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Alison (Lissa) Muscatine's Files
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HRC Columns
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5777 W. CENTURY BLVD., SUITE 700
LOS ANGELES, CA 90045
Tel. (310) 337-7003
FAX (310) 337-7625
CREATORS SYNDICATE
ANTTA TOBIAS
Executive Vice President
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
SENT VIA FAX TRANSMITTAL
July 21, 1995
Ms Lissa Muscarine
Hotel Guest
900 Meadowood Resort
St. Helena, CA 94574
Dear Lissa:
Thank you so much for the columns! We think the adoption column and the working
women column are ready to go as is We realize the adoption column is about 100 words
too long, but I think we can get away with it It's so good, we don't want to CUI it.
We think the public television column still needs work Let's talk about iL
Best
Onto Amita Tobias
cc: Sabrina Corlette
AT.jt
JUL- 6-95 THU 17:47 WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY
P. 02
Cc: Maggie
hisa
Fissa
Subscribers to the Hillary Rodham Clinton column
as of July 5, 1995
Washington Post, Washington, DC
Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia, PA
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA
Milkwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI
Boston Globe, Boston, MA
Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN
New York Daily News, New York, NY
Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, OH
Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago, IL
Khaleej Times, Dubai, UAE
Detroit News, Detroit, MI
Chi, Milan, Italy
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Daily News, Mexico City, Mexico
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St. Croix Avis, St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Denver Post, Denver, CO
Listin Diario, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, CA
The Evening Standard, London, England
Richmond County Times, Walnut Creek, CA
Diario El Pais, Montevideo, Uraguay
Pleasanton Valley Times, Walnut Creek, CA
San Ramon Times, Walnut Creek, CA
Antioch Ledger-Dispatch, Walnut Creek, CA
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA
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Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN
The News-Herald, Panama City, FL
Times-Union, Albany, NY
The Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY
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The Mesa Tribune, Mesa, AZ
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Eastern Express, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong
United Daily News, Taipei, Taiwan
Algemeen Dagblad, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Dawn, Karachi, Pakistan
Shukan Josei, Tokyo, Japan
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Wed
Italy
Circinnati Enjuire
m. star drib
UAR
Eveng Std - London
Japan
(Ascii format> Whiteknight
Come S
before 9 pas -
software
file into mode
<9am- - 6 pm - need to call>
MEMORANDUM
TO:
HRC
Maggie
FROM: Lissa
RE: Column Ideas
DATE: June 27, 1995
Given that Creators needs some sample columns for marketing
purposes, I think it's very important to give them at least one
or two columns that really give a window on what it means to be
First Lady. In other words, columns that no one else could have
written and that editors will feel remiss at not running. Here
are some ideas:
1) Introductory Column
The introductory column, drawn largely from Tuesday's speech
2) Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa and the creation of the home for infants in
Washington. To make this work, you would need to describe in
personal terms your first meeting with her (or your time with her
last week); what she is like (how tiny she is; what her voice is
like, her sense of humor, etc.) ; and the fact that although you
disagree on some issues you have found common ground on the need
for adoptions. The piece could start with something you said the
other day -- that the orphanage in Delhi would never pass
inspection in any city in this country. It could then move to a
discussion of Mother Teresa. The last half could be about the
importance of adoptions and what the home here represents.
3) I Miss Driving
One column we submit needs to be disarmingly personal. Not
invasively so, but personal in the sense that it tells people
something they might not have realized about you or what your
life is like. I was thinking of one that starts something like
this: "One of the best things about my summer vacation is that it
gives me a chance to drive. I know it may sound strange to say
that driving is something I miss. But I do. Last summer, on
vacation, I pleaded with my Secret Service agents to let me drive
a [whatever kind of car] around a stretch of Martha's Vineyard."
This could open the way for a larger discussion of all the things
metul
1
that you miss about your pre-White House life. It could talk
about how you once snuck out and walked to the ZOO [or whatever
else is appropriate to mention without violating security
protocol]. And it would fulfill one of the column's promises to
give people a glimpse of experiences that are uniquely your own.
4) The Delany Sisters
The existing draft of this column needs some work before we
send it as a sample. My problem in re-reading it is that it
suffers from not having enough of your personal impressions (As
is, it would be a fine column under my or someone else's byline;
under yours, it demands more). I can borrow some of what you said
in the speech on Tuesday, but another few lines or paragraphs
would help separate it from what other journalists already have
written about the Delany sisters. Again, we don't want your
column to seem ordinary in any way.
