The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
JUNE 17, 1947
NEW YORK, Monday—On Saturday, my son Elliott and his wife and I did some really strenuous travelling! We left Hyde Park for Washington at 8:30 in the morning. We drove to New York, left the car there, and caught a train which got us into Washington just half an hour before we were due at the French Embassy to attend a mass presentation of decorations.
We got there on the minute and found the room already filled with the men who were to be decorated, and their families and friends. The French general made a charming speech in which he expressed the hope that the unity which had existed between our fighting forces during the war would continue to exist and help us to build a world at peace. Many of our acquaintances were being decorated, but I was, of course, particularly interested in my own son, and in Adm. Ross T. McIntire and in young Raymond Guest, who is a friend of my son Franklin and who stood next to Elliott in the line.
According to French custom, when the ceremonies were over we were given champagne with which to toast the men who had just been honored. Then we went out into the garden, where the greenery and the cool breezes made it delightful.
After two short hours in Washington, we caught a 5:30 plane back to New York. Here it was raining and the drive home in the dark promised to be none too pleasant, but as we got farther away from the city, it began to clear a little. We reached home around 10:30, and while we were tired, we were very happy to have been together on this memorable occasion.
* * *
Yesterday was not exactly a quiet Sunday, but it was a very pleasant one. A group from the New York Women's Trade Union League came up to visit the Hyde Park library and house, and they came over to picnic on my grounds. Then I went over to the library to meet the members of the Passaic (N. J.) Textile Workers Union. A little later, I greeted Prince M. Mbadiwe and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria and a group they brought with them.
Finally, Mr. Aviv Blackman, who is back from five years of service overseas, brought me a gift sent by the Sultan of Morocco. It was originally intended for my husband, but after his death Mr. Blackman was directed to put it into my hands for display in the library. This gift, a bedspread, has particular significance since the Sultan's sisters embroidered it for him and the work on it must have taken many hours of their time.
We felt sad at leaving Hyde Park this morning, but I must be back at work at Lake Success.
E. R.
(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1947, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR PART PROHIBITED.)
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Azikiwe, Nnamdi (Benjamin Nnamdi), 1904-1996 [ index ]
Nigerian statesman and Governor General/President of Nigeria
[ VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ] - Blackman, Aviv [ index ]
Palestinian born agent - Emerson, Faye [ index ]
Actress; second spouse of Elliott Roosevelt
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ] - Guest, Raymond R. (Raymond Richard), 1907- [ index ]
American business man, racehorse owner, later Ambassador to Ireland
[ VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ] - Mbadiwe, M. [ index ]
Nigerian politician and nationalist - McIntire, Ross T., 1889-1959 [ index ]
American physician and navy officer; first Physician to the President in 1932
[ LC | VIAF | SNAC ] - Roosevelt, Elliott, 1910-1990 [ index ]
American aviation executive; ER's and FDR's son
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ] - 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 ] - Roosevelt, Franklin D., Jr. (Franklin Delano), 1914-1988 [ index ]
Son of FDR and ER
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
Organizations
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Library [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST ] - Women's Trade Union League [ index ]
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST ]
Geographic
- [ index ] New York (N.Y., United States)
Other Terms and Topics
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 17, 1947
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
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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