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

[This column has emendations. View original version]

      

SEATTLE, Thursday—Today I received a letter from a lady who begs me to correct my statement that I have been to Seattle four times "in a year and a half." She has kept tabs on me and says I have been here four times in a year. She is quite correct. I can only add that I hope I may continue to find it possible to come as often in the years to come.

Yesterday afternoon, my daughter introduced me to the audience in the Civic Auditorium, which made me think that sometime I would probably introduce her, so I'd better begin to store up anecdotes which will be useful under those circumstances. My son, James, introduced me to the Convention of Young Democrats last summer and seemed to find it even more difficult than Anna did. So, if the children are becoming so efficient and active, I'd better be preparing my own introductions.

The YWCA and the Women's Clubs worked with my daughter's Homemakers Club meeting yesterday. I felt it was one of the most constructive methods of explaining this country's domestic workers situation. I feel sure everybody left the meeting with a better and more sympathetic understanding of the problem. I was particularly glad to have an opportunity to say a few words, not only on this problem, but on the problem created by the work of married women.

After dinner last night, the same subject was brought up by a lady who felt that many young girls who really did not have to work, were doing so because they were bored with society. It seems to me, that the challenge to these girls, who have had a good education, and presumably have some capital, is to do productive work which will employ other people. They have a right to work, but they have an obligation to make that work produce jobs for others.

My daughter and I spent two hours this morning with the WPA State Administrator, Mr. Abel, and the NYA State Administrator, Mr. Binns. They were very kind and made out an itinerary so that we would not have to cover the same ground twice. Much of the WPA and NYA work has been done in conjunction with the State University. A number of these projects are so original that I find myself wanting to tell you much more than space permits.

One WPA project studies the effect of water in a flood area and sets up in miniature the real conditions, so that everything may be worked out before any actual work is done.

There is an educational research project which seems very interesting. When they have accumulated their information, they should know what teachers are good in their public school system and, if they have weaknesses, what their weaknesses are. They should be able to evaluate the courses of study in the different grades and have some idea of the general results on the children.

The NYA has built the radio equipment and a soundproof studio for the University broadcasting station. This gives the boys actual construction experience during their period of education and will provide work for the girls on programs.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1938, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Seattle (Wash., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, March 25, 1938

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 June 9, 2017.

HTML version generated and published on May 3, 2022.

Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
TMs, AERP, FDRL