| Secretary to the United States President Myrtle Bergheim (April 4, 1912 – April 5, 1993) holds a check for $70,000, representing the Labor Day pay from the workers of Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. The workers contributed their pay for war relief and sent the check, 1 foot by 2 feet (0.3 by 0.6 meters), made out of wood and metal from an A6M Type 0 fighter shot down in the raid, to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945). They requested that a motor torpedo boat, roughly the cost of their pay, be dedicated in the name of the Navy Yard workers. Bergheim, a native of Howard, South Dakota, came to the White House Press Room from the Veterans’ Administration in 1940. In 1945, when Roosevelt died, she became Secretary to Charles Ross, Press Secretary to President Truman, leaving in 1950. She continued to work for the United States Information Agency until 1971. She became Honorary Fellow of Harry S. Truman Library Institute in 1977. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2242.jpg |
| Image Size | 690.12 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2350 x 2960 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 7, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Washington |
| State or Province | District of Columbia |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-61456 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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