The Extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt

American Civilization Mid-term Paper— Eleanor RooseveltAnsbergs 1

The Extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt

Deborah (Dee) Ansbergs

July, 20, 2014.


Introduction

One of the most interesting and effective President’s Wife, Eleanor Roosevelt broke with many of the cultural and historical norms of her age. Women’s roles and influences on the developmentof American Civilization are only now being recognized and written about. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt1 lived a long andeventful life as the spouse of Congressman, Governor, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and President Francis Delano Roosevelt. This paper will explore her contributions to the country, and highlight her activism and accomplishments throughout her life.

Background

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt was born October 11, 1884 in NewYork City to a family of wealth and privilege. Her uncle was President Theodore Roosevelt. Her mother died in 1892 of either diphtheria or scarlet fever. Her father died of alcoholism 1894. Her childhood was one of sorrow and loss and she was orphaned by age eight. Then she was sent, along with her two younger brothers, to live with her very strict maternal grandmother, MaryLudlow Hall. 2

Education

Her education began with private tutoring with Frederic Rose, a well-known educator of New York’s wealthy families.

In 1899 E.R. enrolled at Alanwood Girls’ Academy, Wimbleton Common, near London. There she studied under Headmistress Mademoiselle Marie Souvestre who became an influential mentor. The Headmistress often took E.R. traveling to Italy and France during school vacations where she first became aware of the plight of the poor working classes living in cities. Souvestre

1 Eleanor Roosevelt will be referred to as E.R. or the First Lady (during her White House Tenure). It seems disrespectful for me to use only her first name.This is a cultural issue that is deeply engrained within me as a member of First Nations/People’s woman when speaking of someone older and much revered. 2 “Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies biographies”. Retrieved July 6, 2014


questioned the status quo of the time and was known for defendingthe rights of the working class.

Early Adulthood Prior to Marriage

E.R. returned to New York at her grandmother’s insistence to make her debut in society. She started her social reform work influenced by her uncle President Theodore Roosevelt. Learning the power of social reform through politics she quickly became active with other young women of similar mind, many of whom she had met via her social network of New York’s socially elite youngwomen. She served as Secretary and Teacher for the Promotion of Settlement Movements, Riverton Street College Settlement in New York City from 1902-1903. Her young society friends formed a formal organization they called the Junior League.

Following another volunteer, Helen Cutting, she became a volunteer investigator for the National Consumer League. Part of her work was visiting tenements where primarily immigrant workersproduced goods for resale at wages that were below subsistence level. Gathering information on the unsanitary and unsafe workingconditions of the workers E.R. wrote open letters to newspapers, and press releases to enlighten the community while promoting theConsumer League’s White Label campaign which was an endorsement that the companies involved in industries particularly the hat workers, followed safety conditions and didn’t employ workers younger than sixteen years of age. While they were courting Eleanor would introduce Franklin to the problems of the poor and often immigrant populations in New York City.

Early Marriage Years

A chance meeting and conversation on the train trip up the HudsonRiver to New York City led to her relationship and later her marriage to her fifth cousin, Francis Delano Roosevelt.3 They were married March 17, 1905. President Roosevelt gave the bride away, taking most of the attention away from the bride and groom

3 Note: From this point on the initials FDR will be used.


on their wedding day. After he graduated from Harvard, Roosevelt worked as an attorney on Wall Street. He was elected and served two terms as a U.S. Senator. FDR’s mother, Sally, held the purse strings for the family and the family would depend on her benevolence to maintain its lifestyle throughout FDR’s life. The relationship between Sally and E.R. would remain highly contentious throughout their lives. 4 5 6

During the first ten years of her marriage she gave birth to six children, one of whom died in infancy. In 1910 the family moved to Albany, New York. There E.R. begin attending sessions of the legislature and further developing her political acumen.7

In 1911 FDR met Louis McHenry Howe, a reporter covering the political scene during FDR’s first term as a Senator. Howe becameessential as a friend, confidant, and political advisor throughout his life. After FDR was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy Howe went along and served as his chief of staff. Howe encouraged FDR to take a personal interest in, and frequent visits to, the Naval Yard, inspecting the ships and speaking to the men, making him a popular man among the Navy. FDR made many political and social connections from writing letters of support to get sons of good and affluent families appointed to West PointNaval Academy. Howe later became FDR’s campaign manager and tutored E.R. in the nuances of politics which helped her to better support her husband’s political ambitions and be successful in her own political interests. Howe would guide and

4 Note: References to the following Book lack page numbers as it was read on my Kindle which doesn’t provide them. Due to time constrains I purchased the electronic version rather than waiting to receive a written copy.5 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage”. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011)6 Caroli, Betty Boyd. “Eleanor Roosevelt” in Encyclopedia Britannica (April 28, 2014) Retrieved July 10, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509257/-Roosevelt 7 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.” (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011)

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509257/Eleanor-Roosevelt


assist both FDR and E.R. for the remainder of his life, even living at the White House during the Presidency.8 9

The family moved to Washington in 1913. Two of her sons were bornduring this time. During these years E.R. was invited by Mrs. Wilson, then the First Lady, to tour the housing areas where African Americans lived in Washington. Her volunteerism also tookher into the Navy Relief Society and the American Red Cross organizations.

