The First Lady of Radio (7 page)

Now, I know what the facts are today, and I know that you know them. I know that in many communities people have been so badly off that they have not been able to keep up schools and pay teachers and do the things that should be done for the children of this generation. I think the federal government is trying to help in every way that it can in the crisis; but I think we have to go further back than the present crisis and realize that, even before we had the Depression, there were people in this country who did not understand that not giving equal opportunity to all children for education was really a menace. It was felt that possibly it was better not to educate people to want more than they were at that time getting, and the thought which goes a little beyond this was
dormant in a great many places. This thought which had not yet been accepted will make us realize that to deny to any part of a population the opportunities for more enjoyment in life, for higher aspirations, is a menace to the nation as a whole. There has been too much concentrating wealth, and even if it means that some of us have got to learn to be a little more unselfish about sharing what we have than we have been in the past, we must realize that it will profit us all in the long run. We have got to think it through and realize that in the end all of us, the country over, will gain if we have a uniformly educated people; that is to say, if everywhere every child has the opportunity to gain as much knowledge as his ability will allow him to gain. We know that there are in every race certain gifts, and therefore the people of the different races will naturally want to develop those gifts. If they are denied the opportunity to do so they will always feel a frustration in their lives and a certain resentment against the people who have denied them this opportunity for self-expression.

I believe that the Negro race has tremendous gifts to bring to this country in the way of artistic development. I think things come by nature to many of them that we have to acquire, such as an appreciation of art and of music and of rhythm, which we really have to gain very often through education. I think that those things should be utilized for the good of the whole nation, that you should be allowed and helped to make your greatest contribution along the lines that you want and that give you joy. And therefore I am very happy to see this conference, and I have the hope that out of it will come a realization not only to you who are here but to all the people throughout the country who may be listening in today and who may later come in contact with those of you who are here, that we as a democracy in these times must be able to grasp our problems, must have sufficient general education to know not only what our difficulties are but what the government is trying to do to help us meet those difficulties. Without that ability in our people and without
the willingness to sacrifice on the part of the people as a whole, in order that the younger generation may develop this ability, I think we have harder times ahead of us than we have had in the past. I think the day of selfishness is over; the day of really working together has come, and we must learn to work together, all of us, regardless of race or creed or color; we must wipe out, wherever we find it, any feeling that grows up of intolerance, of belief that any one group can go ahead alone. We go ahead together or we go down together, and so may you profit now and for the future by all that you do in this conference.

6.

“When Will a Woman Become President of the U.S.?”

The Simmons Program

Tuesday, September 4, 1934, 9:30–10:00 p.m. (NBC Blue Network)

A little more than a year after telling reporters she would give up commercial broadcasting, Eleanor Roosevelt was back at the microphone and getting paid top dollar for her work. On May 12, 1934, she spoke for six minutes as a guest of fast-talking news commentator Floyd Gibbons. ER spoke to farm wives on an NBC program sponsored by the construction materials company Johns Manville. She was paid $3,000. ER explained to reporters that she took the job to help sustain the work of the American Friends Service Committee. One radio writer quipped that her exceptionally high fee might lure other big names to the microphone: “One-time guest appearances may bob up with such paid guest stars as Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Ramsay MacDonald. Mrs. Roosevelt has broken the barrier.”
¹
ER told reporters she would
seek similar radio opportunities, but that no reference to any products would be made in future broadcasts.

That plan changed a month later. ER announced she would start a series of five radio programs as a news commentator sponsored by the Simmons mattress company. The prime-time series on Tuesday nights mixed ER's take on the news with musical numbers and commercials for “millionaire sleep” on Beautyrest mattresses. At the time, virtually all the prominent radio news commentators were men.

ER held forth on the value of relaxation, change in public schools, and a typical day in the White House. She took up the question of whether professional women could really be themselves in the workplace and whether a woman would ever be president. Along the way, ER made a number of subtle, positive references to New Deal initiatives such as relief for the unemployed and a new federal insurance program guaranteeing bank deposits. She also commented on the recent arrest of a suspect in the kidnapping of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh's baby son.

The first lady also let listeners in on the relentless work schedules that she and FDR maintained. She described their days as packed with meetings and obligations that ran well past the dinner hour. She said it was rare that either one of them left their desk before midnight, presenting listeners with a view of a modern, professional couple equally engaged in public service.

In announcing the Simmons series, ER told reporters her $3,000 fee for each program would be donated directly to the Quakers. In time, her critics would challenge that arrangement.

(MUSICAL THEME: “NOCTURNE”)

ANNOUNCER: The Simmons Company, makers of the Beautyrest Mattress, has the honor and privilege of bringing to you this evening your friend and neighbor, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. In keeping
with Mrs. Roosevelt's active part in encouraging the development of American music, the Beautyrest Orchestra, under the direction of Willard Robison, will play “Arkansas Traveler,” one of our native melodies. But first let me ask: How would you like to live like a millionaire for one-third of your life? Amazing as it may sound, you can! For you spend eight hours out of every twenty-four—a full third of your life—in bed. During this vitally important third of your life, the Simmons Beautyrest Mattress will give you the most luxurious sleep in the world—the same restful, refreshing slumber that has made the Beautyrest preferred by millionaires, as well as millions of others, all over America.

(ORCHESTRA STARTS)

ANNOUNCER: (OVER MUSIC) Patriarch of the hills. Wanderer through the Ozarks. Sing us the saga of rural life—on your ancient fiddle—happy toilers . . . free to live the night in gay revelry . . . await the start of the barn dance and the happy tunes of the Arkansas Traveler.

