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

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WASHINGTON, Tuesday—Yesterday afternoon we held a tea for the Society of Sponsors. This is a rather small group but among them are many people I have known for a long time. This makes it a rather unusual tea party, for a familiar face in line is quite a novelty.

Afterwards, I drove out to see Mr. and Mrs. Norman Davis at their Alexandria, Virginia, home. I don't wonder that they are pleased and seem quite content with it. There is a lovely garden completely sheltered for spring and summer days, open fireplaces in every room, and that enchanting arrangement of rooms at various levels which indicates a house has been added to at different times.

We had an interesting talk about the number of things which the Red Cross is doing. I hope none of us are going to forget that both at home and abroad there is always work for this organization.

After a quiet dinner at home, the President settled down to his usual baskets of mail and I went out to talk to a parent-teachers meeting at one of the high schools. These groups are always very interesting to me, for they bring together the people most vitally concerned with the younger generation. This contact is most important for without cooperation the best service cannot be given to the younger generation.

Incidentally, have you seen a most beautiful new publication called: "The Junior Classics?" It is in ten volumes and the print is easy to read, which is important to young children. The illustrations are enchanting and I think will be a very delightful addition to any youngster's library.

In yesterday's mail I received a notice which I am passing along because it is the answer to a question which many people have asked me. There is a general realization today that we need to do something positive to make every person in our community aware of their obligation to the government under which we live. We have a republican form of government and a constitutional democracy which requires the real interest of every citizen to function properly.

One group has gathered and sent out to its community organizations the following suggestions: (1) write to, or interview, the editor of your local newspaper and ask him for a daily column: "The Things We Take For Granted," i.e. our democratic way of life. (2) Write to, or interview the leaders of public thought in your community and ask them to speak and preach about the joys and privileges of democracy and religious tolerance. Four other methods of accomplishing this end are listed, but, of course, these methods vary in every community. I only cite this as an idea for groups to follow in different places. In this particular place they invited all the organized groups in the community to join in this undertaking.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1939, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, February 8, 1939

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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Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

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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