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

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WASHINGTON—I found the President still bothered yesterday with sinus, a situation which should not exist when you go to the country in order to get rid of it as he did. However, it cleared up for a few days, only to return before he left Hyde Park.

When I went over to the office to see him during his lunch hour yesterday, I began to wonder how he would enjoy greeting the many people who come to our newspaper dance every year. However, I hoped for the best and went back to keep a number of appointments and to have a few people on the South Porch at tea time.

The last few days have been very warm in Washington. Everyone enjoys the breeze which usually blows on the South Porch and the view of the fountain at the foot of the lawn with the shining white Washington Monument in the distance.

At 7:30 our guests arrived for dinner and I found that several people, who had heard of the request that Secretary Wallace had made of me in the matter of a cotton evening dress, had decided to follow suit. Mrs. Wallace, I thought, succeeded better than anyone else, for her dress looked cool and comfortable. Mine may have looked cool, and I devoutly hope it did, but it did not feel very much so.

After dinner, the President found that the doctor considered it unwise for him to go down to receive our guests at the dance, so he retired. I stood alone and tried to explain to everyone who asked why the President was not to be found. My brother joined me a little later on and I was very glad to have at least one male member of my family to keep me company off and on through the evening.

After supper, Joe Moss and his orchestra, who always play delightfully, gave us a waltz, so that I had a dance. Later, my brother and I decided that there were enough people who really wanted to dance the Virginia reel to have two sets. The rest of the guests gathered around to watch and smile indulgently when any of us made mistakes.

I hope everyone had a good time. I wandered out on the porches and terrace during the evening, and it could not have been a more perfect night. The moon was full and the air outside at least was cool and lovely. I am afraid I can't say much in favor of the atmosphere in the rooms where people were dancing. There was a time when I thought I would melt away.

This morning I received a group of San Antonio, Texas, high school students who were dressed in cowboy attire and on their way to the New York World's Fair, where they will give exhibitions of roping. At the same time, they will try to get something of educational value out of their trip. Later the members of the International Automobile Association were received.

E.R.

(Distributed by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

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  • Washington (D.C., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 2, 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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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate 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.

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.
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