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

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HYDE PARK, Thursday—Mrs. Scheider and I drove up to my old home at Tivoli yesterday afternoon to see my aunt, Mrs. David Gray, who is there with her husband for a time. The two grandchildren went with us and we had much conversation about the past. The house is more or less falling to pieces. I told them about the games of hide-and-seek and tag which we used to play around the piazza which entirely surrounded it. I felt sorry that half the piazza was gone and had to caution the children to walk gingerly on the rest, for fear of their falling through.

We walked over to the stable and I reminded them that this was the particular walk I used to take many times in a day to order the carraige or horses. They counted the stalls and regretted the horses were not still there. They must have felt some of the charm of the old place because, as we left, Buz remarked, "I'd like to have this place."

They were in an inquisitive frame of mind and demanded of Mrs. Scheider when she had first seen me, when she had first seen Mrs. Gray, when she had first seen them, and, finally, turning to me, Buz said: "When did you first see me grandmere?"

I told him I was in the room when he and Sistie were born, so I had known them longer than anyone else except "Mummy." Then we described the place where had all been born and I told him the Sis was the first little baby their uncles, Franklin and John, had ever seen. After looking at her for a long time, they asked if, on their return two weeks later from a visit to Warm Springs, she would be able to walk and talk. Sometimes when I am with children I wish I were a real fountain of wisdom instead of a supposed one. I imagine every mother and grandmother has that feeling frequently.

Mrs. Scheider, Mrs. Morgenthau, her son and I went to the Millbrook Theatre last night and saw a revival of "They Knew What They Wanted" by Sidney Howard. As the play progressed, I realized that I had seen it before, but it was well done and the evening was extremely pleasant. I would recommend all those who take over old churches or meeting houses and turn them into theatres, to take a good look at the pews, for our ancestors evidently did not mean people to be very comfortable in church. I think the pews were designed for the express purpose of keeping people awake during the long drawn-out sermons. In consequence, our only complaint last night was that the pews in the theatre were not conducive to comfort.

I wonder if many of you have seen a little book published by the Young Women's Christian Association called, "The Woman In The House." It deals with a question of interest to all women, the relationship of the housewife to her household employees, and is most helpful from both points of view.

E.R.

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


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]
Other Terms and Topics
  • The Woman in the House (YWCA)
  • They knew what they wanted (Howard, Sidney Coe)
         [ LC ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, July 15, 1938

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

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
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  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
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  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
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  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
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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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