My Day was a newspaper column that was written by First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt six days a week from 1935 to 1962. From 1961 until 1962, issues were only published every other day because Roosevelt became too sick to write on her usual schedule. In her column, she discussed issues such as race, women, and key events . This column allowed Roosevelt to spread her ideas and thoughts to millions of Americans and give them a new view on the issues they faced every day. George T. Bye, Eleanor Roosevelt's literary agent, encouraged her to write the column. With this column, Roosevelt became the first First Lady to write a daily newspaper column. Roosevelt also wrote for Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, and various articles in Vogue and other women's magazines.The White House Historical Association and the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project collaborated on an online representation on some of Roosevelt's best writings with extra insights from Allida M. Black, the director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project. The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences works to release digital and print versions of Roosevelt's political writings; it is currently working on transcribing her radio and television appearances.
from "My Day" (January 8, 1936)
Source: https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1936&_f=md054227 Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Day, January 8, 1936," The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition (2017), accessed 7/24/2018, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1936&_f=md054227.
“No writing has any real value which is not the expression of genuine thought and feeling.”
20 December 1939
My Day (1935–1962)
11 May 1943
My Day (1935–1962)
“One should always sleep in all of one's guest beds, to make sure that they are comfortable.”
11 September 1941
My Day (1935–1962)
20 December 1961
My Day (1935–1962)
“If you lose money you lose much,
If you lose friends you lose more,
If you lose faith you lose all.”
My Day: The Best of Eleanor Roosevelt's Acclaimed Newspaper Columns 1936-62
16 October 1939
My Day (1935–1962)
Source: This is My Story
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: We should begin in our own environment and in our own community as far as possible to build a peace-loving attitude and learn to discipline ourselves to accept, in the small things of our lives, mediation and arbitration. As individuals, there is little that any of us can do to prevent an accidental use of bombs in the hands of those who already have them. We can register, however, with our government a firm protest against granting the knowledge and the use of these weapons to those who do not now have them. (20 December 1961)
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: I have waited a while before saying anything about the Un-American Activities Committee's current investigation of the Hollywood film industry. I would not be very much surprised if some writers or actors or stagehands, or what not, were found to have Communist leanings, but I was surprised to find that, at the start of the inquiry, some of the big producers were so chicken-hearted about speaking up for the freedom of their industry.
One thing is sure — none of the arts flourishes on censorship and repression. And by this time it should be evident that the American public is capable of doing its own censoring. Certainly, the Thomas Committee is growing more ludicrous daily. (29 October 1947)
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: As long as we are not actually destroyed, we can work to gain greater understanding of other peoples and to try to present to the peoples of the world the values of our own beliefs. We can do this by demonstrating our conviction that human life is worth preserving and that we are willing to help others to enjoy benefits of our civilization just as we have enjoyed it. (20 December 1961)
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: The mobilization of world opinion and methods of negotiation should be developed and used by every nation in order to strengthen the United Nations. Then if we are forced into war, it will be because there has been no way to prevent it through negotiation and the mobilization of world opinion. In which case we should have the voluntary support of many nations, which is far better than the decision of one nation alone, or even of a few nations. (16 April 1954)
“This is a time for action — not for war, but for mobilization of every bit of peace machinery.”
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: This is a time for action — not for war, but for mobilization of every bit of peace machinery. It is also a time for facing the fact that you cannot use a weapon, even though it is the weapon that gives you greater strength than other nations, if it is so destructive that it practically wipes out large areas of land and great numbers of innocent people. (16 April 1954 )
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: What is going on in the Un-American Activities Committee worries me primarily because little people have become frightened and we find ourselves living in the atmosphere of a police state, where people close doors before they state what they think or look over their shoulders apprehensively before they express an opinion.
I have been one of those who have carried the fight for complete freedom of information in the United Nations. And while accepting the fact that some of our press, our radio commentators, our prominent citizens and our movies may at times be blamed legitimately for things they have said and done, still I feel that the fundamental right of freedom of thought and expression is essential. If you curtail what the other fellow says and does, you curtail what you yourself may say and do.
In our country we must trust the people to hear and see both the good and the bad and to choose the good. The Un-American Activities Committee seems to me to be better for a police state than for the USA. (29 October 1947)