5) The Gandhi celebration at the Kennedy Center
You could draw on themes you have talked about in recent
months -- the humility one feels at meeting those who have
sacrificed so much for democracy; the influence of Gandhi on the
lives of great Americans; what civility and non-violence mean in
society today. Interspersed with these thoughts could be images
from the celebration on July 14th (which, coincidentally, is
Bastille Day).
6) The Latvian Hospital Exchange
I don't think you want too many "foreign" topics for the
first few columns, so you might want to decide whether to do this
one or Gandhi. I'm not sure you should do both right off the bat.
7) The volunteers in your office
Talking about Muriel and Miriam and Jeff Cohelan (my former
congressman) et. al. and what they mean to your operation could
be a nice column for the summer, when not much is going on. It
could be touching, humorous, and serious all in one.
8) Life at Camp David
I don't know when you will be going there next, or if it is
appropriate to write about it, but Americans would be fascinated
to know what the place is like and what you do there.
9) Beijing
At some point over the summer (probably toward the end of
August) you should write about your thoughts leading up to
Beijing (whether we go or not). This could be a provocative
2
column about where women stand around the world, the need to
invest in their potential, and so on.
###
Breast Cancer
- Roll Call of people we know- -
how Rese lives are worth Lolding on to
Talk abt rear as interesting people -
Breast Imagin Ctr- - fai to CAA
Now that Cold was oght to put our enener
to find 0 her enemies
3
THE WHITE HOUSE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: LISA CAPUTO
Monday, June 26, 1995
NEEL LATTIMORE
KAREN FINNEY
(202) 456-2960
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON TO WRITE WEEKLY COLUMN
WASHINGTON, DC -- In a speech to the American News Women's Club,
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that she will
begin writing a weekly syndicated column. The First Lady's
column will begin July 23, 1995.
The column will draw on Mrs. Clinton's experiences as First Lady
and on her observations of women, children and families she has
met across the country and around the world.
"This newspaper column presents a unique opportunity to share my
experiences in the White House and as First Lady with the
American people," Mrs. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton's column will be syndicated by Creators Syndicate,
Inc. Creators Syndicate first approached Mrs. Clinton more than
two years ago about writing a column. Founded in 1987, Creators
is one of the largest newspaper syndicates in the world and
distributes to 2400 newspapers worldwide. The company represents
more than 80 newspaper features, including columnists Ann
Landers, former Vice President Dan Quayle, Mark Shields, Molly
Ivins and Robert Novak; editorial cartoonists Herblock, Mike
Luckovich and Doug Marlette; and cartoons such as B.C. and the
Wizard of Id, by Johnny Hart.
"We are deeply honored to represent Hillary Rodham Clinton," said
Richard S. Newcombe, president of Creators Syndicate. "She has
extraordinary courage, intelligence and vision, and her fans
number in the millions. We look forward to syndicating her
newspaper column."
Mrs. Clinton will take no money for writing the column. Creators
Syndicate will pay all necessary expenses associated with the
writing and syndication of the column.
###
Column speech
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MY WEEK #1B -- DRAFT
men and
Before my husband became President and we moved into the
White House, we had no trouble staying in touch with people. In a
small state like Arkansas, I could stand in line at the
supermarket check-out counter and talk to people about what was
I
on their minds. I would meet up with people at my daughter's
school, or at [xxxxxxx].
set a feel for
then
Now it's much harder to stay in touch, even with close
friends. I answer all my mail -- about 1 million [ck] letters a
year. But even that volume of correspondence doesn't address the
questions and concerns of millions of men, women and children who
don't have time to write me.
Recently I began to think about ways I could recreate that
supermarket check-out line while living in the White House. It
may sound ambitious, but I wanted to find a way to make America
my neighborhood -- to have conversations with the people I miss
across an imaginary national back fence.
Anta
As I pondered the possibilities, I began to re-read columns
that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote when she was First Lady. Her column
was called "My Day, and she wrote about [xxxxx] Those daily
columns, written more than 50 years ago, were her way of
conversing with the American people and sharing the insights she
gained as she traveled around the country.
nns has been
You might say that Mrs. Roosevelt inspired this column too.