The U.S. entered World War one in 1917. During FDR’s tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, E.R. volunteered with the Washington D.C. Red Cross and the Navy League, working for betterservices for veterans. When FDR went abroad on a tour of naval stations and battle grounds in Europe, E.R. traveled with him andattended the Paris Peace Conference. 10

The Roosevelt Scandal: FDR’s 1918 Affair with Lucy Mercer

During one of FDR’s trips abroad as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War 1, FDR contracted the flu. While unpacking his luggage upon his return home E.R. discovers a cache of love letters between FDR and E.R.’s aid, Lucy Mercer. Devastated and betrayed she offered him a divorce. FDR’s mother threatened to cut him off from any monetary assistance on which he depended to keep up his lifestyle on a politician’s salary. FDR was aware that if he divorced E.R. his political career would be over. He promised to end the relationship. It remains unclear whether or not he kept his promise.11 12This event becomes a turning point in

8 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.” (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011)9 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pg. 368.10 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.” (Farrar,Strause and Girous, 2011)11 Lucy Mercer Rutherford was present when FDR died at Warm Springs, Georgia in 1945. 12 “Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies.” Retrieved July6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33


their marriage, which eventually evolved into a warm and affectionate political partnership which allowed both of them to live their own lives while supporting each other’s life goals andobjectives. 13 14

1916 FDR Elected to New York As Congressman

During these years E.R. sharpened her political acumen and prepared herself for her husband’s run for New York State Governor. She also raised public awareness and the role of women in public affairs throughout the country. E.R. was appointed Finance Chair of the New York State Democratic Party and became the editor of Women’s Democratic News. Helping with campaigning for democratic politicians, she drove voters to voting polls, stuffed envelopes and whatever else she was asked to. This experience led to her being asked by Party Leaders asking her to develop, and later present a women’s platform for the 1924 National Democratic Convention. E.R. kept her husband informed through a voluminous written correspondence.15 She also joined the League of Women Voters, making speeches and traveling around the state networking with Democratic women. This would later helpher husband gain the women’s vote. 16

In 1920 E.R. learned to take shorthand, to type and sharpened herobservational and investigational skills to gather information tokeep her husband well informed on all levels. Under Howe’s tutelage she learned to become a well-received public speaker, making speeches on various causes all over the state which helpedher husband’s political career. During her speeches and tours, she helped establish a strong network of female leaders who would

13 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.” (Farrar,Strause and Girous, 2011)14 Caroli, Betty Boyd. ”Eleanor. Roosevelt” in Encyclopedia Britannica (April 28, 2014) Britannica.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509257/-Roosevelt15 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pp. 365-372.16 IBID. 368.


be key to her husband’s political career after women gained the Vote in 1920. 17

After an unsuccessful run for Vice President in July 1921, Franklin contracted Polio Myelitis. During the first months of his illness E.R. was his primary caregiver until it became clear he would survive. He was left paralyzed from the waist down. He became ill while at Campobello, the Roosevelt Summer home. FDR was secretly moved back to Hyde Park on a train that had been charted just for his transportation. Everything was very carefully staged to conceal the degree to which FDR was disabled.Keeping the extent of his disability secret became a way of life and continued throughout the remainder of his life. Louis Howe handled most of the arrangements and all of the public relations.To the public he had only been mildly affected and was expected to make a complete recovery. The full extent of his disabilities were never made public during his lifetime. The next 7 years werespent seeking new treatments and programs to help him relearn to walk. He did recover enough to walk short distances wearing heavyiron leg braces and a special corset. FDR’s mother demanded he give up his political aspirations, but E.R. encourages him to keep going forward. 18

Since FDR’s illness kept him limited in public appearances, E.R. worked for the Democratic Party eventually becoming the Women’s Division Director for New York State’s Democratic Party. She focused on women’s issues such as wage parity and safe working conditions. At one point she went head to head with Democratic Party boss Charles Murphy. 19

E.R. increased her travelling, speech making and writing during Franklin’s recovery to keep his name in front of public for future political goals. , along with Howe, invited influential

17 IBID. pg. 36718 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage”. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011)19 Riechers, Maggie. “Eleanor Roosevelt-No Ordinary Woman” in Humanities-The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities (January-February 2000)


people, key political figures and public people to stimulate his interest and increase his political network which he could tap into in the future. 20

While her husband was rehabilitating, the couple build a rehabilitation center at Warm Springs, Georgia where Roosevelt spent many months each year.

