people in the dining room and, on coming in, found them examining some silver.

Of course, in Europe certain houses with wonderful collections of paintings, prints and furniture were open to the public at certain times, but never do I remember the families’ living quarters open while they were at home. When one owns works of art, there is an obligation to let the public see them. But it seems to me, that the public has a certain obligation in return to respect the privacy of the owners.

Mrs. Huntington drove with us well on the road to Savannah, and then we pulled up under some trees and ate a delicious picnic lunch. She feels as I do, that food eaten out of doors always has a better flavor. I always rejoice when the time comes when we can have breakfast and lunch on the porch at the White House.

We practically always eat on the porch of my cottage at Hyde Park. The President likes to go even one step further and has the table put right out on the lawn. It may be a trifle disconcerting if it begins to rain or, if towards evening, the mosquitoes begin to bite.

From Savannah to Valdosta, we went through the turpentine country. I cannot help feeling that the big slashes made in the trees must be harmful to them, but they tell me that the same trees are used for a number of years. We drove through much swamp land. I find this country rather gloomy, but perhaps that is due to the fact that the sun has stayed away from us.

We were late in arriving yesterday, but with true Southern hospitality, nobody hurried us. Miss Thompson and I dined with the girls at the college. They sang some Stephen Foster songs, which I much enjoyed. After dinner, boys and girls from a nearby colored training school, led by a young woman who sang for the President once at Warm Springs, came in and sang some spirituals for us.

25

March 29, 1941

Tuskegee, Ala., Friday –
Yesterday morning, we drove around the grounds of the Georgia State Women’s College, where the students certainly have every opportunity for a healthy and happy outdoor life. Available are tennis courts, horses to ride, a beautiful swimming pool, archery and a delightful student activity house, where meals can be served and entertainment of every kind given by the students.

I wish very much that I had had more opportunity to talk with the faculty. They seemed young and progressive. When we finally ended up at the library, which was being dedicated, I felt that one could be justly enthusiastic about the opportunities offered here to girls for a rounded education.

I was told there there was a great difference between the size of the freshman class and the number of graduates, for a good many girls leave to get married. Because the Georgia law allows girls to teach after two years of college, those facing economic difficulties go to earn a living.

From the way people talk, I get the impression occasionally that it is not considered important for girls to be really well educated, if they are going to marry and bring up a family. I would like to register here my thought that marriage and the upbringing of children in the home, require as well trained a mind and as well disciplined a character as any other occupation that might be considered a career.

I think we ought to impress on both our girls and boys that successful marriage require just as much work, just as much intelligence and just as much unselfish devotion, as they give to any position they undertake to fill on a paid basis.

The principles of democratic citizenship are taught in the home and the example is given there of the responsibility assured to the individual under democratic form of government. Every man and woman’s college should have that objective in view as part of the educational process. Without it no education is complete.

We left Valdosta, Georgia, about 11:00 and drove through a sudden heavy rainstorm on the way to Albany, Georgia. Just at its height, one of my tires went flat. Luckily, another car was with us and we drove with Mr. Horace Caldwell, leaving out two chauffeurs to change the tire when the rain stopped and then to follow us. After a very pleasant lunch given by the Rotarians, we proceed to Tuskegee, where we arrived about 5:00.

This is a very fine institution which has always interested me very much. Since I am here to attend the Rosenwald Fund Meeting, I expect to learn a great deal. We breakfasted at eight this morning and our first meeting begins in a few minutes.

26

March 31, 1941

Mobile, Ala., Sunday –
Friday morning we all sat solemnly around a table and discussed business of which I knew little, for this was my first meeting with the Rosenwald Fund Trustees. After a delicious lunch at Dorothy Hall, the Tuskegee guest house, my real education for the day began.

Incidentally, I would like to say a word about this guest house at Tuskegee Institute. It was arranged years ago by the college to receive its white guests and is a most comfortable and homelike place. The students in the home economics and commercial dietetics course cook and serve the food, and better food and service I have never seen.

Flowers are charmingly arranged and, as I came up the stairs, I looked straight at a very good photograph of my uncle, Theodore Roosevelt. His picture looked down at me also from the wall at the trustees meeting, so that I felt that the family has had some connection here over a fairly long period of years.

Now let me tell you about our afternoon. The first thing I noticed is that the land about us is badly eroded. Neither white nor colored farmers can make a living on this land as it is. None of them can afford to put in the capital which will be needed to bring it back, and at the same time keep their families from starvation.

Even the good farmer barely makes a meagre existence. That, I think, explains the fact that, without assistance from outside, the schools are at such a level that one wonders whether it is possible for the children to learn anything at all. We were, of course, visiting Negro schools, and it is fair to suppose that white schools would be better. Even one hundred percent better than those we saw, however, would hardly satisfy you if you believed education was necessary for participation in our democratic form of government.

Three of the schools we visited have some help from Tuskegee Institute. One very important way of cooperating with the rural schools is to send out interns for three months to live in a given neighborhood and to help with the teaching in the schools while they are taking their last year of training as teachers at Tuskegee. Only one school which we visited yesterday includes two years of high school. Most of them have only six grades. A school which received no help, was taught by one woman who tried to give a rounded program to youngsters in all six grades.

The effort to provide a hot lunch interested me. In one school, the teachers live in the school and, therefore, are able to cook and serve lunch on the premises. In other schools, the food is cooked in the homes and brought to the schools and warmed up on the stoves which heat the schools these chilly days. Alabama has taken some forward steps – she provides free school books and her teachers receive slightly higher salaries than teachers receive in some of the neighboring states.