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

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DENVER—The American Heritage Publishing Company of New York has asked me to pass along an idea it has developed and which has been endorsed by the International Rescue Committee.

Company employes wanted to do something for the Hungarian refugees and so two members of the editorial research staff suggested that they contribute as a group to help Hungary's fight for freedom.

Then James Parton, American Heritage publisher, offered "to match contributions, dollar for dollar, from the company till."

The response was immediate and unanimous. But since the American Heritage staff is small, the total amount sent to the Hungarian Relief Fund of the International Rescue Committee, 62 West 45th Street, New York, N.Y., was not large.

Parton suggests, however, that if every American enterprise "from the local grocery store up the line to General Motors were to institute the same procedure, the amount raised would be enormous."

Parton believes that voluntary teamwork of this kind between workers and management would be a dramatic display of American democracy and free enterprise. He thinks it would demonstrate to people deprived of their liberty that the hope of America is still bright. And so I pass on this idea, hoping it will meet someone's needs.

A little book also has come to me and is called "Juvenile Delinquency—a Remedy Through Music." Its aim is to try to prevent mechanized devices from removing the American musician completely from the field—the creation of music for the public. It brings out one point which, I think, the public does not realize, namely, that once a musician has recorded a musical composition he receives no royalty whatsoever beyond his initial payment.

If you are concerned with the arts, there are ideas in this little book I think you will want to consider and see whether they could be put into action. It is essential, I think, to preserve live music, and we know it is becoming harder and harder for the average musician to find a living.

The little book starts, of course, with some suggestions on the use of music and the value of all the cultural arts for young children.

The best example I know of using music and the creation of children's orchestras to prevent juvenile delinquency was the work done by the Mayor of Haifa in Israel. He had to bring together children who spoke different languages and decided that music was the one language they could all cope with. As a result, he has today some excellent children's orchestras and a minimum of juvenile delinquency in his city.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1957, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

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  • Denver (Col., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 16, 1957

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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