It was during this time that developed her belief that “all politics is human and individual” focusing “on the relationship between the government and the individual, every citizen must be made aware that the government was directly concerned…individual was responsible for the government through elective citizenships.” 21 This belief would be strongly incorporated in the New Deal during FDR’s Presidency.

1929-1933-First Lady of State of New York

When FDR running for Governor of New York State he became ill with typhoid fever so Howe, along with E.R., did the majority of the campaigning. FDR was elected Governor of New York in 1929. Howe kept statements made by FDR in the media of the time while strategically orchestrated photographs which minimized the public’s impression polio had upon FDR. Full knowledge of the extent of his paralysis from the waist down was not public information. The press and others kept his secret throughout his life. 22

While Governor, FDR appointed Francis Perkins as the Industrial Commissioner of the State of New York, in 1929. Their friendship would continue throughout his life. 23

20 Burke, Fran. Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pp. 365-372.

21 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pg. 368.22 IBID. pg. 368.23 DuBois, Ellen Carol; Dumenil, Lynn. “Through Women’s Eyes—An American History with Documents”—second edition. IBID. pg.


During her tenure as First Lady of the State of New York she opened the Governor’s Mansion to representatives of many women’s groups where they were able to speak one-on-one with Governor Roosevelt. E.R. travelled about the state to small towns, villages, farms and communities throughout New York State making speeches and visits to organizations and families so she could increase her understanding the needs of the citizens. This information was then passed on to her husband. In her personal correspondence with from women in need, she sought the assistanceof FDR’s assistant Grace Tully to help answer the letters. E.R. used her own connections with business, politicians, and other sources to provide answers to the women’s requests for assistance. 24

During her FDR’s service as Governor of New York State, E.R. continued to teach at a school which she had invested in, spending half the week at Todhunter girls’ School in Manhattan, leaving the duties of running the Governor’s home to Missy LeHand25 in her absence.26

The network of women’s contacts she began to develop in her yearsprior to marriage continued to grow during her years since her marriage. Her women’s contacts were drawn from many sectors, containing women who were socially and politically conscious and had a wide variety of knowledge and skills. E.R. became one of the “foremost champions of women” of her time. “She would draw on[this network] for the rest of her life.” 27 28

24 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pg. 368.25 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage”. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011) 26 IBID 27 Seeberm Frances M. “Eleanor Roosevelt and Women in the New Deal: A Network of Friends” in Presidential Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, Modern First Ladies White House Organization (Fall, 1990), pp. 707-717. Pg. 708.

28 Included in this group were Mary W. Dewson, Francis Perkins, Ellen SullivanWoodward and Rose Schneiderman.


With America in the depths of the depression, people wanted relief from the poverty and unemployment which FDR promised to provide under the New Deal, leading FDR to a landslide victory inthe Presidential election.29

March 1933- April 12, 1945 First Lady

FDR was first elected as President in 193330 and would go on to be elected a total of four times, more than any other President in American History. During his first Inaugural speech he utteredthe now famous words: “All we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” 31 FDR made a practice of holding “Fireside Chats” over the radio airwaves to keep America informed and to build rapport with his constituencies. This made him a part of American Family life in a way no other President had been. People loved him and felt he was part of their families.32 This concept was increased and fostered by the role that E.R. would build on in her writings, radio interviews, press conferences and columns throughout her tenure as First Lady.

Two days after FDR took office, the First Lady set up her own news conferences, which only allowed women reporters, ensuring that major newspapers had to employ women. Over her time as FirstLady she would give 348 press conferences, with an average of 35 women at each.33 Her news conferences covered fashion and style but more often branched out to talk about serious issues facing Americans such as foreign affairs, commerce, defense, economics and health issues. The First Lady’s comments were reviewed and

29Henretta, James A; Edwards, Rebecca; Self, Robert O. “America’s History-Seventh Edition-Volume 2-Since 1865.” Bedford/St. Martins (2001) Pg. 723.30 S. IBID. Pg. 713.31 Charles River Editors. “FDR & Eleanor: The Lives and Legacies of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.” (July 2012). Chapter Heading: Inauguration.32 Henretta, James A; Edwards, Rebecca; Self, Robert O. “America’s History-Seventh Edition-Volume 2-Since 1865.” Bedford/St. Martins (2001). Pg. 724.33 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pg.708.


edited by her secretary before being published. By 1942 the members had organized themselves into “Mrs. Roosevelt’s Press Conference Association.” 34 35 The First Lady often wrote as many as one hundred letters a day to answer her correspondence. In theletters received to her column women asked for help and E.R. brought their concerns to her husband often resulting in their needs being met via many of the New Deal programs and presidential connections. 36