I'm not as organized as she was, nor nearly as wise, SO there was
no way I could write a column every day. But I realized that
writing a column once a week would give Americans glimpses of the
people I meet, the places I visit and the inspiring, exciting,
challenging, funny, sad, and unusual things I experience as your
First Lady.
That is how this column was born. It will be called "My
Week. "
I accided be ded
MEMORANDUM
TO: HRC
FROM: Lissa Muscatine
RE: ER References for column
DATE: June 8, 1995
Enclosed is a copy of the ER column about her hair, dated
February 5, 1938.
I'm also enclosing a couple of different columns she wrote
about religion. We're still trying to track down the one about
visiting Appalachia.
I'm not sure these are the best examples of the subjects she
covered. You might prefer to mention ones that are your personal
favorites.
1962
Perhaps the most important aspect, however, is to provide each child
with the knowledge of how to use his mind-how and where to go
when he wants to learn new things that he had not had an earlier
opportunity to learn or perhaps when he wants to delve more deeply
into some special subject.
A disciplined mind is essential for every man and woman today. And
a balance must be kept between the science that presses in on us from
SO many different areas and the natural tendency that many of us have
to turn to the humanities and the arts for our real enjoyment and the
expression that is essential to good emotional development.
A disciplined mind is essential to analyse problems, and a basic
knowledge covering many subjects is essential to finding the lines to
follow in searching for solutions.
wisdom
Every citizen is involved in safeguarding the future of our country,
and one of the best safeguards lies in a younger generation able to
1g. as
11
the
understand the world in which they live and to give the leadership at
More
home and abroad that is so vitally needed.
ades
ide an
SAN DIEGO, APRIL 23-A little incident at one of the pienics which I
have held annually for the Wiltwyck boys at Hyde Park will, I think,
emphasize how much a personal contact means for these youngsters
whose background is often such an unhappy one. As I was greeting
the boys on their arrival at Hyde Park, one little white boy stopped in
front of me and said:
"Mrs. Roosevelt, do you remember me?"
'r and
"Yes," I answered, "I remember all of you. I have seen you at school
tries.
and many of you were here last year. Of course, I remember you."
ton.
The little boy, with determined face, looked me straight in the eye
and said: "Mrs. Roosevelt, what's my name?"
I had to explain that there were 100 bovs and that I could not re-
an
member all of their names because I was an old lady and my memory
was not as good as it once was.
in
He then told me his name. But he was so anxious to be identified
by someone that, within five minutes, he stood before me again de-
manding:
"Mrs. Roosevelt, what's my name?"
To have a friend who knows you by name gives you a sense that
you are not alone in the world. This is above all else what every single
one of the Wiltwyck boys needs.
The following column shows Eleanor Roosevelt moving smoothly
through several disparate worlds in the course of one day. Crosscountry
travel, household affairs, lobbying for women's rights, discussion of edu-
305
I'm sorry I cannot be with you and your many friends and
admirers to honor you this evening.
Sara, you never had to land a plane or hop a fence to get a
President's attention. In 2 years of reporting, your moral
outrage and Texas tenacity have rattled more than a few of them
and we all look forward to many more years of your very healthy
harassment.
HRC/SHRUM/MW 5/18/95
Why column?
Volumes of mail
how w idea was born a now
Answer common concerns - dear reader you ro ronne
meet me along Ne was
shrum/
As if someone dropped in and reminded
you what happened This week
Breast cancer /Va. kelley
Tour 8 White House
Auction at fidwell
HRC
/
Explanatory column My wk
Thoght abh ER -
she could do every day
2
Father's Day column
I'm not that organs
Sh/
Comersational. - like telei PONS ~ Chelsea
what happened
HRC/
Why I'm unitis -
- tie in b Colin's graduation
- share ar people ) care abl , keep is touch
with Them
Betay's moher - chest pains - treast cancer
Betsy has been m best friend time 6c grade.
an more has breast cance. And she
is why ) an with rus column.
In Ark ausas I could talk 6 people
) never feea out 6 towd a/pearce. I could stand i line al
Rety:-
Stay at home more up blues
supernk and
house i tubum
tael 6 peoples
or near
onee parts
never has gotten Lable
as Chsch
Day cas mul
husb also went to our h.s.
as 0 ce
to recreate
his mo was wundend by a
a sense 8
neighbor Lood.
dis putled up lage
maybe it's
a bit anbitions-
her mon takes Lue I debilated
but ) was
to male
dad -
in cown
Bety a PTA - fought again + for state
my heighters
N oner/wh
was
to talk ry
across feme.
