Professor Hamilton's Diary: Dec. 3, 1935

He works in the faculty room; FDR returns from a night spent with the Cason Calloways

It was a ho-hum day for Professor Hamilton of teaching classes, working in the faculty room at Albright College and looking after the children in the evening while Margaret went to her Chorale Society rehearsal.

During his last full day at his Warm Springs retreat, President Roosevelt returned from an overnight stay with his friend and supporter, textile mill owner Cason Calloway. Paid subscribers can read on about the remarkable Cason and Virginia Calloway, who created a lovely public garden in what had been worn-out cotton fields.

We’ve reached the last month of Professor Hamilton’s Diary. I hope you will all plan to continue with Bootleggers, and please consider giving a gift subscription for someone for Christmas. In 2025 I will be sharing three partial diaries, beginning with a Washington, D.C. socialite in early 1942 as the United States enters the war, followed by the police chief of Newnan, Georgia in 1930 while Prohibition was still in force, and finally with an Alabama cotton farmer’s wife in 1931, as the Depression began choking the life out of the country’s economy. These will allow me to delve into two presidencies — Roosevelt and Hoover. Click below to give a gift subscription.

The picture of Cason and Virginia Calloway is from the archives of Calloway Gardens, accessed via the New Georgia Encyclopedia.