For the first time White House was opened to regular tours with the First Lady saying that the house “was paid for by the taxpayers and should as far as possible in its public aspects be open to them.”37 She wrote a multitude of articles on life in theWhite House on a wide ranging variety of topics in her early daysas First Lady. In 1934 more than 2,500 guests “broke bread” and some 974,376 guests went on tours. 38

In November of 1933, the First Lady published her first book “It’s Up To The Women” which encouraged women with “fervent appeals” to work together in a movement for social justice, to join and support trade Unions, to organize consumer groups, and get involved with politics. In it she wrote about the abolition of poverty, women and minority rights, youth issues, along with menus, child care and homemaking, and other women’s issues. It was her message to her readers that with more women serving in

34 “First ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady”. First Ladies biographies. Retrieved July 6, 2014 35 DuBois, Ellen Carol; Dumenil, Lynn. “Through Women’s Eyes—An American History with Documents”—second edition. D IBID. pg. 540.

36 Seeberm Frances M. “Eleanor Roosevelt and Women in the New Deal: A Networkof Friends” in Presidential Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, Modern First Ladies White House Organization (Fall, 1990), pg. 708.

37 Winfield, Betty Houchin. “Anna Eleanor Roosevelt’s White House Legacy: The Public First Lady” in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2, To Form a More Perfect Union (Spring 1988), pg. 337.

38 IBID. pg. 337.Publishing her first


positions of power in her husband’s administration, there was great opportunity for women everywhere to improve their circumstances and that of their families. 39

The same summer in 1933 signed a contract with the Women’s Home Companion to write a column called “I Want You to Write to Me” asan open invitation which American women answered by the thousands. It also provided a forum for both E.R. and FDR to gauge public opinion while educating more of the public about important issues. By the time the column ended more than 300,000 people had written to her. She also gave radio broadcasts. 40

The New Deal legislation passed through Congress less than a month into FDR’s first term.41 It created many new programs geared to get the country back to work. E.R. exerted her influence to include separate programs for African Americans and single mothers within the programs begun under the New Deal legislation.

E.R. was the first First Lady to have an official government positions when appointed as Assistant Director for the Office of Civilian Defense in 1941. She later resigned in 1942 after much public criticism.42

The New Deal For Women

The New Deal programs initiated by FDR to life the country from the Great Depression also reflected the racial segregation and discrimination of the times. The First Lady, along with her inner

39 Seeberm Frances M. “Eleanor Roosevelt and Women in the New Deal: A Network of Friends” in Presidential Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, Modern First Ladies White House Organization (Fall, 1990), pg. 708.40 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pp. 368.41 Henretta, James A; Edwards, Rebecca; Self, Robert O. “America’s History-Seventh Edition-Volume 2-Since 1865.” Bedford/St. Martins (2001). Pg. 723.42 Winfield, Betty Houchin. “Anna Eleanor Roosevelt’s White House Legacy: ThePublic First Lady” in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2, To Form a More Perfect Union (Spring 1988), pp. 331-345.


circle, brought attention to the difficulties faced by women and children who lacked a male head of house who would be eligible for New Deal programs. The resultant attention brought changes tothe programs and expansions that provided help to women and African Americans but did not fully remedy the problem. In particular, the Civilian Conservation Corps was expanded to create camps for African men and others for African American women.43

Ellen Sullivan Woodward, headed the Women’s and Professional Projects Division of related emergency programs under the New Deal. Woodward worked hard to get women included with some success. Woodward later served on the Social Security Board from 1938-1946. Both Francis Perkins and Woodward were former Hull House residents and long term members of ER’s network of women activists for social change. 44

First American Woman Cabinet Member

Francis Perkins-State Industrial Relations Commission and later New York’s Secretary of Labor, was also instrumental in the development of what would become the Social Security Act and 1935and the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. 45 Perkins was known toboth FDR and E.R. , was a former Hull House volunteer as well as Executive Secretary for the New York Consumers League.

Eyes and Ears

Throughout FDR’s four terms, the First Lady often referred to herself as “the eyes and ears of the New Deal.” She traveled allacross the country to promote and explain the New Deal programs. She also encouraged FDR to include African Americans in all the programs. He wasn’t always able to do so as he feared the reactions of Southern Democrats and their voting power. 46

43 DuBois, Ellen Carol; Dumenil, Lynn. “Through Women’s Eyes—An American History with Documents”—second edition. IBID. pg. 542.44 IBID. pp. 563-564.45 IBID. pg. 563.46 IBID. pg. 539.


