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

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NEW YORK, Tuesday—Monday was an extremely busy day for me. I attended the breakfast given by Isaac Liberman, president of Arnold Constable to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of that store. My family on both sides through the years have been connected with this establishment and the story of its growth is really the story of the growth of New York City. I liked particularly having the birthday cake made like a model of the original building and giving each guest at the breakfast a piece of johnny-cake made according to the same recipe used by Aaron Arnold when he served his guests at the opening of the store in 1825!

After a hurried word of greeting I had to leave this pleasant party and dash to the United States Mission office at 2 Park Avenue for the first session of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. This was a two-hour briefing session, and when it was over I went at once to the Lewis Recording studio where I did a short television and radio recording for the American Heart Association. All of us should be encouraged to know that we are beginning to learn something about the care of the human heart. Where children are concerned we are learning how to keep those who suffer from rheumatic fever from permanent impairment. The little girl who stood beside me while we were on television was a sweet child who showed very little effect from her attack of rheumatic fever.

From these studios I went straight to the Foundation for the Blind on 16th Street to read the first chapter of my book, "This I Remember," for the talking-book recordings. I had time after that at 3 p.m. to get a bite of luncheon before going up to the Jewish Theological Seminary where I received an honorary degree and spoke on Human Rights.

Then I returned to the hotel, feeling that my first day in New York City had been a fairly busy one, but knowing full well that the days to come are going to be even busier.

I was horrified to read the other day that farm children are again being deprived of the education they rightfully should have and are being used while still so tender in years for work on the farm. Nobody knows better than I how valuable it is for children to live on farms in the country and have the responsibility of some chores that are really necessary and that must be done every day. The trouble is that farm parents must be very wise and understanding and never burden their children in excess of their strength so that they are unable to do their schoolwork. When this happens, the youngsters lose interest in their lessons and prefer to give their entire time to work instead of continuing their education.

Farming, or almost any other occupation today, requires more education than in the past. The qualities of character and dependability that can be developed in the home environment by having responsibilities to carry through are invaluable. But they must not be developed at the expense of the child's health or of his opportunity to become better equipped to undertake whatever is to be his life's work.

Believe me, education is as much needed on the farm as anywhere else, not only to do, a better job in farming but to give real value to life itself.

E. R.

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


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, September 20, 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
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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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