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

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WASHINGTON, Thursday—Mrs. Curtin, the wife of the Prime Minister of Australia, lunched with me yesterday, and I also asked Miss Craig McGeachy, who is head of the Welfare Division of UNRRA, to come so that she might tell us a little about the work which her group is planning. This led to some interesting information which Dr. Louise Stanley was able to give us.

Dr. Stanley is now special assistant to the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Administration. When we discussed the experiences after the last war, and what could be done to quickly restore the health of the children in reconquered countries, she was able to tell us that proper use is being made of sharks' liver, which will help the children. She also told us of the various ways in which the necessary vitamins and proteins can be shipped to foreign countries.

Miss Katharine Lenroot of the Children's Bureau, who was also present, is giving a great deal of help to Miss McGeachy from the experience which has been accumulated in the Children's Bureau. She is lending trained personnel.

I was quite pleased that we were able to get together those who really could give us information on a subject which interests so many people in every country. We are all vitally concerned about the children who must be restored to health and strength if the world is to be a decent place in which to live in the future.

I have had two things drawn to my attention just recently. It was said that in writing back from various places on my Caribbean trip, I did not make clear that much of the initial work on our many bases was done by contractors with civilian employees. They met the first hardships of climate, they established sanitation and fought the jungle and the lack of fresh water. They had the imagination to see the possibilities of development in many cases. They were helped and followed in their work by our servicemen, but they should be given credit for their great achievement.

Secondly, I should like to mention the fact that many citizens of the United States, who work for United States corporations and businesses long established in various Caribbean and South and Central American countries, have taken much responsibility in helping the USO and the Red Cross after their working hours, and in extending hospitality to their countrymen in the military services under the direction of our diplomats or consular agents, and USO and Red Cross leaders. Although they are out of the United States, they have helped the war both by their regular work and in their leisure time.

If anyone is looking for a book to hold a five-year-old's attention I can recommend a discovery of my grandson's called "Mr. Penny" by Marie Hallets. We searched the shelf where I keep children's books for various ages and this was chosen. The pictures seemed to give him great satisfaction and the text was just right for that age, which is a combination one does not always find.

E. R.

(COPYRIGHT 1944 BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 5, 1944

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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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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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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