The First Lady sponsored the first White House Conferences focusing on needs of the times. In 1933 it was the “Emergency Needs on Unemployed Women”; the next was “Camps for Unemployed Women”; followed by “Participation of the Negro Women in Federal Welfare Programs” and then “Children in Federal Welfare Programs”and lastly in 1944 on How “Women May Share in Post-War Policy Making.”47

Her second summer as First Lady saw the President and Howe send her off to meet the second Bonus Army of veterans headed to Washington. Unlike the year before when the men had met with armed soldiers, the First Lady met them with food and supplies and personal greetings from the President much to their surprise.48 In response to their need FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps which offered jobs to the unemployed, including veterans.49

Civil Rights

Moral duty “to initiate and enforce changes that furthered or ensured racial equality” as a moral duty of the U.S.” 50

E.R.’s civil rights and racial activism were woven into much of her public and private life, continuing while she was First Lady and to the end of her life. To highlight the inequities faced by African American women in the South, at the southern Conference for Human Welfare put her chair in the isle between black and white sections.51 Later she resigned from Daughters of American Revolution because it refused to rent space at Constitution Hall to African American contralto Marian Anderson in 1939. E.R. wrote47 “Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies.” Retrieved July6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33 48 Charles River Editors. “FDR & Eleanor: The Lives and Legacies of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.” (July 2012). Chapter: 3. A New Kind of First Lady.49 C IBID. Note: This is a Kindle book which didn’t give page numbers. 50 “Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies.” Retrieved July 6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3351 Caroli, Betty Boyd. “Eleanor Roosevelt” in Encyclopedia Britannica (April 28, 2014) Retrieved July 10, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509257/-Roosevelt





about this in her newspaper column and made it a topic on her weekly radio program. Assisted by her network, the concert was held in an open auditorium which she attended. 52 Marian Andersonwas invited to sing for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at theWhite House, breaking another racial barrier.

E.R.’s challenging of the racial norms of her time brought her criticism, threats and assassination attempts. During her term asFirst Lady she would survive 10 assassination attempts, nine morethan the President. She always went armed with a gun and had a gun permit issued for every state she visited. Historian Allida Black: "And here they are. They're going to go through the Klan. They're going to stand down the Klan. They get in their car, theyput a loaded pistol on the front seat between them, and they drive up at night through the mountains to this tiny labor schoolto conduct a workshop on how to break the law. And she drove through the Klan to do it." 53

E.R. “faced repeated assassination attempts, not just verbal threats, but people tried to shoot her, and use dynamite to blow up her car because of her stance on racial justice issues during the war. E.R. began to say that `Race is the litmus test for democracy.’ “-Historian Allida Black 54 55

E.R. also worked very closely with African American Walter White,director of the NAACP who campaigned strongly and unsuccessfully

52 Caroli, Betty Boyd. “Eleanor Roosevelt” in Encyclopedia Britannica (April 28, 2014) Retrieved July 10, 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509257/-Roosevelt 53Riechers, Maggie. “Eleanor Roosevelt-No Ordinary Woman” in Humanities-The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities Volume 21, Number 1. (January-February 2000)54 Black, Allida. “Life, Politics, and the Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt” on Puerto Rican Herald National Public Radio. National Public Radio. (June 11, 2003)

55 I was able to find two references to the multiple attempts on Eleanor’s life but nothing more on times, dates or places.



for anti-lynching laws. These activities brought criticism to theFirst Lady, FDR and The New Deal from its political opponents.

The First Lady was responsible for Mary McLeod Bethune’s appointment to Director National Advisory Committee of the National Youth Organization in 1935. Bethune was a prominent African American educator who worked for justice for all people and women’s suffrage. She served as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and establishedthe National Council of Negro Women in 1935. Bethune was appointed Director of the Division of Minority Affairs which later became the Division of Negro Affairs. Along with the First Lady she was involved in expanding the National Youth Administration to include African American Youth.

E.R. was a Magazine Columnist for the —Woman’s Home Companion—“I want you to write to me” 1933-1934. December 1935- syndicated newspaper column- “My Day” which began in 1933 and ended in July 1962. The column ran six days a week and gave her a platform to air her views to the millions of American readers on current and historical events, private and public life, political concerns ofthe day, and the activities which were in her mind and in which she was involved throughout her life. 56

World War 11

The First Lady made three trips overseas during WW11. She was thefirst to do so alone, and during war time. Invited by the Queen England, the first trip was in 1942. She visited battlefields, hospitals, military installations and broadcast a radio with a message to foreign nations, also a first. As a representative of the Red Cross she visited Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Guadalcanal. When in hospitals she visited every service man there, (in excess of 400,000) stopping to give each one a handshake and a message from the President thanking him forhis service. She often carried correspondence home from the war

56 Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011.


front and hospitals ensuring it was received by the soldier’s loved ones. In 1944 she made visits to the military hospital and bases in the Caribbean Basin. While travelling the First Lady ateall her meals in the mess halls, sharing whatever food the soldiers were eating, asking for no special treatment or privileges.57

