Mrs. Roosevelt kept busy tending her grandchildren
First Lady, wearing tailored gown, stands in background during inauguration
Washington (UP) – (Jan. 20)
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt cast herself more in the role of grandmother than as First Lady at her husband’s historic fourth-term inauguration today.
Throughout the brief ceremony she stood well in the background of the circular portico and was not visible to the crowds.
But before that she busied herself seeing to it that the grandchildren were properly placed on the curving stairs descending from the portico and she went down and spoke to them.
In wartime fashion
Her tailored inaugural gown was in keeping with the fashion she has adopted for wartime.
The dress of dark blue, a shade almost blue-black, was splashed at the neckline with appliques of lighter blue.
Her three-quarter-length coat of the lighter blue was topped with a sable scarf. The sailor hat of dark blue was accented by a cluster of flowers in a shade of pink called, for the fourth inauguration, “Mayflower mauve.” Around her smartly groomed gray hair in back was a band bow of blue velvet.
The First Lady carried a large bouquet of parma violets.
Friends, maids there
At least 10 of the Roosevelt grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 17, were there. So were a number of their friends and maids.
Two-year-old Anne Sturgis Roosevelt, tow-headed daughter of Lt. John Roosevelt, made a splash of color in the congregation of children with her red snow suit and cap.
Mrs. John Boettiger, President and Mrs. Roosevelt’s only daughter, was visible to the audience only when she descended the steps to speak to her three children – Anna Eleanor, 17; Curtis, 15, and Johnny, 5.
Daughter with Mrs. Truman
She took a nosegay of violets to Anna, who saw her grandfather take the oath of President for the first time when she was five and who long ago outgrew her nickname of “Sistie.”
Mrs. Harry S. Truman, wife of the new Vice President, and their daughter, Margaret, took places at the railing of the portico 15 minutes before the ceremony. Mrs. Truman observed the crowd quietly most of the time, but Margaret engaged in intimated conversation with Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, widow of President Wilson.
A black Persian lamb coat concealed Mrs. Truman’s black inauguration gown. A cluster of purple orchids was pinned to her handbag, and a green feather topped her small black hat.