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

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BOSTON, Friday—Thursday morning I left Washington and flew to Boston where I am staying with Mr. and Mrs. John Cutter.

Last night I was the guest of honor at a dinner given by the Massachusetts Committee of Catholics, Protestants and Jews. It is extremely important, I think, to emphasize the value of various religions working together in our country today. Our nation has always emphasized the freedom of everyone to worship in his own way. While we are predominantly a Christian nation, nevertheless, we have in our midst, representatives of many religious groups, and others who do not hold any orthodox beliefs, but we give complete freedom to all of them.

Today I am visiting my grandchildren who are in school near Boston. The last time I was in Boston I saw my grandson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, III. He is at the Fessenden School. My granddaughter, Sara, is in Milton, and my grandson, William, in Southboro. I hope to see all of them, but I am not quite sure of having time to fit in three visits, particularly as my knowledge of the suburbs of Boston is so limited that they always confuse me.

I am going to lunch at the Window Shop. They invited me long ago because of my interest in their work. They are a group organized to promote and sell the handcrafts of displaced persons. People who come to us from overseas have many gifts and can contribute a great deal to our own knowledge of handcrafts. Therefore, centers such as this can be of enormous value to the development of our own arts and crafts industry, as well as providing help to newly arrived future citizens.

Tomorrow I shall spend the day at Brandeis University, meeting some of the students in the morning and speaking in the afternoon.

I am a trustee of the University but this will be my first visit.

Like millions of other Americans I have a deep sense of gratitude to Ernie Pyle. Of all the columnists who reported during the war, he did one of the most remarkable pieces of work for the soldiers. You felt that he understood the GI. He viewed him with a sympathy born of great human understanding. Just as I thought Bill Mauldin did something very remarkable in his cartoons, so Ernie Pyle, day in and day out, did something remarkable in his column. He died in service just as he was beginning to work for the soldiers in the Pacific area. Previously he had worked for them on the European front.

Now, in McCall's magazine, L.G. Miller, his best friend, is telling us the story of Ernie Pyle's life. I hope it will come out in book form because many of us will want to have it in our libraries. It gives a wonderful picture of an unusual person and a better interpretation of how well he understood his fellow.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.) REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Boston (Mass., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 27, 1950

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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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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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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