As she traveled she investigated and made notes of the difficulties, challenges and appraised the services provided the GI’s which she reported to FDR and often worked to increase services to the soldiers. The First Lady was known to bring WhiteHouse spoons with White House engraved upon them to hand out at teas held for soldiers’. 58 59

E.R. lobbied very strongly for the integration of America’s military. 60 The first lady pushed FDR to de-segregate the military which caused quite a scandal and much public criticism at the time. FD compromised by signing by signing Public Law 18 in 1939, expanding the Army Air Corp to allow for African American’s wishing to move beyond employment in the kitchen or motor pool. In 1941 the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Pursuit Squadron) was created by the War Department. The first all-African American flying unit was trained and based at Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute to provide the pilot training.This project would train 429 enlisted and 47 officers who became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. More than 2,000 African Americans would complete the Tuskegee training. 61

57 Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies. Retrieved July 6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3358 Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies. Retrieved July 6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33 59 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage”. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011)

60 first-ladies.net/bios/roosevelt_.html61 “Eleanor Roosevelt and the Tuskeegee Airmen” from Franklin Delano RooseveltPresidential Library and Museum. Retrieved July 9, 2014 http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/tuskegee.html

http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/tuskegee.html




At one point, to point out her displeasure with the segregation within America’s military services, she rode in a plane with an African American Tuskegee pilot, ensuring that her picture was taken and made public. Chief Civilian Flight Instructor Charles Alfred Anderson, known today as the “Father of Black Aviation” was the pilot and spend an hour flying the First Lady over Alabama.62 Her continued use of airplanes as a mode of transportation also helped ease American’s fears of airplanes as a means of safe travel. 63

1945 Death of the President

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died at his Warm Springs, Georgia home after the Yalta Conference February 12, 1945. He flew to Egypt to meet King Farouk 1 and then Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. He also met with Saudi King Abdulaziz. His last meeting was with Winston Churchill. The entire trip was 14,000 miles under wartime conditions which placed strains upon his already ill health. For the last year of his Presidency FDR had been in failing health from high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. At his death, he was surrounded by his daughter Anna, his secretary Mr.Bill Hassat, his former mistress Lucy Mercer Rutherford, Grace Tulley, his longtime secretary and confidante, and cousin (also a former mistress) Daisy Suckley.

President Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage while posing for a portrait.64 His daughter and friends tried to keep that information that his former mistresses were with him at his deathaway from his wife, but E.R. found out. E.R. went to Warm Springs, travelling by train and then by car, a five hour

62 “Eleanor Roosevelt and the Tuskeegee Airmen” from Franklin Delano RooseveltPresidential Library and Museum. Retrieved July 9, 2014 http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/tuskegee.html 63 Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. (Farrar, Strause and Giroux, 2011) pp.280-28264 IBID. pp. 280-282.

http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/tuskegee.html


journey.65 After a State Funeral, E.R. had organized and packed up her White House possessions and moved to their home in Hyde Park, New York before the week was out. 66 DFR was buried in the Rose Garden at Hyde Park, as per his wishes. Exactly one year after FDR’s death his heirs, including Eleanor, turned the home over to the U.S. Government to establish the FDR Museum.67

Vice President Harry Truman then became President. 68

Her Life After the White House.

E.R. moved out of the White House within a week moving first to Hyde Park, later to her cottage called Val Kill on the same grounds as the Hyde Park home. Later she moved to an apartment inNew York City’s Greenwich Village which was shared by her personal physician and his wife. 69 Her daily newspaper columns resumed after a four day break when FDR died. At her cottage named Vall Kill, E.R. continued to receive dignitaries when she was in residence and not travelling. Her guests included Prime Minister Nehru of Indian, American Secretaries of State, President Wilson, and politicians seeking her support, among others.70

After the death of her husband E.R. received a deluge of letters and cards, many from women who had lost their relatives in the war. She and her secretary continued to answer each one. Her column “My Day’ often spoke to readers of the personal losses andgrief not only for her husband but for all those who wrote her. 65. IBID. pg. 282.66 Roosevelt, Eleanor. “The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt.” De Capo Press.1992. (Farrar, Strause and Giroux, 2011.) pg.289.

67 IBID. pg. 277. & Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor. 68 “Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies.” Retrieved July6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33

69 Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. (Farrar, Strause and Giroux, 2011.)

70 Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011.) pp. 293-296.



E.R. wrote that “the task ahead was to see that their loved ones had not died in vain…they died in the hope that, through their sacrifice, an enduring peace would be built, and a more just world would emerge for humanity.” 71

Left by FDR with little in financial support, she continued to lecture 150 times (her estimate) per year, and write her columns and several books. No longer could she donate her fees to her favorite charities, but needed them to pay her expenses and travel. 72 She edited books for the Literary Guild for $100 each,gave radio and later television interviews, established a charityfund to help lower her tax payments, wrote for newspapers and magazines, all while travelling for her position on the United States United Nations American delegation.

