HYDE PARK, Monday—Yesterday, Mr. and Mrs. Jay Allen, and Mr. and Mrs. Eric Knight lunched with us. It was an extremely interesting occasion. We sat far into the afternoon talking, and then visited the library. Later, I took Mr. and Mrs. Vinton Chapin, who spent the weekend with us, up to see Mrs. George Huntington. Mr. Chapin has been in Dublin, Ireland, with our Minister and Mrs. David Gray, and I knew Mrs. Huntington would enjoy some word of the Grays as much as I did.

Having so many grandchildren myself, I am always interested in seeing my friend's grandchildren. Mrs. Huntington has two who flew all the way from Honolulu for a visit with her. They are certainly attractive children and I think she must be very proud of the way in which her son and daughter-in-law bring them up, for their manners at the ages of one-and-a-half, and three-years-old, are quite impeccable!

I have had a little time the last day or two to go through the numerous reports which have been sent me. Among them, I found a pamphlet prepared by the Michigan Historical Records Survey Project. This particular one was compiled by Negro workers and is an inventory of the records of all Negro organizations and of the holdings, chiefly family papers, of many individuals.

They have searched the manuscript holdings of the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Mr. John C. Dancy, Jr., whose calendar of correspondence is given in this publication, by the Reverend John Miles, chairman of this particular group, has contributed something of value to his race through his cooperation and preservation of this valuable and historic correspondence.

I have had protests from various people because I wrote in this column some time ago, that certain islands and their populations, off the coast of Maine, were remote. It has been pointed out to me quite firmly that one can reach any part of Maine today very easily, and that by air it is only three hours from Bangor, Maine, to New York City.

Everyone realizes, I think, how easy it is to reach Maine resorts both in winter and in summer for sports of all kinds. I was thinking about something very different. It happens to people in big cities, or out on the plains of the Middle West, or along the coasts of the Atlantic or the Pacific. Sometimes it happens on real islands, sometimes on the islands of the mind. People become remote from the stream of world affairs and are forgotten, and, themselves, forget the rest of their fellow men.