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

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WASHINGTON, Sunday—The weather has been good to me the last few days and I had a very calm flight to New York on the 10:00 p.m. plane on Friday night and enjoyed it. My brother met me and we went to my little New York apartment, where he is a neighbor of mine. The night was all too short, however, as I had to be up to catch an 8:15 train at the New York Central for Poughkeepsie.

I had intended to breakfast on the train, but having my brother so near me is beginning to spoil me dreadfully. He knocked firmly on my door at 7:30 and announced: "Coffee and English muffins are ready in my apartment." Of course he knew I couldn't resist! Then he saw me off on the train.

People are kind and thoughtful when sorrow comes to anyone. When I drove up to our little Hyde Park chapel to attend Mr. Nesbitt's funeral, I found a large delegation from a veterans camp where Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt's son had been for a time. The man who had driven them over explained that they were all so fond of Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt they wanted to come to the service. My sister-in-law, Mrs. J. R. Roosevelt, joined me in the church and many old friends and neighbors were there, which must have given Mrs. Nesbitt a feeling of warmth and support.

The ground was covered with snow and, lovely as was our old cemetery, the walk in and out was anything but easy on the slippery ice and I was glad nobody fell or was hurt.

I went to my cottage for about half an hour and then back to the train. I had a short visit in New York with my cousin, Mrs. Henry Parish, who is still very ill, and then my brother and I made the 5:00 o'clock plane back to Washington.

Back in Washington, I attended the Jackson Day Dinner. I will have to acknowledge, as I drove to the Mayflower Hotel with the President, I told him that the speeches would have to be very good or I would fall asleep. I remained wide awake, which I thought was the greatest compliment that could be paid to my husband and the Speaker of the House, Mr. Bankhead.

The latter was extremely humorous and managed also to summarize the achievements of the last five years in a way which I thought really masterly. If people can laugh and yet take home something really concrete which they will remember afterward, it will stay with them much longer than a dry and solemn speech to which they have only half listened.

This morning we went to church, and after a broadcast this afternoon I am going to an exhibition at the United States National Museum of the selected skills of the unemployed as demonstrated on WPA non-construction projects. Tomorrow I will tell you what these workers have done.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1938, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 10, 1938

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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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.

XML master last modified on June 9, 2017.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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