Following the end of World War Two, E.R. travelled to refugee camps where many Jews had been displaced during the war; to Jordan to see Palestinians displaced by the creation of Israel. She would eventually travel to the Soviet Union, Iran, Morocco, Indonesia, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, the Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan and eventually in 1952 the city of Nagasaki where the second atomic bomb had been dropped.73

In January of 1947, President Harry S Truman appointed E.R. as the only women delegate on the American Delegation to the United Nations where she became Chairman on the Commission on Human Rights, later known as the Nuclear Commission.

Over the following seven years E.R. travelled across the AtlanticOcean to UN meetings in Munich, Paris Geneva and at home in New York City. 74 E.R. took her knowledge of human behavior and

71 Roosevelt, Eleanor. “The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt.” De Capo Press.1992 pg. 288.72 IBID pg. 300.73 “Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies.” Retrieved July 6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33 and Roosevelt, Eleanor,” Autobiography.” . De (Capo Press.1992) Chapter 33.74 IBID. pg. 304.



politics into this new arena by hosting gatherings of important personages related to the Human Rights Commission and others in her sitting room at whatever hotel she was staying at. She wrote:“I discovered that in such informal sessions we sometimes made more progress in reaching an understanding on some question before the United Nations than we were able to achieve in the formal work of our committees.” 75

She followed this habit as a custom and continued it throughout the years she was involved in the United Nations. E.R was pleasedto see that over time other women began to be included in the delegations and committees from other countries. The end result was the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in December, 1948. E.R. became the first Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in 1946 and stayed in the position until 1953. During her work with the United Nations E.R. was involved in several other committees which laid the ground work for the binding Covenants on Civil andPolitical Rights as well as Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which didn’t see adoption until 1966.76

After many years being known as an advocate for Civil Rights, E.R. became the first women that the Klu Klux Klan placed a bounty on. The sum was $25,000. E.R. was then in their seventies.Historian Allida Black noted that Mrs. Roosevelt and her equally elderly friend “put a gun on the seat between them, got in their vehicle and drove at night through the mountains to this tiny labor school to conduct a workshop on how to break the law.”77 This was not the only time her life was in danger. During her public life there were fourteen documented attempts on her life,

75 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage”. (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011.) pg. 305.76 Johnson, Glen M. “The Contributions of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt to the Development of the International Protections for Human Rights” in Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 1 (February 1987), pp. 19-48.77 Reichers, Maggie. “Eleanor Roosevelt No Ordinary Woman.” Humanities in January/February 2000, Volume 21, Number 1 (The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities).


four of which were after FDR died. E.R. had always refused SecretService protection. She went armed and had a conceal carry permitin every state she visited. 78

During the Post War 11 Red Scare led by Senator Joe McCarthy, E.R. spoke out loudly against the violations of American’s civil liberties by the House Un-American Activities Commission (HUAC). As she had during her time as First Lady she faced accusations that she was a secret communist or too sympathetic to socialism concepts and values. Her newspaper column “My Day” discussed the HUAC on October 29, 1947. From that column:

“I have never liked the idea of an Un-American Activities Committee. I have always thought that a strong democracy should stand by its fundamental beliefs and that a citizen of the United States shouldbe considered innocent until he is proved guilty……Whatis going on in the Un-American Activities Committee worries me primarily because little people have becomefrightened and we find ourselves living in the atmosphere of a police state, where people close doorsbefore they state what they think or look over their shoulders apprehensively before they express an opinion.” 79

E.R. continued to retain her membership in the NAACP and criticized President Eisenhower for not following through on civil rights issues. One of her successes was ensuring that the Fair Employment Standards Act became permanent after the end of the war. She began to appear and support Labor rights and acted as a fundraiser for many unions. E.R. also raised funds for Dr.

78 Madrin, Carrie. “Bringing Words to Life: The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers.” George Washington University Magazine. Winter, 2011. 79 Roosevelt, Eleanor. “The World Traveler—Hollywood and the HUAC.” October 29, 1947. Retrieved July 20, 2014. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Roosevelt_Eleanor/Hollywood_HUAC.html


Martin Luther King and openly supported Civil Rights. In 1961 President John F Kennedy appointed her Chair of the Commission onthe Status of Women. 80 Testifying before Congress she called forgender pay equality in 1962.

