harold a. katz memoir volume 1 - University of Illinois Springfield

of the line. The same maitre d' was standing in front of the door. He immediately recog-
nized Mrs. Roosevelt, whom he greeted exhuberantly, saw that I was her guest, and stood
by silently, as I followed her to her table with a look of victory on my face. I am probably
the only man ever permitted during that era to have dinner in the main dining room of
the Hotel Commodore in direct violation of their dress code. I could not resist rubbing it
in as I walked by, muttering to the maitre dl in a subdued but triumphant tone, "Presidential
party!"
Q: Did you continue then through the years to meet with Mrs. Roosevelt occasionally?
A: On rare occasions. She once came to Nashville, and I saw her for a few minutes. I once
dropped her a note. Mrs. Roosevelt sent me a picture, an autographed picture, that I hung
and kept nearby because I admired her so much. My view of her was well expressed by
Harry Truman who called her the First Lady of the World.
There was a period later in Nashville when things on the racial front got quite heated. It
became Ku Klux Klannish. I dropped a note to Mrs. Roosevelt commenting to her about the
tenseness of the racial situation. She sent me back a very brief note which said in essence
that she thought I ought not to exacerbate it, advising me to proceed with considerable cau-
tion.
Q: Now, you went on to Washington from New York then.
A: Yes, I did. I went on to Washington from New York and then had the visit at the White
House.
On another occasion I went to a student institute at the University of Virginia. They had
a World Affairs Institute every year at that time where they would bring distinguished
people in international relations to Charlottesville. Outstanding scholars in international
affairs would lecture to students from all over the country. I got into that through Dr. Flem-
ing, our political science faculty member interested in international relations. The speeches
and sessions made the few days at Charlottesville very exciting. This was in the summer
of 1941 - before the Campobello experience.
Q: How did you come to go to that World Affairs Institute?
A: Through Dr. Fleming. He encouraged me to attend.
Q: Was it at your own cost?
A: Yes, it was at my own cost. By this time my parents had enough money to send me.
It was on the way to Washington, and my parents wanted me to visit my brother who was
nearby.
Q: Do you recall any others from the South that were at the meeting that you talked with?
A: My friends, William Sanders and Bob Cook. We drove up together from Vanderbilt. I
am sure that there were many others from Southern universities, but I did not know them.
SESSION 3, TAPE 5, SIDE 3
Q: What was the sense there at Vanderbilt or during those years of the coming war? It
was pretty hot by 1939.
A: One of my favorite professors, Professor Fleming, was an authority on the League of
Nations, and a great believer in collective security, and he had quite an impact at