The back
HRC/Shrum 5/18/95
Father's column
Thes and old Spice
the always seemed slad to have il even
Thoyh he had a whole Low
of
Socks- old soldiers home people answer his more
bis tunny room
thing 8 Socksland - display picturs
people sead I Their own cats
all re unsey people who column teer
COMMENCEMENTS
- make two b
congratulate pasents -
encourage New - some still
have kids at home how
Shrum/
Education opportunity
I'm gonna set repted to pg
mis triter
w/o it - someone whose taken died before
he was brin + morer had 6
so back for work never and
have made it to f'tour
Charater
Not Neel people lack it
It's that society no Loyer rewards it
Loss fsocial control t social limits
Gertude Himmelfarb book
Education t stds-
) don t believe moral re Cathish has
caused a mkdown
we we i a drposal kind f /hrow
away fories.
Education is one way b fair more cortrol
over her our lies
HRC/Shrum
HRC/ Best Commencements I've heard Eueni shade, Ark.
- kid whospoke when Burr Regnolds
1987e
gave speech -abt prifriend who
was phymant -
commencement is re commence L
adulthood - new close 6
responsibitity
- too often just wind as a aight 6
partying
- Now has I've talked abt respons - ,
want to wish
tuition in college / S'tow / Wellesley
Dad faid had faved $ to tead you to
collye but no mony for clores,
soj out; he cld only par for
trip home 1x/wk
What iLwas possible to doke
NDEA
0 had loans; the jobs;
Bill Uniter- 7 jobs - usked Fullst- fr job- only had
2 part time job
-
Precondition 6 Aneice by is
an increase : re 8td f lies
People are afraid lauate comments
Do you need cable N
car for every member 6 tamy
a UCR
- we have had a loL more disposable income
- Hard part is to be out There as a you person
+ to be defined by what you our
HRC/Shrum
niend Beby - cable N- -
Salesmomer asked her 6 speck w/hass
you don 't wanna be only are J
wihood u/o cable do you?
He said: why not?
re Pressure ft is spend re scance dollars
How do you defin stahus now?
- not Through cars, houses, but Nikes 1
-
SHRUM Column # 1
/
Hesh out w/ amuring examples
"Whea Bill first became governor
2
Volunteers help win mail
D try to read as many as ) Ca.
From WH cani to thek with her
3
I've learned has con 6 talk cl playe 4 emp
at people from WH; hander to tall
plan
u/ hi, just plan Simple talk,
Computer was
when you know nal 18 you
went to he Superict you 'd prob
cause chaos + inconverien ce e.o else.
4
D hope ke tird then inters to
And ) hope you u sead me tv.
Thores r inpersions widns he why
I'll keep and ever letter --
and occasionally D.U assume
inem is ne column
Other place to thesh out is w/ fourte
6 mrs R column
you know of 4 weal
MEMORANDUM
TO: Bob Shrum
FROM: Lissa Muscatine
ym
RE: Draft column
DATE: May 22, 1995
Apologies for not getting anything to you before your
travels.
I'm sending you a draft of what could be a short first
column or an italicized precis to a first column. There are few
things in parenthesis that need checking or amplifying. You will
also see that I did not incorporate Betsy (the best friend since
6th grade whose mother has cancer) into this version. As I began
writing, I realized that Betsy and her mother make for a powerful
column that should stand on its own (perhaps as a first column
with this as an introduction).
If you think otherwise, I'll fiddle.
I can be reached at 456-2935 or at home (202-337-3171)
Thanks in advance for your advice.
DELANEY SISTERS HAVING OUR SAY
HRC I'm all fr
bry back
some old-
Bessiel
of Sadie is molasses. Dea I'm vire gar.
fashined
Alot 6 secret Loyen's as attitude
hypocing
on
Oprah
Saelie
No phone since 1957
p.12
Banks keep sending credit card
17
still have a bday pack fr Their father (papa)
died i 1928
Book of Wisdom
as to livin Loy is a disciplined Life
Besare
Reach high! Reach high!
Sadie
2 never fuiled a 1 hedeal - 2 worked wia
Them until 2 succeeded
Benie
70lks today have got the all curry. They is so L
This idea mal self. respect means
44
") am a terrific pass. a am handerfull.
me, me, me. that's not selfregpet. hals
unity
Always look people i the eye.
