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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Seeing Through The Eyes of Children, FDR’s Dream

Seeing Through The Eyes of Children, FDR’s Dream

Seeing Through The Eyes of Children, FDR’s Dream


I found this speech researching a novel I am writing about the effects on children of the Great Depression. It was given in 1939, at the White House Conference on Children and Youth. It was delivered as part of the fourth such conference, the first taking place in 1909, the last in 1971. Interestingly, the last conference, which was convened by President Nixon, ended in a Colorado blizzard, which necessitated the mobilization of army troops to supply the attendees with supplies. Thirty two years earlier, Franklin Roosevelt spoke the words I have excerpted below. Though spoken towards the end of the Great Depression, they express concerns that, as