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

[This column has emendations. View original version]

      

HYDE PARK, Sunday—Yesterday, one of the hottest of Hudson River days, was the closing day of a loan exhibition entitled, "Heritage of the Hudson Valley." Under the auspices of the Cornwall Garden Club and the Hudson River Conservation Society, it was held at the New York Military Academy in Cornwall. It was a small but very interesting exhibition, and I only wish that there were somewhere a permanent exhibition where people could go and learn the background and history of the Hudson River Valley.

There are still many families living on the banks of the Hudson who have ties reaching far back to the earliest days of New York State. But many new people are coming in and the banks of the river no longer belong to the descendants of the original settlers. I think we ought therefore let the newcomers know enough about the past so they will want to cherish this heritage and make it available to future generations. The scenic beauty of the river should not be spoiled by new factories. Factories must be built, but the builders should take into account the preservation of the river's beauty. If possible, historic houses should be restored, and not destroyed.

Some lovely paintings were lent for this exhibition—a George Inness owned by Olin Dows, and one of his own winter landscapes. We are rich in painters in this area, and so there were some modern as well as old canvases. There was some lovely old silver and some interesting modern silver jewelry, many fine old books and also Governor Clinton's desk. One of the most interesting things to me was the case in which were exhibited some of Frederic W. Goudy's printing. It is an art which he practised and in which his wife helped him. I think few people achieved more beautiful results.

On a table in the middle of the room was a model of the old Mary Powell—the old Hudson River steamboat which was familiar to every child who lived along the Hudson in the days when my husband and I were young.

* * *

I am sure that everyone read with great regret of Justice Hughes' death yesterday. He lived a long life, full of honors and good works, and one can only be grateful that we have had a citizen of such fine qualities so long in our midst. He surely influenced countless people to do more for their country, and it is fortunate that he leaves children and grandchildren to carry on the traditions of his type of service to the nation.

* * *

The heat still continues, and much as we long for rain, none comes. Everything is so dry that two of our men, who started to burn off some old grass in a field the other day, suddenly found themselves with a small prairie fire on their hands and had to summon all the men they could muster to put it out.

I am sorry for the people in the cities, when even here we must sleep on our porches at night and find ourselves waiting for a breeze to make it possible to breathe. This is the second year that the end of August has brought us such hot weather, and I begin to think that the time to be away from the Hudson River is during the month of August. I only hope that by Wednesday, when I have to go to New York City, the weather will be cooler.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1948, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC., REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
  • Clinton, George, 1739-1812 [ index ]
         American soldier and politician; Governor of New York from 1777-1795 and 1801-1804; Vice President of the United States from 1805-1812
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
  • Dows, Olin, 1904-1981 [ index ]
         American US Army artist
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
  • Goudy, Frederic W. (Frederic William), 1865-1947 [ index ]
         American typographer and printer
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
  • Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948 [ index ]
         Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
  • Inness, George, 1825-1894 [ index ]
         American painter
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC ]
Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]
Other Terms and Topics


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, August 30, 1948

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | WorldCat | DPLA | Wikidata | SNAC ]

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)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
    [ ISNI ]
  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ISNI ]
  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]

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 May 2, 2022.

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.
TMs, AERP, FDRL