<--PREV Doc #1747  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1749 Document #1748; December 29, 1960 To William Alton Jones Series: EM, WHCF, President’s Personal File 1949 The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XXI - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part X: Ending an Era; August 1960 to January 1961 Chapter 25: Farewells and Warnings   Dear Pete: The teacher at the Indian school in South Dakota--whose story you already know--came in today with two pupils (together with some of the Indian boys who were in the East visiting the home of a chaplain at the school). The two girls, as you know, made this visit to the Eastern seaboard by reason of your generosity. I have had them photographed and if the picture turns out well, I shall send you a copy to remind you of the great appeal we found in the teacher’s request for help on behalf of her students.1 I am counting on seeing you the weekend of the seventh. If Mamie’s "house settling instincts" force me to go to Gettysburg as one of her assistants during that weekend, I think we could still work out a little bridge and, if the weather will only moderate, do a little skeet shooting.2 Incidentally, I stopped for a few minutes at the farm the other day and in one of the pastures I counted eleven pheasant walking around in the snow--also a covey of quail.3 With warm regard, As ever 1 The President and Jones had been in Augusta, Georgia, when they learned of Virginia L. Horger’s October 15 letter to Eisenhower requesting help in obtaining travel assistance for two of her students. Horger, who taught twelve-year-old girls at St. Elizabeth’s School for Indian Boys and Girls in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in Wakpala, South Dakota, had wanted to take the girls to her parents’ home in Virginia for the Christmas holiday. The Under Secretary of the Interior, feeling that Horger’s letter had "sufficient appeal" and was "so obviously sincere" that Eisenhower might want to sign a reply personally, had forwarded it to the White House (see Bennett to Goodpaster, and draft reply, Nov. 8, 1960). "A week in a warm home where love and the Christmas spirit dominate might do more good than years of merely talking about what and why they should learn," the teacher wrote. "I weep when I think of sending them to their huts where it is impossible to understand and appreciate Christmas as it should be." On November 17 Presidential Secretary Ann Whitman had written Horger that the President’s friends had offered to help. The following day Eisenhower had signed, but did not send, a staff-drafted letter that explained that although he had been impressed by her work, no governmental agency could appropriately help her. Although Jones had offered to provide the girls’ round trip airfare, Horger had decided to drive East in an effort to reduce costs. Jones then provided return transportation to South Dakota. The President contributed $50 to the project (see Whitman to Horger, Nov. 17, 28, 1960, and Whitman to Akins, Nov. 18, 20, 1960; Horger to Whitman, Nov. 21, 1960; and Whitman to Jones, Nov. 28, 1960). On December 29 Eisenhower would meet with Horger and the members of her party in the White House. The teacher would thank the President on January 3. All papers are in the same file as the document. 2 The Eisenhowers would spend January 4 in Gettysburg preparing for the move to their farm following President-elect Kennedy’s inauguration (see no. 1633). On January 7 the President would fly to Fort Gordon, Georgia, to bid farewell to the Army and receive his last review as President. He would spend the remainder of the weekend playing golf in Augusta. Jones would not accompany him (see New York Times, Jan. 5, 8, 1961, and Slater, The Ike I Knew, pp. 239 - 41). 3 See Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1885. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To William Alton Jones, 29 December 1960. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1748. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/1748.cfm <--PREV Doc #1747  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1749

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