Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Rhea Saul Adler (1906-1990) oral history

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CD 2 Track 2: CD 2 Track 2
Transcription: CD 2 Track 2 RF: You were saying that the political experience . . . RA: . . . was really something I thoroughly enjoyed. Because I went to two conventions. Three conventions, really. I had been in the senatorial convention of '54 when Austin Wyman [?] was the Citizens for Eisenhower choice. And it was interesting because I learned so much of political machinations. I had been politically-minded all my life, from the time before I was old enough to vote and women could vote. Because . . . RF: . . .not politically sophisticated. RA: That's right. It was small-town experience. And I knew you made choices. And our family had always been in the thick of local politics. So when I came to Wilmette it was natural for me to still participate in the political side of the thing. So I had been active, not only locally, but at the county level, in Cook County. Joint committees that were active in getting support to the community in economical ways. Many times, we'd have joint committee meetings, and I would be representing the Cook County League of Women Voters. So that county context taught me a great deal, as well as the local context. So, I just was that kind of animal. I used to babysit so people go to the polls and vote. And I remember my mother waiting for my father to come home in 1920 to tell her how to vote. And I thought to myself, "That will never happen to me. I'm going to know myself how I want to vote." I think my husband would say I'm still that way because as a rule, we don't see eye-to-eye on people and things. But he has a great deal to offer from the business side of the thing, too. So it can give me a . . . RF: Insight. RA: . . . an insight and a levelness that I probably didn't always have and don't always have. But anyway, I was in Washington twice during the Eisenhower tenure, and I've read much of what has been written about him since, and I have many of his books, and I still do think he probably will be as good an administrator as we've had in the White House, as time goes on. He's recently regained more stature than he had for a long time because many people thought he was, between his illnesses and his recreational activities, that he did little. But he did it in his brain, as I've been able to figure out, rather than by throwing his weight around. And he thought his plans through as he did in the military. And that, I think, was what impressed me most about him as an individual, was the young men I met who had served under him in the conventions, who were so really dedicated to him. As a civilian they were going to support him after they'd served in battle. That coupled with his thinking to the teachers made me feel that he served us well and . . . RF: Long. RA: But what I gained from all of my volunteer years . . . I said, my education gave me the tools to work with but the knowledge came from experience. And this is really . . . I feel that I've had so much more from the community than I've ever given. RF: Well, you . . .; Fleischer, Regina
, Interviewer; Adler, Rhea Saul, 1906-1990
, Interviewee; Barnett, Amanda
, Transcriber
Media Type: Audio; Text
Item Type: Audiocassettes
Description: Interview of Rhea Adler by Regina Fleischer at 401 3rd Street, Wilmette, IL, in 1985.
Notes: Photograph of the first public library in Wilmette, Illinois
Place of Publication: Wilmette, Illinois
Date of Original: About 1985
Date Of Event: About 1985
Subject(s): Libraries
Oral histories
Wilmette Public Library
Personal Name(s): Adler, Rhea Saul
Language of Item: English
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