Recipes: Watermela Rind Pickles
Com Cob wine
69
of
There is noth mre upt in his Than haj a good
mame t papa - loi but stuck
give shrum
/
Austin speech
2
Column abt why she's write a column
3
Commencement outline
Delany
- an issues zinger
- edge is sell reliane
taly respons. to oneself.
supply of faml, t co manuality
Father's Bible
Lincoln
Rowhouse
DELANCY (4)
HRC
Wae 6 he his 0 read b his (PONS): hed
was one r he This abt manriage
-
you are so much more dow to each Tha
I Thought you would be - you as
one f fod is childer
you be careful (80j b S.Aria)
[keep Lincola - Redeick Dog lan
pix on re wall ]
Sign copy 6 Tein book to MRC t Chelsen
talks abl- jene take CC n hip
lone to " a me to MRC)
[Adice for Pres]
just keep doi What you re do,
CHIX 5/3/95
Follow up - mama-grams
Column topics - potential
1) Trip - S. Asia
2) Commencement /Sraduation/ better 6 Generation X ast Their future
3) A Family event or outing / Mo ner's Day a Father's Day
4) Children's Proprammy on TV
5) Women's Health
6) Working Women Count -
7) Violence
8) Call to Service /Volunteus at WHse.
a) Conflict Resolution program in NY
What Works - Conflict, Resolution /
Behind Scenes at W. House
Women's Health
Service
Childen
Seasonal Column
Listening servions
COLUMN MTG / 5-9-95
shrees/MW
People/Places/Events
Chatty column - somethi that actually happened to la
must give people a sease that she is
sharing w/ Them
heast canser. Va kelley
Party Saturday - heroes/hersines
Auscheitz survivors /Tuskegee airmer
ADia - what its like to ride as elephant
Talk Radio>
2 was a talk radio Eastweek. 2n Russia
What nus. yeltria is like-
daughter 6 a faimer who lous fands
v. comitted to hospitals
Pediatic care.
partnership of Amer. hospitals.
Austin
Father's Day -stories (call Daoly )
speech
- sift for father
-
Delaney sisters - record - -
Delary sister "Wnds f Wisdow
"Just be Preside t"
0 Think That's pretty food adice
FROM WORDS OF WISDOM
/
Although The truth can hurt, it's deshonesty That
can do you Greater harm.
2
Telling a lie is a sign of tear
P. 31
3
No one can know it all
4
Pay attention p re little Things
Some people
have eyes but rey dor .t see
5
Discipline doem it mean having no fun
6
Life is not easy for anyone, despite Low it
may look
7
Reach Ligh.
5
A big part of self respect is seef release
9
money is The root 8, every mess you can Rick 8.
Anjone who lives for money is smely missi he
Sent This n life
of it helps just one person, it's worth doing
680
Dr.t be dfraid to fail! Even of you do,
you're bound to learn something along re was
women would set a Loy a lot better today if
They maintained Their self-respect decerey
102
fuschia (sadie)
Blazing red (Bessie)
a Rarmless varity
we enjoy it
water, cod liver oil F failic
TAPE HRC w/ DELANCY SISTERS 3/25/95
Dicture of Parents
DEL.
There is nothi like Laring good parents
met Mrs. R. - she came L Rein home
wanted 6 meet brother mani for Congress
She was i his house
she was such a daily - we enjoyed Lee to much
Mrs. R wan L apaid 6 am Ri - That: ae
6 Xe This I ad mined ab L he
HRC
We keep This book is the WHere
- some 6 he quo tations from re fust book
Recipes-
for a letter from far club said had made
events but re toop. (am kind 7 prease -
Laef solid; half liquid)
- you mix it slowly a you their is v. good
- shain re pease a put it i a cortine
we have neighbas who same re cooking
pease & we share the toog w/ The
shill make Reach presences x cards
Delaney Delights - all dei 20s -
Hander NYC
(did is while teach is school
we were taught to keep busy at all times
I'm always doing sthg
Yoga- you have to do that or you set to
where you can C do
a set every da
if I set a little sil steff ) pin
sch ell one 6 re was & do
my yosa exeruses
DELANEY (2)
She does it in bed - ) look over The -
she's doy ch , , say are a a aight .
It's V. necessary
Never a quiel moreal i his house. Never.
