On November 9-10, 1937 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, sans husband Franklin Delano, paid a visit to Bloomington-Normal. She toured the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School (ISSCS), the sprawling state-run orphanage on the north end of Normal; lunched with Carl and Julia Scott Vrooman at their Bloomington residence (now the Vrooman Mansion B&B); and spoke to some 1,200 women at the Scottish Rite Temple (now Bloomington Center for Performing Arts).Mrs. Roosevelt is seen here relaxing at the Illinois Hotel in downtown Bloomington while taking questions from a Pantagraph reporter.