(ORCHESTRA: “ARKANSAS TRAVELER”)

ANNOUNCER: And now, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who is going to tell what she considers are the highlights of the week's news! Mrs. Roosevelt.

(APPLAUSE)

ER: Ladies and gentlemen, we begin with a heroic tale! A swim of five miles is an achievement for anyone! But I heard this morning that a fifteen-year-old, Lewis Deane of New York, swam five miles towing behind him a sailboat with his girl in it. The boat was becalmed just as evening came on. So young Deane slipped over the side. Holding the tow rope grimly in his teeth, he fought his way—literally inch by inch—to the shore five miles distant. Here indeed is an example of courage and determination which all of us should keep in mind when we become becalmed in our own lives.

The textile strike has dominated the front pages of the newspapers during the past few days. The public earnestly hopes that an early
settlement can be effected between the employees and employers. The sooner an agreement can be reached, the better for both sides, as well as for the public. The present difficulties in industry require good leadership for both sides and a desire to cooperate in reaching a fair settlement to all concerned. The public earnestly hopes for a speedy settlement.

I notice a little item about a gentleman from New York State who thought he had lost his entire life savings—$6,100—because he was afraid to put them in a bank and forgot that he had hidden them in his mattress. The gentleman should be told that at present there is no further need of worrying when he puts his money in a bank. The deposit is guaranteed by the government up to the limit allowed on deposits.

To the youth of today who are interested in airplanes, it will probably be a matter of interest to know that the federal government during the last few days has asked scientists of seventy-one universities to aid them in finding what are known as “ghosts of the air.” This means a deviation in the radio beam which guides aviators and which has, on several occasions, led them astray—a phenomenon not yet satisfactorily understood.

Now the word comes to us that the women scientists are not finding it any too easy to get jobs. Some employers say they would rather have a second-rate man than a first-rate woman. Take the case of the chemists. A chemist must carry his experiments from the laboratory through to the point of factory production. And many industries do not care to have women around in factories. Women chemists are unpopular. There is one bright spot, however, for women chemists. Men do not like the routine of making analyses, so this opens up a chance for women. Nor do they apparently like library research work. Here is another opening, and for those women who have a knowledge of French or German there seems to be a chance at some of the more highly paid positions.

At the convention of dancing masters in New York this past week, it was predicted that there would be a return to more dignity in dancing
and that waltzes and two-steps are to be revived. It will indeed be pleasant to revert to the dances of our youth and if you want really to be demonstrative, a waltz can most perfectly serve the purpose.

Job insurance or unemployment insurance seems to be a certainty before very long, but the exact kind of insurance we shall have is still open to discussion—is it to be contributed to by employer, employee, and the state? Or just by employer and employee? And how long a period shall it cover? Many observers coming back from Europe, where unemployment insurance has been in operation for some time, feel that while it is a good measure to meet temporary ups and downs, it would not be adequate to meet major depressions in any case. It is, however, a step which everyone will back and it seems to me that the exact form in which it passes is not so very important. But I do hope it will cover as long a period of unemployment as possible.

The touch of autumn weather we have had tempts me to think primarily of what we can do in the out-of-doors. And I imagine many people's interest will turn to the National Tennis Championship being played this week at Forest Hills, New York. The important question, of course, is whether or not America's best can turn back the threat of Fred Perry of Great Britain. And I am warned that we should most certainly look out for that attractive and colorful star from Czechoslovakia, Roderich Menzel, as well as many other of the foreign aces.

And now we have a new author-aviator in Mrs. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who recently published a magazine article entitled “Flying Around the North Atlantic.” Colonel Lindbergh could not ask for a more delightful interpreter. There is quiet humor and friendliness about this article, which everyone will surely enjoy.

People who thought they were going to make fortunes out of the sale of liquor are beginning to discover that this is not a gold mine any more than any other industry. The rush for permits in this business is slowing down. Bootleggers who wish to reform are not being ruled out, though
if they have a police record they may not find it easy to enter into this business in a legal way. This brings us to the question of crime, for the bootlegger is closely allied to the whole crime situation. It is interesting to find that Mr. [Joseph] Keenan, Assistant Attorney General of the United States, in an address in Milwaukee to the American Bar Association convention, points out that public opinion will have to change before we make a really successful fight against crime in this country. In England, people give the police, in fighting and suppressing crime, far greater support than we do, Mr. Keenan asserts. I, personally, think that public opinion must demand from our newspapers and movies an attitude which will not make the [John] Dillingers of the country heroes to our small boys. Then and then only will the government's anticrime campaign succeed.

Do you ever eat hot dogs when you are motoring? Well, I understand we are to have a variety straight from Paris. It is a kind of baby hot dog called “saucisses de Francfort” and before long I expect to see signs all along the roads advertising hot puppies imported from France, Germany, and England. Strange that even in a taste like this we are not completely isolated from the rest of the world.

Out in Chicago a few days ago Lillian D. Rook, secretary of the National Association of Women Lawyers, made the statement that she expects to see a woman president of the United States. This was done at the convention of the association. We will deal a little more at length with this subject later on this evening. Much that was said in this convention was on the subject of increasing the number of women judges. This will be received with sympathy by a great many women who have a feeling that some of our laws will be interpreted more sympathetically by women judges. Now, as I promised, I will be back in a few moments to tell you what I think about a woman's chances of becoming president of the United States!