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

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WASHINGTON, Sunday—Friday afternoon I had a tea for the Council for the Federation of Women's Clubs which meets here every winter. Last year my husband was able to come in and say a few words to them, but this year with Congress just convening and an Inaugural address in the making, it was quite impossible for him to be present. The ladies were much disappointed and we can only hope that next year he will not be so busy.

Saturday morning was one of those hideous mornings which I suppose must go with any Inauguration. All the photographers wanted photographs of what I was going to wear on Wednesday and they were set up in groups in the lower floor of the White House and I progressed from one to the other. My only consolation is that there will never be another Inauguration and that this really was the last time here and I hope forever the last posed picture that I shall have to have taken!

The day was a most glorious day so I stole half an hour and went for a walk before lunch. A large and formal luncheon with Madame Sze on my right and Donna Matilda de Suvich on my left. This was Mrs. Cordell Hull's first appearance here since she came back from her South American trip and I was delighted to see her and so was everybody else.

Mrs. Hull brought me a truly international gift. It was made in Holland, bought in Bermuda and sent to her in the Argentine and brought by her back to me. It is one of those delightfully soft and warm shawls which once you possess you never wish to be without.

Some people came in for tea and Lady Rhondda and Miss Stanhope who are here from England, came for dinner, with a few other friends. A relative of mine had written me that Lady Rhondda was anxious to see me but that she felt it imperative to see the President and if that interview were not arranged, would feel her entire visit to the United States had been spoiled. The only way I could arrange it was to put her next to him at dinner which was successfully done.

A very exciting movie last night, but it was not such a good picture for the gentlemen in the audience, most of whom happened to be particularly interested in conservation and groaned as each large and beautiful tree came to the ground. As a method of entertaining my husband, I am afraid it was not very successful though the picture was really very good, beautiful country and an interesting story.

My husband, the children and I went to church this morning and we all look forward to a quiet afternoon.

E.R.


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
  • Hull, Frances, 1874-1954 [ index ]
         Spouse of U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull
         [ LC | VIAF | SNAC | FAST ]
  • Mackworth, Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, 1883-1958 [ index ]
         English-born suffragist
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | ODNB ]
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 [ index ]
         American politician; 32nd President of the United States
         [ ERPP bio | LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
  • Stanhope, Eileen Browne, Lady, 1889-1940 [ index ]
         British aristocrat and political spouse
  • Suvich, Donna Mathilde [ index ]
         Spouse of Italian Ambassador to the US
         [ SNAC ]
  • Sze, Yu-hua Tang [ index ]
         Spouse of Chinese Ambassador to the US Alfred Sao-ke Sze
Geographic
  • Washington (D.C., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 18, 1937

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | WorldCat | DPLA | Wikidata | SNAC ]

Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
    [ ISNI ]
  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ISNI ]
  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]

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.

XML master last modified on May 2, 2022.

HTML version generated and published on May 3, 2022.

Transcription created from a photocopy of a draft version of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. My Day column draft dated January 17, 1937, FDR Library, Hyde Park, NY
TMsd, 17 January 1937, AERP, FDRL