"Eleanor Roosevelt in the South Pacific," Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum website
Seventy years ago this August, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, made an extraordinary trip to the South Pacific. Here is how I begin describing the trip in the prologue to my book, Eleanor Roosevelt; A Personal and Public Life:
"FROM THE WINDOW of an Army transport plane Eleanor Roosevelt gazed down at the blue waters of the South Pacific. In the vast ocean the occasional islands seemed so remote that she "wondered how our planes found them or that the waves did not wash them away." The very names of the islands suggested something distant and exotic: Bora Bora, Tutuila, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal. Until recently these specks of land had been some of the most peaceful places on the globe, the subject of romantic tales by Stevenson, Melville, and London. Eleanor Roosevelt came to the South Pacific, however, not to find peace, but to study war. Her trip would cost her dearly in mind and body, stripping thirty pounds off her graceful frame and leaving her so tired that friends would worry about her health....."
Here is a brief reading from the book:
"FROM THE WINDOW of an Army transport plane Eleanor Roosevelt gazed down at the blue waters of the South Pacific. In the vast ocean the occasional islands seemed so remote that she "wondered how our planes found them or that the waves did not wash them away." The very names of the islands suggested something distant and exotic: Bora Bora, Tutuila, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal. Until recently these specks of land had been some of the most peaceful places on the globe, the subject of romantic tales by Stevenson, Melville, and London. Eleanor Roosevelt came to the South Pacific, however, not to find peace, but to study war. Her trip would cost her dearly in mind and body, stripping thirty pounds off her graceful frame and leaving her so tired that friends would worry about her health....."
Here is a brief reading from the book:
I am working this summer with three talented research assistants creating the web site of which this blog is a part. One of our goals is to put materials on line for each of my five books. Today Lee Nilsson and I focused on the story of Mrs. Roosevelt's journey to the war zone on Guadalcanal. He created a wonderful Google map detailing the stops on the trip and connecting sections of the book to a series of pins following the journey. Here's a screen shot of the map:
For more information on Eleanor Roosevelt's 1943 journey including an interactive version of this map,, go to the book section of this site and click on "Eleanor Roosevelt" and then on "Prologue." Or simply click here to be whisked to the that story.
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If you liked this post on Eleanor Roosevelt, you may also enjoy this earlier post on ER: -
-- Eleanor Roosevelt, Lorena Hickok, a Buick Roadster, and a Trip to Quebec
If you liked this post on Eleanor Roosevelt, you may also enjoy this earlier post on ER: -
-- Eleanor Roosevelt, Lorena Hickok, a Buick Roadster, and a Trip to Quebec
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