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

[This column has emendations. View original version]

      

NEW YORK, Friday—The goings-on in Georgia don't sound like the smoothly running processes of our established democracy. But neither the late Governor-elect Eugene Talmadge's speeches nor his son's, with their emphasis on white supremacy, sound much like the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights, under which we are supposed to be running our republic.

I noticed the other day that one of our newly elected Congresswomen, who is a lady of much erudition, in making a speech to other equally erudite ladies, emphasized the difference between our republic and a republican form of government, and the rather careless way in which we often come to describe ourselves as a democracy. I wonder just exactly which of the two theories fits best the situation as it exists at present in Georgia.

It appears to the outsider that a growing division is shaping up in the Southern states and that this present lusty upheaval is only the sign of much ferment, which may indicate that some people are becoming aware of the thinking which is going on in the rest of the world. Changes have to come from within, so perhaps they are on the way.

* * *

I wish I could adequately use the amount of information which individuals bring me daily, or which comes to me by mail or pamphlet or in books. Two days ago, I was visited by two people who gave me a picture of the Greek situation. One of them, a correspondent for a Greek paper, asked a number of pointed questions to which I am afraid he got very unsatisfactory answers, for my knowledge of the situation in Greece is very limited. I have one conviction, however, and that is that the people of Greece need our help if they are going to have adequate food, clothing, shelter and medical supplies in the course of the next year.

* * *

When I turned on my radio the other morning at 7:30, I got the welcome news that in 30 days I may apply for a new driver's license. Apparently, I have to take a test just as though I had never had a license before, and it is so many years since I took one that I have forgotten what is required! I can only hope that, when I do apply, I shall pass the test, but I shall certainly wait until spring so that driving conditions will be favorable!

If any of you happen to have young children, get a little book called "My Mother Is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World," written by Becky Reyher, and illustrated by Ruth Gannett. I feel sure that, if you are reading to your children, you will find it a charming tale. It is based on the old Russian proverb that it is those we love who seem to us beautiful.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1947, by UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC., REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR PART PROHIBITED)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
  • Gannett, Ruth Chrisman, 1896-1979 [ index ]
         American children's writer and illustrator
         [ LC | VIAF | SNAC ]
  • Reyher, Rebecca Hourwich, 1897-1987 [ index ]
         American author, lecturer, and women's rights activist
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | SNAC | FAST | NYT ]
  • Talmadge, Eugene, 1884-1946 [ index ]
         American Demorcatic politician and Governor of Georgia
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
  • Talmadge, Herman E. (Herman Eugene), 1913-2002 [ index ]
         American Democratic politician and Senator from Georgia
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
Geographic
  • New York (N.Y., United States) [ index ]
Other Terms and Topics


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 18, 1947

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.
TMs, AERP, FDRL