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

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WASHINGTON, Wednesday—When shopping in New York, the other day, I went in to America House, where I saw Mrs. Vanderbilt Webb. She told me of a very interesting plan which is being developed by Dartmouth College in cooperation with the American Craftsmen's Educational Council, Inc., of 485 Madison Avenue, N.Y.C. They are working out with the Veterans Administration a way in which veterans wishing to take advantage of this plan may do so.

The plan is designed to give men and women training in careers as craftsmen. Every step is pointed to one end, the financial independence of the individual, either through self-employment or employment in the manual industries. The course of instruction, given at Dartmouth College, is open to men and women, both civilians and returning veterans. Those who are disabled or suffering from combat neurosis may also take advantage of it. Since handicraft production is usually easier to carry out in rural communities, the plan should be of especial interest to those who may wish to settle in the country.

If they have the proper qualifications, veterans wishing to take the course of study will be aided by the government. In the case of civilians, they must be able to pay the tuition. I hope that many people will be interested in looking into this program, which has a cultural as well as an economic value.

My mail recently brought a letter from a mother who lives in Maine, enclosing a poem which she says she "just found." Since it has been a consolation to her, she felt that many other mothers working in war industries, as she is doing, would like to know it. When their load of anxiety seems almost more than they can carry, it may bring them strength and consolation. And so I quote it here, hoping that her wish may come true:

A Parent's Silent Prayer
"Dear Lord, —
You gave your Son to save the world.
You didn't count the cost
In blood and sacrifice;
You gave your Son that we might live.
Dear Lord, —
Can I do less?
I give the world my son
That he may help to save
The things for which your Son
So nobly died.
If, when the victory's won, dear God,
And you send back my son,
I'll press him to my breast and thank you, Lord.
And if he goes to join your Son, I'll understand;
And through my tears, rejoice
To know that my son and the Son of God
Go hand in hand.—Amen."

E. R.

(COPYRIGHT 1944 BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 16, 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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