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

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HYDE PARK, Friday—A violent thunderstorm broke early Thursday morning, but it cleared off by 11 o'clock, when we went up to the postoffice in Hyde Park village for the ceremony in honor of my husband. There seemed to be a few people who had stopped by from other places, but largely the crowd was a neighborhood crowd. Postmaster General Hannegan and Third Assistant Postmaster General Lawler, who made all the arrangements, agreed to wait a few minutes while one of the movie camera men, arriving late, got his camera set up and in working order. Then our local postmaster, Arthur Smith, opened the ceremonies. Thomas Kilmer, president of the Roosevelt Home Club, spoke, as did our Democratic supervisor, Elmer Van Wagner.

* * *

A number of sheets of the new stamps, in folders, were handed to Mr. Hannegan. After his speech he presented me with one, and then with a second one for the library. Then we went into the postoffice, where I signed a number of sheets, including one for ex-Postmaster General Frank Walker. Our postmaster finally succeeded in getting Mr. Hannegan away from the crowd, which was collecting autographs on a grand scale, and took him in to see the postoffice. This is built of field stone, as every building was which my husband had anything to do with in this region. He loved the native stone out of our woods and fields, and I must say it does make a very appropriate building for this area. Our little postoffice also has some delightful murals painted by Olin Dows of Rhinebeck, N. Y.

As I was getting into my car, a young soldier who was evidently convalescing from a foot injury asked me to sign one of the covers. Afterward, we went down to the big house, having augmented our party by two more guests, Maury Maverick and Patrick W. McDonough. Our visit was brief, because we had promised the children that we would go to the lunch which was being served in the basement of the Town Hall by the Catholic women for the benefit of their church.

* * *

Needless to say, the children were far more interested in what they were going to have for lunch than they were in a sightseeing visit. We finally got back to the Town Hall, where everybody's appetite was fully satisfied. I do think it is a remarkable thing how well the church women of every group manage these affairs, for in times like these, when points are scarce, they are not easy to plan.

Postmaster General and Mrs. Hannegan left by 2 o'clock to visit friends in the vicinity, and I took Miss Byrne and Mr. Fitzpatrick to a train which left a little later in the afternoon.

E. R.

(COPYRIGHT 1945 BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
  • Byrne, Doris Irene, 1905-1975 [ index ]
         American lawyer and politician
  • Dows, Olin, 1904-1981 [ index ]
         American US Army artist
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
  • Fitzpatrick, Paul (Paul Early), 1897-1977 [ index ]
         American soldier and democrat party chairman
         [ LC | VIAF | SNAC ]
  • Hannegan, Irma P., 1904-1995 [ index ]
         Spouse of American politician Robert Hannegan
         [ SNAC | Other source ]
  • Hannegan, Robert E. (Robert Emmet), 1903-1949 [ index ]
         American politican; served as U.S. Postmaster General from 1903 to 1949, chairman on Democratic National Committee
         [ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
  • Kilmer, Thomas [ index ]
         American president of the Roosevelt Home Club
  • Lawler, Joseph J. (Joseph John), 1901-1977 [ index ]
         American Third Assistant Postmaster General
         [ LC | VIAF | SNAC ]
  • Maverick, Maury, 1895-1954 [ index ]
         American politician; U.S. Representative (TX) from 1935 to 1939; Mayor of San Antonio, TX
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
  • McDonough, Patrick W. (William), 1888-1951 [ index ]
         American; Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California; Presidential Elector of CA
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 [ index ]
         American politician; 32nd President of the United States
         [ ERPP bio | LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
  • Smith, Arthur [ index ]
         Hyde Park, NY postmaster
  • Van Wagner, Elmer, Sr. (Hyde Park, NY politician) [ index ]
         American, Democratic town supervisor
  • Walker, Frank C., 1886-1959 [ index ]
         American politician and lawyer; U.S. Postmaster General (1940-1945); chair of Democratic National Committee (1943-1944)
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | ANB ]
Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]
Other Terms and Topics


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, July 28, 1945

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | WorldCat | DPLA | Wikidata | SNAC ]

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)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
    [ ISNI ]
  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ISNI ]
  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]

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 May 2, 2022.

HTML version generated and published on May 3, 2022.

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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