Roosevelt, (Anna) Eleanor

(1884-1962)

   Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City into America’s social elite. Her uncle was President Theodore Roosevelt, and Eleanor benefited from the best education available, despite the death of her parents at an early age. When she returned from her schooling in London, England, Eleanor joined the National Consumers’ League and worked with immigrant children. In 1905, she married Franklin D. Roosevelt, a sixth cousin once removed. The couple had six children between 1906 and 1916, one of whom died as an infant. She was for a long time dominated by her husband’s mother, but during World War I, Eleanor began to develop an independent public role when she worked for the Red Cross and Navy League. She came to an accommodation with FDR after discovering his affair with her own social secretary, Lucy Mercer, and became more involved in activities with women’s suffrage groups and trade unions, particularly the League of Women Voters, Women’s Trade Union League, and Women’s Division of the Democratic National Committee. Her independence further developed in 1921 following FDR’s affliction with poliomyelitis, a crippling viral infection that left him permanently disabled. Eleanor helped him overcome the disability and continue his political career. Eleanor herself later developed a relationship with reporter Lorena Hickok that was clearly extremely close, possibly even physical. By 1928, Eleanor headed the Women’s Division of the Democratic Party, and when FDR became governor of New York, she often performed inspections of state facilities on his behalf. Once FDR became president, Eleanor acquired the role of an active first lady, transforming the position as much as her husband did the presidency. She was often attacked for her actions on behalf of women and African Americans and for the views she expressed in speeches, radio broadcasts, and her daily newspaper column, “My Day,” that began in 1935. In 1939, Eleanor publicly announced her resignation from the Daughters of the American Revolution after the organization refused to allow black opera singer Marian Anderson to perform in Constitution Hall. Roosevelt helped arrange an alternative performance at the Lincoln Memorial. She continued to campaign on behalf of African Americans during World War II. During the war, Eleanor served briefly as assistant director of the Office of Civilian Defense, but her service ended following congressional criticism. She worked energetically throughout the war on morale-raising activities, visiting many parts of the United States, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Great Britain. Following FDR’s death in 1945, Eleanor was appointed U.S. representative to the United Nations (UN), a position she held until 1953. She chaired the Human Rights Commission from 1946 to 1951 and was instrumental in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Eleanor twice visited the Soviet Union in the 1950s. She also campaigned on behalf of birth control and continued to have some influence on the Democratic Party. John F. Kennedy appointed her as representative to the UN once more in 1961 and as chair of the National Commission on the Status of Women.

   See also Hickok, Lorena Alice (“Hick”).