Beginning in 1960 her health began to fail. She was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a form of bone marrow disease. During the last few years of her life she helped dedicate the FDR Memorial Bridge from the mainland to the island where her former holiday home called Campobello, and handed over FDR’s Warm Springs, Georgia home, to the United States government. Death in 1962 of arare form of tuberculosis. She was buried at Hyde Park on the site of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, and next to her husband President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 81 Attending her funeral were all three presidents who served after the death of President Roosevelt: Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant, singer Marian Anderson and hundreds of others whose lives had been touched also attended to say good bye.82

Conclusions

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt remained a women who endlessly fought for freedom, justice for all people and for peace when it was possible. She set new standards for excellence as a human being and worked to improve the life circumstances not only of Americans of all races and creeds, but for people worldwide. She changed forever how Americans relate to the wife of our Presidents with her candor, honesty, drive and judicious use of her influence to leave the world a better place for her presence.

80 Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.” (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011.) & Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady. First Ladies Biographies. Retrieved July 6, 2014 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3381 IBID and Rowley, Hazel. “Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage.” (Farrar, Strause and Girous, 2011.) pp. 300-302.82 IBID.pg. 302.



She “gave legitimacy as well as a new understanding of a public woman” 83 and served as the “embodiment of a national public women who reflects the culture of her times.” 84 She “changed forever the role of political wives”85 while improving the lives of thousands of other American women.

The First Lady’s network of friends, acquaintances and relationships “gave operational action and substance to her ideals of freedom, equality and opportunity for all.” Unlike mostof America’s elite politicians of their time the Roosevelt’s reached across chasms of race, creed, socio-economic status and class. “The Roosevelt’s shared their private life at close quarters with an ‘alternative family’ of aides, advisers and close friends — most of whom were from working-class backgrounds.” 86

In her personal life and particularly in her marriage E.R. was forced to move beyond her own hopes and dreams to help develop and sustain her husband’s political career. In the early years ofher marriage she and her husband were often separated by distanceand duties. She dealt with the on-going contentious relationship with her husband’s mother, Sally Roosevelt, while putting into action her deep desire for social justice. Their marriage survived his infidelities, his illnesses and his handicaps to become a strong and unusual partnership that allowed FDR to lead the country as it needed leadership during his lifetime and this period of American history.

Both FDR and E.R. used the media of the time and of their lives in new and innovative ways to educate, inform, connect and shift

83 Winfield, Betty Houchin. “The Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt” in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 20, No.1, Modern First Ladies White House Organization (Fall 1990),pp. 699-706.84 IBID. pg. 704.85 Winfield, Betty Houchin. “The Legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt” in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 20, No.1, Modern First Ladies White House Organization (Fall 1990),pp. 699-70686 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pg. 369.


American’s perceptions of their countries role as an emerging world power. Without E.R.’s constant traveling to all parts of America during the depths of the Great Depression her husband would have remained uninformed about the people’s needs. Without her guidance many of the programs from his New Deal wouldn’t havereached out to Black Americans and single mothers. Her networkingassisted in the appointment of Francis Perkins who was key to thecreation of Social Security, a safety net that is an integral part of providing for American society’s most poor and vulnerable. E.R.’s role in history has helped shape America for all generations from the years of the Great Depression to today.

E.R.’s active role in her husband’s Presidency, as well as duringthe years after his death added to and changed the lives of Americans, and millions of people world-wide through her activities, her actions, her guidance of her husband’s policies leadership and her active role in going out amongst individual Americans to see their needs first hand. They lend a sensitivity and level of compassion not only to the country at large, but to individual Americans who wrote E.R. during her years as a public person who had connections at many levels of leadership and governance.

The achievements of her lifetime reach across generations, countries, ethnicities, race, creed and social status. Her work strengthened women’s rights and improved quality of lives in waysthat continue to be felt today through the work she accomplished,the ideas she planted, the legislation she supported and the generations following those individuals and families she took thetime to read letters from and find answers for small and large problems. Her work with the United Nations and the International Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the two Covenants she helped build the basis for continue to be a force for good in theworld today.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s “lifetime of intense commitment in multiple public policy issues, with a vast number of social, economic, and


political organizations, reaped a continuous, cumulative list of successful endeavors” that is still felt in America today.”87

“Life is made up of a series of adjustments. If you have been married for forty years and if your husband has beenPresident of the United States for a dozen years, you have made personal readjustments many times, some superficial, some fundamental. My husband and I came through the years with an acceptance of each other’s faults and foibles, a deep understanding, warm affection and agreement on essential values. We came to depend uponone another.” 88

As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt relied on Eleanor Roosevelt, the country and people of his time relied on the unique relationship between these two people to move forward fromthe massive challenges and trials in the Great Depression, through the Second World War and beyond.

87 Burke, Fran. “Eleanor Roosevelt, She Made a Difference” in Public Administration Review, Vol. 44, No. 5 (September-October 1984), pg. 371.88 Roosevelt, Eleanor. “The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt.” De Capo Press.1992. pg. 283.


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http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2000/januaryfebruary/feature/eleanor-roosevelt

The Extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt

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