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

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HYDE PARK, Sunday—Thursday evening we stayed so late at Lake Success that I did not reach home until after seven o'clock. The delay was partly because a drafting committee had to meet after our regular session of the Human Rights Commission and partly because I had the opportunity to talk with the U.S. Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, Dr. Scheele, and two of his aides, who are about to start for the World Health Organization meeting in Geneva.

I was glad to learn, in discussing the President's four-point program, that our Surgeon General is as conscious as I am of the need for steps to be taken first in the field of physical and mental health, since these must precede any kind of economic effort. I always feel, however, that once our people have become aware of a problem we have really begun on its necessary solutions, for we are the kind who are tenacious enough to stick by problems until we find the answers.

Once back in my apartment Thursday evening, I had a column to write, and then I dressed to go to my cousin's, Mrs. Kermit Roosevelt, for a delightful buffet supper and an evening of music. I was happy to hear the young pianist, Madame Sari Biro, who, I was told, is considered one of the most promising of the younger pianists. I can only say that I found her completely enchanting and enjoyed every moment of her playing. She told me that when she first came to this country she had played for my mother-in-law, and that she had never forgotten her because she was such a good listener and had been so kind to her.

Friday I played hookey from the Human Rights Commission and spent the day at Milton Academy, my granddaughter's school. Over a year ago, when they asked me to give the commencement address, I said I could not leave the Human Rights Commission at that time but was sure I could do it this year. As things turned out, it really wasn't a better time this year to leave the commission. But we have been working for such a long period that I have begun to feel I have no personal ties and almost no personal life, and I therefore decided I had better keep this engagement I made so long ago.

I flew to Boston in the morning and was met by Mr. and Mrs. John Sargent. They took me to their home and then to Milton, leaving me there for a buffet lunch with Miss Eunice Faulkner, head of the academy's girls division, Dr. and Mrs. Potter and some of the older girls. The exercises, which took place at four o'clock in a lovely out-of-doors setting, were simple and delightful. Afterward Mr. and Mrs. Sargent motored me back to their house, where we had a cup of tea, and then I caught my plane back to New York. My fellow workers awaited me at the end of my trip to tell me everything that had occurred during my absence, so I will not be behindhand when I have to resume the chair on Monday morning.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1949, 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 ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 13, 1949

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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