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

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WASHINGTON, Wednesday—We arrived here last night and were met at the station. We very nearly came to the White House unexpectedly, for we had forgotten to send any word and only remembered in Baltimore to telegraph the usher!

On the surface everything was ready for me; my bed was turned down, the lights were lit, but when I tried to hang up my coat, I found my closet was locked. I know my maid is always very careful and when I am away keeps everything under lock and key. However, I never before found my room in this condition and I did not know where the keys were kept! My travelling bag was useful, for without it I would not have had even a wrapper since, I could open no drawers or closets.

I had a seven-thirty breakfast with my little cousin and her governess, who used to be with Anna and who has come to stay with us for a little while. It was fortunate I started my day early, for I was promptly greeted by Mrs. MacDuffie with news that my grandchildren's nurse had been laid up for a couple of days and that the little boy had a bad cold.

It is a long time since I have had much to do with children's diseases. There was a time when colds, ears, glands and throats were all very familiar to me. I don't, therefore, become very much excited over children's illnesses, but this sense of calm would not be mine if so many years of experience did not lie behind me.

In a little while everything was arranged and moving along quietly and Chandler was off to school looking very well and cheerful.

There were a number of people for lunch. Quite by accident, two ladies from California, who had seen each other there not so long ago, were quite surprised to meet each other here. One of them, Mrs. Marguerite Clark, is deeply interested in everything which can be done to promote adult education. She feels a democracy can only function if its citizenship is able intelligently to study the problems of government. When she left she said: "I am not worried about the younger generation. I want our adults to be as intelligent as possible."

Mrs. Clark also told us at lunch, of a commencement where some youngsters, after thanking their parents and teachers for what they had been given and what they had been taught in preparation for their start in the world, added: "The only thing we are not grateful for is the world which you have given us." Rather a penetrating remark. I doubt if any of my generation is so self-satisfied that we will not be somewhat shaken by it.

E.R.

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


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, February 24, 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

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