Broadway play abt Their luis was 6
open 4/6
gloria 70ster -one f achesse
They was to excuted when res care
to meet us
) suid te onee day 2 don 't know wh me
Lord is keepi us have
oper lady said he is keepi you have b ,nay
for us
Family Bible - given to taken when frad from
college : 1886
Farer was methodic
Episcopaliz
At nat time ao schools for 61. pple 6 8
6 school to he minsles
so. Appesles made a place
for colored people
also had a school where tague childe
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Column ideas
Categories
American Heroes Alternating Series
HRC personal reflections on Americans who exemplify
the American spirit of community -- ordinary/famous people
Example: teachers in Oklahoma who are counseling
children, helping them with their fears
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what do we tell our children about values and character
Conflict
LM DRAFT 5/17/95
THE DELANY SISTERS
When I was in New York a few weeks ago, I needed some
inspiration. So I dropped in on Sadie and Bessie Delany.
I arrived at their small rowhouse in Mount Vernon and
immediately saw that it was a cozy place. There were photos and
family mementos everywhere. On one wall I saw Abraham Lincoln,
Frederick Douglass, and Eleanor Roosevelt. On another, six
generations of Delany family members. Then I spotted the most
prized photo in the house: a portrait of their father, Henry, in
his clerical collar, and mother Sarah, in a beautiful lace dress.
Maxim No. 1 from Sadie and Bessie: "There is nothing more
important than having a good mama and papa."
Sadie, now 105 years old, and Bessie, 103, are minor
celebrities these days. They have received thousands of letters
over the past few years, thanks to their two best-selling books
and a newly opened Broadway play about their lives. They have
been guests on Good Morning America and Regis and Kathie Lee.
But the publicity hasn't changed their lives that much. They
still start the day with a few yoga exercises (except on
Sundays), followed by a mixture of water, garlic and cod liver
oil. They still make their own soap. And they still don't have a
phone.
Maxim No. 2 from Sadie and Bessie: "A big part of self-
respect is self-reliance."
Ever since I visited them I have thought a lot about why the
Delany sisters touch so many people more than a century after
their birth. And I guess it's because they remind us of what
really constitutes a good life. In an age of rampant materialism,
they are proof that taking responsibility for oneself, caring for
one's family, treating one's neighbors kindly, working hard, and
keeping a sense of humor are still the most reliable sources of
happiness.
Maxim No. 3 from Sadie and Bessie: "Anyone who lives for
money is surely missing the best things in life."
Sadie and Bessie were blessed with parents who encouraged
them to "reach high.' Their father was born in slavery and became
the nation's first black Episcopal bishop. Their mother
instilled in her children an ethic of hard work and a sense of
dignity. It was expected that Sadie, Bessie and their eight
1
siblings would excel in school and attend college. And they did,
but only by working to pay for their tuitions. Sadie became the
first black domestic science teacher in the New York City public
schools. To supplement her income she made candy on the side,
hand-dipped fondant chocolates called Delany's Delights, which
were sold in some of the finest New York department stores.
Bessie became the second black woman ever licensed to practice
dentistry in the state. Her practice became such a local
institution that letters addressed to "Dr. Bessie, New York City"
would arrive at her door.
Maxim No. 4 from Sadie and Bessie: "Discipline doesn't mean
having no fun. "
One of the first things I noticed about Sadie and Bessie
when I met them was their beautiful nails. Sadie's were painted
fuschia. Bessie's were blazing red. Weekly manicures are among
the "harmless vanities" they indulge in, along with an occasional
sip of homemade rose petal wine. If you want to live to be 100,
Sadie says, "Start with this: No smoking, no drinking, no
chewing, and always clean your plate. Well, you can drink a
little bit, but not much."
Maxim No. 5 from Sadie and Bessie: "If it helps just one
person, it's worth doing."
In several decades of practicing dentistry, Bessie never
raised her rates. In several decades of teaching, Sadie never
failed a student ("I just worked with them until they succeeded,"
she says.) After Sadie and Bessie retired, their house in Mount
Vernon became a haven for children who needed a place to do their
homework until their parents returned home from work. Today, the
Delany sisters still make soap and share it with their neighbors.
I wish all Americans could feel that same sense of selflessness
and connection to community that comes so reflexively to these
two wonderful women.
I couldn't spend time with Sadie and Bessie and not ask for
some advice before I left. After all, their combined age is
almost as old as our democracy. And they recently published their
Book of Everyday Wisdom. So before we parted I blurted out my
question: "Do you have any advice for the President?" I asked
"Just tell him to keep doing what he's doing," they said.
