President Roosevelt
Biography
Asked every American over the radio to do his or her part for the war effort. The family cried and gathered around the radio on the day he died. They had his picture on the living room wall. Iris describes him as widely respected and loved.
Timeline
the day President Roosevelt died
Mourning President Roosevelt around the radio
Iris recalls everyone crying and sitting around the radio waiting for news. His picture hung on their living room wall.
Iris's Chapter
Stories mentioning President
- Quilt Squares and Dime Stamps for the War EffortToo young at eleven to fully understand the war, Iris nevertheless responded to President Roosevelt's radio appeal. On Saturday mornings she made quilt squares at the YWCA for Red Cross ladies to sew into quilts for GIs. At about thirteen she sold dime war savings stamps outside a grocery store, wearing a patriotic hat and apron. She recalls, with uncertainty, that a hundred stamps filled a book, says twenty-five dollars bought a war bond, and had two bonds by war's end. She also recalls why her father and grandfather were not drafted and mentions a boyfriend who joined the Marine Corps after the war.
- Gathered Around the Radio: Music and Wartime NewsIris recalls the constantly playing radio and the Moline Daily Dispatch as the family's main news sources, including news that might affect Uncle Lloyd in New Guinea. The family mourned President Roosevelt around the radio, but also enjoyed singing and dancing to popular songs and big bands. She recounts Bill's description of overseas propaganda broadcasts mixing favorite music with frightening, specific military information; she attributes that information to spies within the U.S. government. She remembers divided reactions to the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, her father's approval, and Harry Truman's presidency.
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