May 3

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Niccolo Machiavelli born, 1469
American Revolution
Dartmouth tells Martin to organize North Carolina Loyalists, 1775
Automotive
MADD founder's daughter killed by drunk driver, 1980
Civil War
Confederates take Hazel Grove at Chancellorsville, 1863
Cold War
Congressional hearings on General MacArthur, 1951
Crime
Exxon executive is murdered, 1992
British girl goes missing in Portugal, 2007
Disaster
Trains collide near Tokyo, 1962
General Interest
Japanese war crimes trial begins, 1946
New Japanese constitution goes into effect, 1947
Fletcher lands on the North Pole, 1952
Hollywood
U.S. Supreme Court decides Paramount antitrust case, 1948
Literary
Lord Byron swims the Hellespont, 1810
Music
James Brown is born, 1933
Old West
Cowboy author Andy Adams is born, 1859
Presidential
FDR addresses thousands of Democratic women, 1940
JFK receives honorary degree, 1961
Sports
Shoemaker becomes oldest man to win Kentucky Derby, 1986
Vietnam War
173rd Airborne Brigade deploys to South Vietnam, 1965
Paris is chosen as site for peace talks, 1968
World War I
Austro-German forces drive Russians out of the Carpathians, 1915
World War II
The Battle of the Coral Sea begins, 1942

Presidential

May 3, 1940:

FDR addresses thousands of Democratic women

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On this day in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomes approximately 4,000 women attending a women's division meeting of the Democratic National Committee to Washington D.C. He and his wife Eleanor's plans to host the event at the White House, however, had to be modified at the last minute, as they had originally expected only 100 guests.

The leadership of this women's political advocacy group, which included Eleanor, took advantage of FDR's generous offer to host the meeting at the White House. FDR's openness to the idea, originally Eleanor's, reflected his support for women's political advocacy. In fact, FDR frequently consulted Eleanor on policy matters. FDR initially had agreed to meet the Democratic women's division in the Executive Office in order to shake hands and have "a little informal chat." Three weeks before the conference, Eleanor learned that some 600 members planned to attend the conference and suggested they move the reception to the larger White House East Room.

When thousands of women showed up in Washington, D.C. for the DNC conference a few days before the scheduled meeting of the women's division at the White House, it completely surprised the Roosevelts and their White House staff. Deciding that the gathering would be too large to host at the White House, FDR instead invited the women to meet with him after attending conference activities elsewhere. Documents recounting that day do not reveal exactly how many women showed up at the White House on May 3, nor where on the grounds FDR addressed them. They do reveal, however, that after welcoming the women, he invited them for an informal tour of the mansion with a warm "Come on in!"

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This Week in History, May 3 - May 9

May 03, 1940
FDR addresses thousands of Democratic women
May 03, 1961
JFK receives honorary degree
May 04, 1865
Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois
May 04, 1977
David Frost interviews Richard Nixon
May 05, 1985
Reagan visits concentration camp and war cemetery
May 06, 1933
FDR creates the WPA
May 07, 1789
George Washington attends inaugural ball
May 08, 1884
Harry S. Truman is born
May 09, 1914
Woodrow Wilson proclaims the first Mother's Day holiday

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