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

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HYDE PARK, Monday—I went down to Virginia last Friday night to speak at Sweet Briar College on Saturday morning and then to drive to Chatham Hall, girls' preparatory school, and speak there in the evening.

I was asked to get off the train at Lynchburg and record a short radio interview there before having breakfast and driving over to Sweet Briar. This I did and I enjoyed very much the young men who are working at the broadcasting station. It always interests me to see the awareness and enthusiasm of young people who are developing smaller stations. They get good radio training now in college, and once they are out and have some responsibility of their own, it is a most exciting experience for them.

* * *

To my surprise there was snow on the ground even in Lynchburg. And on the way to Sweet Briar, all of the riding paths through the woods were covered with snow—which is unusual for that part of the country. This college has a most beautiful setting and certainly offers the girls very delightful surroundings.

The new president, Miss Martha B. Lucas, has a very interesting personality. Before my talk, I had a chance to look through some of the papers the girls had written in a course which she gives. The course covers the religions of the world, and I thought it excellent preparation for better understanding of the United Nations and some of its problems. It is a challenge, too, to mature thinking on a scale which one feels is not often presented to our young women at this age. I found the group most interesting to talk with.

My drive to Chatham with Mrs. Edmund J. Lee, wife of the principal of Chatham Hall, was through beautiful country. We arrived there in time to attend vesper service and have supper with the students. These girls are of high-school age, but again I found a well prepared and very alert and keen group. I particularly enjoyed the question period which followed my talk and which would have gone on indefinitely, I think, if I had not had to take a train back to New York City.

* * *

When I reached Hyde Park on Sunday, I could hardly believe that in the space of two days, the landscape could change so much. The sun was warmer and much snow had melted. But the roads are now icy ruts, and I pity anyone who tries to drive off the main highway.

I found my son-in-law, John Boettiger, here with Elliott, and we had a very happy family reunion. He will be with me again in New York City before he leaves on his trip to some of the European countries.

E.R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1948, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.; REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]
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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, February 17, 1948

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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