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Southeastern History

A Visit By The First Lady

March 18, 1937, was a day of firsts for Southeastern Teachers College.

The First Lady of the Nation, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, was a guest of the First Lady of Education, Kate Galt Zaneis, president of STC and the country's first female president of a four-year college.

Mrs. Roosevelt was on campus to deliver a lecture on Senior Day. Her afternoon lecture on "A Day in the White House" was attended by more than 2,000 area high school seniors in the packed gymnasium. The evening started with a dinner in the senior alumnus hall, followed by a lecture that was attended by more than 300 adults.

Roosevelt's appearance was the subject of a news article written by Malvina Stephenson for the Tulsa World. It was the first assignment for Stephenson, a 1932 graduate of Southeastern who later became a member of the executive committee of Mrs. Roosevelt's Press Conference Association when president Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945.

Mrs. Roosevelt spent the night in the Southeastern president's home and there was talk of "hot biscuits and fried chicken" on the menu for her visit.

Several people turned out the following morning in downtown Durant as Roosevelt boarded the MK&T train for an appearance that evening in Houston. A piece of luggage, however, had been left in the president's home and it contained the dress she was to wear that night.

Layne Beaty was STC's publicity director and he volunteered to pick up the luggage and catch up to the train en route to Houston. Despite breaking speed limits and spilling a dishpan of poster paste in the trunk of his car, all ended well as Beaty caught the train at a stop in Denison.

The First Lady of the Nation had her dress and fond memories of Southeastern Teachers College, Durant, and her visit with the First Lady of Education.