Sounds like pretty good advice to me.
###
2
Copyright 1993 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
September 23, 1993, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk
LENGTH: 1548 words
HEADLINE: Secrets of Long Life From 2 Who Ought to Know; In Their Book,
Westchester Sisters Share Lessons From More Than a Century of Living
BYLINE: By MELINDA HENNEBERGER, Special to The New York Times
DATELINE: MOUNT VERNON, N.Y., Sept. 17
BODY:
Two days shy of her 104th birthday, Sarah De lany and her younger sister, Annie
Elizabeth, who is 102, sat in their front parlor doling out secrets to long life like
candy on Halloween night. (Yoga, cod liver oil and a daily dose of garlic, chopped
fine and swallowed whole, are all recommended.)
Sadie and Bessie Delany, daughters of a slave who became the country's first black
bishop of the Episcopal Church, have also lived to tell how they outsmarted the
"rebby boys" of the Jim Crow South and outlasted just about everyone who ever tried
to hold them back.
Bessie Delany became the second black female dentist in New York State, while
Sadie Delany became the first black home economics teacher in a New York City
high school. (In recent years, she received a letter from the Board of Education
threatening to cut off her pension unless she proved she was still alive.) They moved
to Harlem in its heyday, surviving the Depression and socializing with the likes of
Cab Calloway and W.E. B. DuBois.
And now they are relishing the chance to pass on some of what they learned along
the way, in a book written with Amy Hill Hearth, "Having Our Say: The Delany
Sisters' First Hundred Years" (Kodansha). Released here on Sept. 10 and in Japan on
Sept. 15, in time for Revere Your Elders Day, it is already in its third printing.
"A long time ago nothing that black people did was put in books," noted Sadie
Delany, a handsome woman in a rose-colored suit, sitting ramrod straight by a
window in a room lined with old volumes and family photographs.
The sisters had no plans to tell their story to the world until a news paper articlé
about them attracted the interest of a publisher; they still have trouble believing that
so many people are interested in them. These days, there is a waiting list of reporters
and television crews eager for an invitation to the red brick home they bought in
1957, when they were among the first blacks to integrate Mount Vernon.
The two sisters, who have lived together all their lives, still do their own cooking
and look after the place with the help of a housekeeper who comes every other week.
"She's 87," Bessie Delany said approvingly. "She's our speed."
And they still take good care of each other, as they have always done.
"I've never been afraid or alone in my life," Bessie Delany said.
They were so sheltered growing up on the college campus of Saint Augustine's
College in Raleigh, N.C., where their parents taught and raised 10 children, that they
were shocked by the franker passages of the Bible.
"We never went downtown in our lives without an escort until we were grown
women," said Sadie Delany, instinctively reaching behind her sister's chair to pull her
jacket around her when it slipped off one shoulder. But their parents' protectiveness
was all to the good, they said. In those days, the sisters said, white men often kept a
"colored family" on the side, and their father warned them of the dangers of even
speaking to a white man, or any married man.
After the Jim Crow laws went into effect in Raleigh in 1896, when the sisters were
children, they remembered the rude surprise of being asked to step to the back of the
trolley car and refused service at a drugstore where they had always gone for nickel
limeades.
Even then, they said, they managed to find ways around some of the restrictions.
Sadie Delanv's system was playing dumb, refusing to understand directions to sit in
the back of a store, asking "Back where?" until she wore the shopkeepers down. Her
sister's method was more daring.
Talk of the 'Surrender'
"Miss Fresh was always looking for ways to do what I pleased," said BessieDelany,
whose wry smile and bright eves give away an exuberantly subversive nature.
Remembering sneaking a drink from the dipper on the forbidden side of a water
fountain in a public park, "I'd just take a drink of the white water," she said. "It didn't
taste any different."
She has always been more confrontational than her sister, she said, and more bitter
about the plight of her people.
"When the Surrender happened," she said, referring to the end of the Civil War,
"the poor whites gradually took over the barber shops, even the dance calling all
the work that had been done by Negroes." Only women could get jobs then, as
maids.
It is a source of considerable pride to the Delany sisters that neither of them ever
worked for white people. (In their book, Bessie Delany addresses a message to David
Duke: "This is just to set the record straight. I am a Negro woman. I was brought up
in a good family. My Papa was a devoted father. I went to college; I paid my own
way. I am not stupid. I'm not on welfare. And I'm not scrubbing floors. Especially not
yours.")
