Eleanor Roosevelt Visits Saginaw - The Personal Side of A Public Visit
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
“I really should go down in history and I won’t dare tell it while I am still around. A full page ought to be devoted somewhere, sometime to the woman who stayed home to run a broken-down washing machine when she could have been making a very private social call on the President’s wife. Here’s how it happened.”
-A letter from Mrs. Kenneth A. Lord to her mother and father, dated November 22, 1936.
Last summer we featured a glimpse into the lives of Emily Packard and Kenneth Lord and their home at 29 West Hannum, in newly developed Golfside. Shortly after the publication of the piece, we received an envelope of archival material from one of her granddaughters. Included in the collection was a wintertime view of the Lord residence and a wonderfully candid letter to Mrs. Lord’s parents describing her dinner with First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
This link will take you to the original post and background information about the Lord family.
“The First Lady of the Land, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, arrived in Saginaw by train late Wednesday morning to receive a noisy greeting.
Coming here to give a talk at the Michigan theater in the second event of the Rotary club celebrity series, Mrs. Roosevelt was greeted at the railroad station by a committee of women and a large group of Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls, then escorted to her hotel in an enthusiastic parade.” (The Saginaw News. November 18, 1936.)
After her arrival at the Bancroft Hotel, she held a press conference with students from Saginaw’s High schools. The News reported:
“If it was a surprise that the ‘press conference’ brought three members of high school journalism classes, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, wife of the President, did not show it. She was gracious, kindly and interested in their questions.
She was asked what was more thrilling, having her own children or welcoming her grandchildren; if she looked forward to another four years in the White House; what in her early training served her best as First Lady, and so on. As the two girl interviewers left, Mrs. Roosevelt reached into a large vase of pink roses and gave them each one.” (The Saginaw News, November 18, 1936.)
The newspaper accounts record Mrs. Roosevelt’s engagement and concern about local issues. We now encourage you to read the scan of the letter in which Emily Pack Lord recounts her part in the event – her description details the reality of everyday life mixed into what it was like to dine and converse with the First Lady.
Now that you have read Emily Lord’s account, we will note that Eleanor Roosevelt returned to Saginaw on October 5, 1961. However, we are still in search of an engaging, firsthand account of that visit.
And to learn more about Anna Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and accomplishments: https://www.fdrlibrary.org/er-biography
NOTE: We have included photographs of the sites mentioned in this article and Mrs. Lord’s letter.
The site of the post-lecture dinner, the Treanor home, was located in the Grove at 1557 S. Washington Avenue. Arthur Treanor was the editor and publisher of The Saginaw News, and would become a Vice President of Booth Newspapers. The Treanors’ home was originally constructed for the Germain family, and it has been demolished; however, the city barn originally associated with the home remains and is immediately north of the Montague Inn.
*Note the photograph of the Michigan Theater is from the Cinema Treasures website.
The Recipe: Mrs. Kenneth A. Lord’s Finnan Haddie Chowder
The skin and backbone let from a broiled Haddie. 1 large carrot, diced, 1 medium onion sliced, 4 or 5 stalks of celery, 1 small potato, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 or 2 tablespoons chopped green pepper, ½ cup finely flaked Finnan Haddie, 2 cups milk, 1 cup of cream. 1 tablespoon butter, ¼ teaspoon of salt and a few grains of pepper.
Remove any flakes of fish remaining on the skin, cover it with cold water and let come to a boil and let boil for 10 or 15 minutes; strain and add chopped vegetables to the liquor. Cook until vegetables are done and the fish liquor reduced to not more than 1 ½ cups. Add the remaining ingredients and seasoning. Heat but do not boil and serve without thickening. This recipe can be used with any left-over fish, but the slightly smoky flavor the Haddie-skin gives is delicious; with other fish add about ¼ cup tomato puree. Mrs. Kenneth A. Lord (The Saginaw Cookbook, published by the Woman’s Society of First Congregational Church, 1929 edition.)
CTK Notes:
-Haddie is Haddock; Finnan Haddie is a traditional Scottish preparation of Haddock. For a more thorough investigation into Finnan Haddie:
-We attempted to follow Mrs. Lord’s instruction, but you may note a little deviance – our shoppers were lazy this week and didn’t score Finnan Haddie and we were only able to obtain Haddock filets. The stock we created from a Haddock Filet was substitution of desperation. Although lacking in depth of flavor, the results were still quite wonderful.
Now to remove the scent of smoked fish from our hands…