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

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Monday—In Fort Smith, Ark., we had the kind of parade which I connect entirely with visits paid by the President. I only hope that seeing the apple blossom queens was satisfaction enough for the people who stood so long in the cold. The queens were young and very charming and made me feel very grandmotherly when we were photographed together in one of the rooms at the hotel.

The Democratic ladies had decorated our rooms with the most beautiful flowers, which we enjoyed for all too brief a time. After the lecture and an informal reception, which I left reluctantly before I had the opportunity of shaking hands with all the people who were still thronging the hotel, we returned to the train and were on our way back to Kansas City. We made a hurried transfer in the morning from the station to the airport and reached Chicago a little after eleven.

At the hotel we occupied a penthouse apartment, where I was shown a framed letter from the President who had stopped there when he was Governor. I signed the guestbook on the same page which bore my husband's signature and our son, Jimmy's. I could have spent a long time examining the prints which lined the walls along the stairs, but time in Chicago was at a premium. We were greeted with many envelopes of mail.

At 4:30 the committee from the American Communications Association called for me. After I gave a brief speech at their meeting, I was able to hear the closing summary of the work of their convention, given by the president, Mr. Mervyn Rathborn, who is an able and wise leader.

Back at the hotel with a very few minutes to spare before the committee from the Advisory Council of the Chicago Youth Congress, called to take me to the dinner given by them. The Chicago Youth Congress is fortunate in having such a wide and sympathetic group of older men and women interested in their work. From the dinner we went to the meeting in Orchestra Hall. I was interested in both the entertainment features and the speeches of the various young leaders and only hope that I contributed some food for thought before I left them and returned to the hotel to stop in for a brief moment at the American Legion Ball.

Then to the train again for Battle Creek, Michigan. Here we stayed at the sanitarium, which is a most interesting place. I spoke in the afternoon and we journeyed back to Chicago. Miss Thompson left for Washington at 10:00 p.m. and this morning I flew to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Southern Human Welfare Conference.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Chattanooga (Tenn., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, April 16, 1940

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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