The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice (73 page)

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Authors: Patricia Bell-Scott

Tags: #Political, #Lgbt, #Biography & Autobiography, #History, #United States, #20th Century

BOOK: The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice
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Notwithstanding the turmoil
: Virginia Foster Durr,
Outside the Magic Circle: The Autobiography of Virginia Foster Durr
, ed., Hollinger F. Barnard (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1985), 279–80, 291.

“courage”
: PM to Dr. [Omer] Carmichael, September 11, 1956, PMP.

“outstandingly good job”
: ER, “My Day,” September 15, 1956.

Murray handed
: PM to ER, September 18, 1956, ERP.

“I am very happy”
: ER to PM, September 24, 1956, PMP.

ER promised
: ER to PM, October 8, 1956, and ER to PM, September 24, 1956, PMP.

Black voters
: Leo Egan, “Negro Shift Aids Maryland G.O.P.: Trend in Baltimore Is More Definite Than Elsewhere,”
NYT
, October 12, 1956, and Layhmond Robinson Jr., “Democrats Face Negro Vote Loss: A Sizable Switch to G.O.P. Could Hurt,”
NYT
, November 2, 1956.

“We’re for Eisenhower”
:
PC
, November 3, 1956.

“We like both Ike”
:
Philadelphia AA
, October 27, 1956.

ER campaigned
: Allida M. Black,
Casting Her Own Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of a Postwar Liberalism
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), 109–15, presents an analysis of ER’s strategy along with a discussion of the views of earlier historians and biographers.

“What moderation”
: “Mrs. FDR Explains Adlai’s Moderation,”
Philadelphia AA
.

In an effort to keep
: Black,
Casting Her Own Shadow
, 113–14.

“I do not think”
: “Mrs. FDR Explains Adlai’s Moderation,”
Philadelphia AA
.

Only after a soul-searching
: PM,
Song
, 310.

When Powell announced
: Russell Baker, “Powell, Switching, Backs Eisenhower,”
NYT
, October 12, 1956.

“the moral leadership”
: PM to Adlai Stevenson, October 17, 1956, ERP.

“egghead”
: ER, “My Day,” December 12, 1953.

“One of the reasons”
: PM to ER, November 1, 1956, ERP.

45. “YOU CAUGHT THE FEELING I HAD IN MIND”

“the courage”
: ER, “My Day,” October 23, 1956.

“a gallant book”
: Henrietta Buckmaster, “Indomitable Family,” a review of
Proud Shoes
by PM,
NYT
, October 21, 1956.

“loved”
: Langston Hughes to PM, October 20, 1956, PMP.

“I have finished”
: ER to PM, October 8, 1956, ERP.

For its title
: PM, introduction to new edition of
Proud Shoes
(New York: Harper & Row, 1978), viii.

“blue-eyed”
: PM,
Proud Shoes
(New York: Harper & Row, 1956), 65.

Having grown up
: PM, introduction to
Proud Shoes
(1978), vii.

“past associations”
: PM,
Song
, 294.

Murray’s personal identification
: PM, introduction to
Proud Shoes
(1978), xiv. For an extended discussion of identity as a theme in
Proud Shoes
, see Darlene O’Dell, “Face of the Tombstones,” in
Sites of Memory: The Autobiographies of Katharine Du Pre Lumpkin, Lillian Smith, and Pauli Murray
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001), 104–43. See also Jean M. Humez, “Pauli Murray’s Histories of Loyalty and Revolt,”
Black American Literature Forum
24, no. 2 (1990): 315–55.

“What a story!”
: J. Saunders Redding’s blurb appeared on the jacket of the 1956 edition. An expanded version appears on the jacket of the 1978 edition.

“You have done”
: Quoted in PM to ER, July 13, 1956, ERP. An excerpt of Lillian Smith’s telegram appeared as a blurb on the book jacket of the 1956 edition.

“effective use”
: Byron R. Bryant, “The New Books,” a review of
Proud Shoes
by PM,
San Francisco Chronicle
, December 9, 1956.

“told with an uncanny”
: Margot Jackson, “A Negro Writes of Civil War, Slavery,” a review of
Proud Shoes
by PM,
Akron Beacon Journal
, October 12, 1956.

“a Civil War story”
: Ted Poston, “A Truly American Family,” a review of
Proud Shoes
by PM,
NYP
, October 21, 1956.

“Outstanding Books of 1956”
:
New York Herald Tribune
, December 2, 1956.

