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

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WASHINGTON, Monday—I stepped out of the plane this morning to find the most beautiful weather, which seemed really cool in comparison to Florida. As I think it over, the most interesting thing being done by the Air Corps at the technical training school in Miami, Florida, was the effort to classify men by examination and interview. As the man in charge told me, they are really trying to find round pegs and put them in round holes.

The other thing which impressed me was the speed of organization. It is barely two months since this setup was started, and yet everything is running smoothly. Taking over the hotels has probably saved many people from loss of their property. It has certainly made it possible to house far more soldiers far more rapidly than could have been done otherwise. It gives me a feeling of satisfaction to realize the efficiency with which the Air Corps has acted in this mobilization.

The nation as a whole seems to be mobilizing very rapidly too. Everyone I saw commented on the change of traffic yesterday, and price ceilings go into effect today.

The war news from Russia seems encouraging. I hope that the magnificent effort which the Russians are making will spur all the organizations throughout this country to do all they can for Russian Relief. I was sorry not to be able to attend a meeting for this purpose in Miami or Los Angeles, for both places asked me. However, I am quite sure that my presence was not needed in either place to make their drives a complete success. We owe so much to Russia and China today and we can only express our gratitude by sending them all we can in relief funds.

At the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives' dinner the other night, I was presented with a little pair of "tiger shoes," made for a little American boy by his Chinese nurse. These shoes are placed on Chinese babies' feet in the hope that the fearless strength and courage of the tiger will develop in the child. The Chinese women making then today must think with gratitude of our "American Flying Tigers," who have written an epic in the sky over China.

There is a most interesting magazine article by Paul Gallico on Joe Louis. This famous prize fighter, who has now become a fighter in the armies of the United States, is to many of his people the symbol of their patriotism. I think that all of us are happy that Mr. Gallico wrote this article.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1942, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 19, 1942

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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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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