The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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HYDE PARK, Thursday—This was certainly a busy morning! I began by breakfasting at a quarter before eight with young Cyril Martineau, and a friend of his. Cyril is the son of my husband's first cousin who married an Englishman. He came over to this country to work for an English Oil Company on the west coast and married an American girl! Now he has left her with their two children in his mother's little country home in England, and the company is sending him on a year's trip to South America. He was visiting different stations and only spent the night with us, but it was nice to see him. It is interesting to watch these youngsters grow up and develop, but I felt sorry for him as I thought of the long separation in spite of the interest of the trip. I am even sorrier for his wife, and yet England is a good place to live in and Cyril's mother is one of the most charming and capable women to consult if one feels a little lost and lonely.

Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln MacVeagh and my brother Hall, appeared a little later for breakfast and then got off by motor for their destination. The day gradually got itself planned; people had to be brought from Poughkeepsie to see the President and returned to their trains; there were fourteen people I thought for lunch, and it turned out that there were fifteen. Several delegations came to call during the morning. I sat at the table while two of the children and two young friends ate a rather late breakfast and gleaned as many plans as I could and gathered what information I could as to John's belongings. He pointed to a pile of soiled clothes in the middle of his bedroom floor and announced that someday he and Johnny Drayton would get together again and divide up their belongings which at the moment were so well mixed that they could not possibly extricate them! One must be young to be as carefree and trusting as these youngsters are, but it is a grand period in one's life. We should all be grateful I think if our children can enjoy it. Troubles and responsibilities come soon enough no matter how kind fate may seem to be.

I have given the two dolls which were sent me by the Children's Museum in Indianapolis to the Library here in the Village of Hyde Park, where they are holding an exhibition of dolls. I was delighted to see how appreciative everybody was of the beautiful way in which these dolls are made and dressed. I wish so much that other museums might have the advantage of a painter like John Quincy Adams no, not the President, but a direct descendant! He has a great gift for painting backgrounds and I imagine his paintings do more to bring out the various exhibits and to attract children than any other single thing that I saw in the Museum.

The collections are rather crowded as they are housed in an old building, but it is very charming and I wish that the director and his staff who have done so much there, might have an opportunity of telling other communities of what they have done, for it would undoubtedly serve as a much needed stimulus.

Mrs. James Roosevelt, Junior, and her two little girls are coming this afternoon to stay with us, and it will certainly be a joy to have children in the house again. My son, James, has already warned me that the gate at the top of the stairs must be kept constantly closed or Kate who is both active and inquisitive will fall down the stairs.

E.R.


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, September 10, 1937

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
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  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
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  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a draft version of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. My Day column draft dated September 9, 1937, FDR Library, Hyde Park, NY
TMsd, 9 September 1937, AERP, FDRL