After going as far as they could at St. Augustine's, they worked for years as
teachers to earn the money for college because their father counseled against
accepting scholarships that would leave them obligated to benefactors. With tuition in
hand, they finally moved to New York and attended Columbia University, where
Bessie Delanv graduated with a D.D.S. in 1923 and Sadie
Delany earned a master's degree in education in 1925.
Bessie Delany became so well known in Harlem that postcards addressed to "Dr.
Bessie, New York City" somehow found their way to her. She charged $2 for a
cleaning and $10 for a gold filling, never turning away those who could not pay and
running something of a social-services office along with her dental practice.
Sadie Delany got the teaching post she wanted after working with a speech coach
to change the southern accent that was often cited as the rationale for keeping black
teachers from teaching white students. Even then, she said, she had to "sneak" into
the school where she was assigned, based on her top marks on a teaching exam: She
decided not to show up for the job interview, sure she would be turned away
because of her race. Instead, she sent a letter to school administrators explaining that
there had been some mix-up, and simply showed up on the first day of school.
Finishing Thoughts
Both sisters chose a career over a family, never thinking that it waspossible to do
both and apparently never regretting the decision.
"I was very attracted to some of my beaux, but they knew I wasn't going to change
and get married because I had decided to go into dentistry," Bessie Delany said. "I
wasn't a play person."
"Bessie was a nice girl," her sister put in.
"And you can't eat everything you see," Bessie Delany concluded, as the sisters
shared a long laugh.
They have probably lived this long, they say, because they have not had husbands
to worry them to death.
Until Sadie Delany broke her hip in June, they had been in the habit of rising at
6:30 A.M. for yoga. They sleep in until 7 now, when they get up for a breakfast of
oatmeal, half a banana, bran and eggs prepared with water and pepper - no salt
and a little grated cheese.
"You must stir it, stir it, stir it creamy like a custard," said Bessie Delany, suddenly
jumping up to get the jar of chopped garlic that they dip into every morning.
"And that will last you all day," said Sadie Delany, finishing her sister's thought.
After morning prayers, when the sisters call the names of all those they either hold
dear or think could use some help, they have a quiet time for reading before their
noon meal, which might include a half-dozen vegetables.
Listening to Talk Radio
The mail arrives at 1 P.M. -- an important daily event, since they refuse toget a
phone and in the afternoon, they pay bills, answer correspondence and take a short
walk. Supper is usually just a milkshake, though sometimes they have jello made
with wine, or some other treat, before going upstairs to watch the MacNeil/Lehrer
Newshour. And long after her sister turns in, Bessie Delany stays up late listening to
talk radio.
The issues that concern them most range from the national deficit to bad parenting.
("It makes me mad these people who have one child and they don't even comb their
hair," Bessie Delany said. "My mama washed all 10 of us every day in a tub and
changed the water for every one.")
They are not keen on doctors, and did not even have a primary physician until
Sadie Delanv's fall.
Most of them "don't know what to do with us," she said, as if speaking about a
group of pitiably slow students. "When something's wrong they say, 'You're still
living, what do you expect?' Still, she adds playfully, "the gentleman who came to
teach me to use the walker had the softest hands."
Bessie Delany is a great admirer of Hillary Clinton and her work on health care
reform, calling her "the power behind the throne" and "the first lady in the White
House I've paid attention to since Eleanor Roosevelt."
When the sisters talk about how the book has changed their lives, they don't talk
about monev (and neither does their agent).
What Bessie Dełany does talk about is how her perspective on race relations has
been changed somewhat since the experience of publishing the book has brought her
in contact with white people who, in a world of enduring social segregation, she
would not otherwise have had the chance to know.
"Just since we started this book, we met them," she said.
GRAPHIC: Photos: Sarah Delany, left, 104 years old, and her sister, Annie Elizabeth,
102; at their home in Mount Vernon, N.Y. (Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times)
(pg. B1); The Delany family at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C., in about 1906.
Sadie, at left rear, and Bessie, in foreground holding a younger sister, joined their
mother and father and eight siblings; Bessie, left, and Sadie in portraits more than a
century old. (pg. B10)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE-MDC: September 23, 1993
09/06/96
14:49
CREATOR SYND.
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