“100 copies per week”
: PM to Skipper [Caroline Ware], December 2, 1956, PMP.

“anyone interested”
: ER, “My Day,” October 23, 1956.

“intangibles”
: PM,
Proud Shoes
, (1956), 246.

“They had little”
: Ibid., 246–47.

“Your review”
: PM to ER, [October 1956?], ERP.

“The cause for”
: Jane Speights, “Only Half Picture Painted: Serves No Useful Purpose,” a review of
Proud Shoes
by PM,
Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News
, October 14, 1956.

“objectivity”
: Frank Hains to Ramona Herdman, October 15, 1956, ERP.

“It’s amazing”
: PM to ER, [October 1956?].

46. “I NEVER CEASE TO MARVEL AT THE GREATNESS OF YOUR HUMANITY”

“professional opportunity”
: PM,
Song
, 311.

“It’s too bad”
: PM to Skipper [Caroline Ware], December 2, 1956, PMP.

“Aunt Pauli”
: Ibid.

Seated around
: Ibid.

“emptying the ashtrays”
: PM to ER, December 5, 1956, ERP.

“bits of cookies”
: PM to Skipper [Caroline Ware], December 2, 1956.

“eyes popped”
: Ibid.

“calmly munching”
: Ibid.

“I never cease”
: PM to ER, December 5, 1956.

“I shall never forget”
: Ibid.

“One for my billfold”
: Ibid.

“By contact”
: Ibid.

47. “OUR FRIENDSHIP PRODUCED SPARKS OF SHEER JOY”

“sandlot player”
: PM,
Song
, 311.

“triple minority”
: Ibid., 312.

“corporate mergers”
: Ibid.

“earned the right”
: PM to Skipper [Caroline Ware], December 2, 1956.

“the totem pole”
: Ibid.

“I’ve been so busy”
: PM to ER, January 20, 1957, ERP.

“was rumored”
: PM,
Song
, 313.

“awkwardness”
: Ibid.

“essence of courtesy”
: Ibid.

“staring foolishly”
: Ibid., 314.

“grindstone”
: Ibid., 312.

Murray found an ally
: For Murray’s characterization of this relationship, see PM, “To Those Who Loved Irene Barlow,” March 7, 1973–March 13, 1973, PMP, and PM, “What I Learned from Irene Barlow,” March 12, 1973, PMP.

“the managing partner”
: Ibid., 314.

“pronounced to rhyme”
: PM,
Song
, 314.

“threadbare hand-me-down”
: Ibid., 315.

Consequently, the clerical staff
: PM, interview by Blanche Wiesen Cook, October 19, 1983.

“job kept her”
: PM,
Song
, 314–15.

“spasms of laughter”
: Ibid., 316.

“Now don’t get up”
: Ibid.

“Oh, blast”
: Ibid.

“shot out of a cannon”
: PM, “What I Learned from Irene Barlow.”

“firm confidences”
: Ibid.

“less the rough diamond”
: Ibid.

“our friendship produced”
: PM,
Song
, 316.

“relationship a special quality”
: Ibid.

She likened their bond
: PM, “What I Learned from Irene Barlow.”

“strong-willed”
: Ibid.

“I think she loved”
: Ibid.

This relationship proved
: PM, journal, June 24, 1973, PMP.

“neglected clothing”
: PM, “What I Learned from Irene Barlow.”

“gift of this friendship”
: PM, journal, September 3, 1973, PMP.

48. “YOU CAN SAY WE HAD A FRIENDLY CONVERSATION, BUT WE DIFFER”

ER arrived
: ER, “My Day,” March 26, 1957.

From Casablanca
: ER, “My Day,” March 27–30, 1957; April 1–6, 8–11, 1957.

“a beautiful orange”
: ER, “My Day,” April 9, 1957.

The longing of Moroccan
: ER, “My Day,” April 6, 1957.

This interest
: PM,
Song
, 318, and Yevette Richards,
Maida Springer: Pan-Africanist and International Labor Leader
(Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000), 106, 206.

She took Maureen Corr
: ER, “My Day,” September 10, 1957.

“wanted to get as far”
: ER,
On My Own
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), 198.

“under local anesthesia”
: A. David Gurewitsch,
Eleanor Roosevelt: Her Day; A Personal Album
(New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., 1974), 139.

“flared up”
: ER, “My Day,” October 8, 1957.

“had a friendly conversation”
: ER, “My Day,” October 5, 1957.

“street-cleaning”
: ER,
On My Own
, 199.

“I think I should die”
: Ibid., 193.

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