Eleanor Roosevelt comes to Melbourne and Southbank

In 1943, during World War Two, Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of the then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt) undertook a long, dangerous and arduous trip across the South Pacific, heading to Australia.

The trip was organised as part of her role as head of the international Red Cross. Flying in a four-engine Liberator bomber, converted for transport, she spent most of her time visiting US camps and hospitals where US servicemen were patients.

Arriving in Melbourne, it was intended that she would not make any public appearances, due to the large number of engagements she was to undertake, with non-stop visits to hospitals and servicewomen’s establishments and factories. But it didn’t quite work out that way.

A brief announcement in the press flagged a visit to Melbourne Town Hall for a Mayoral reception on September 6 – and Melbourne went wild, giving her the greatest welcome ever for an “unofficial” visitor.

Mrs Roosevelt addressed 3000 women inside (mostly representatives of women’s organisations) and her speech was amplified through loudspeakers to the thousands who had blocked the traffic around the Town Hall for more than an hour.

In a punishing schedule, she visited many Red Cross auxiliary sites, research laboratories, military bases and hospitals and American Red Cross clubs, and a number of war production centres, even a munitions factory.

She was continually impressed by the care and attention given by Australian medical staff to hospitalised American troops, and was enormously popular wherever she visited, displaying warmth and compassion for the injured. She was regarded as an unfailing source of courage and inspiration.

One of her stops was at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, newly constructed in Parkville and made available to American troops in February 1942. Stops on her tour included a number in Southbank, including Victoria Barracks and Government House, where the wife of the Victorian Governor, Lady Dugan, had converted the ballroom to a workroom for up to 70 volunteers who spent their days making surgical dressings.

During her visit she praised the role that the women of Australia were playing in wartime (as were the British) and was glad that the reputation of Australians as very hospitable had been borne out. She continually displayed friendly informality that endeared her to the locals that she met and was a tireless campaigner for equality and women’s rights.

Fortunately, she kept a daily diary, with her events described as “My Day” published in newspapers around the country. Her visit was a triumph for the Red Cross and the US President. •